Hello Guys,
Woow its been a while. I’ve blogged. I have been very busy with work and travelling for competitions. I just came back last week from the Nigerian National Track and Field CHampionships which served as the trial for the African championships in Kenya later this month as well as the trial for the Commonwealth games in India taking place in OCtober. Soo Im going to take you guys through the rest of my outdoor season.
OUTDOOR SEASON CONTINUES
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I jumped a lot this year and have done more technique refining. So at my track meets I started performing really poor, And May and June was a really busy time for my company, SO i had to work 60-70 hour weeks. So that added to the inconsistency in my performance . A lot of ups and downs this yearbut the true meaning of preseverance is still working hard eventhough sometimes the results of your hard work doesnt show up immediately.and its very hard for me to give up on anything i truly set my mind to. I dont stop working hard till I accomplish my goals. You win some and you loose some. Sooo I realized it was time to take a break from competitions and focus more on training, getting fit and getting ready for the Nationals. because my Goal this year was to medal at the African champs and commonwealth games and also an opportunity to represent Africa at the world cup. So the National tryouts was the 1st Thing om my list to accomplish….
The Nigerian Nationals.
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It was good to go back home again, Flew in through Lagos, Nigeria then caught a flight to Calabar. The city was beautiful and soo Greeen. it was less chaotic and busy like lagos. I kinda liked it. I had a few days to rest after competing. I tried my best not to over indulge myself with Nigerian food before the competition and i loooove me some Naija food. Hmm hhmmm hmm ummy. But i was good!
COmpetition day.
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Competiton day started off pretty well. Got my warm up in, took some warm up jumps and felt really good. I was just saying to myself today is gonna be good. I was determined and so focused. I chatted with the other competitors and stuff, but once the competition started . I just stayed to myself and didnt even cheer on anybody, and just focused on the task at end. i usually am the nice competitor who encourages everybody so this was a new leaf that i turned on just for that competition. I dont know where it came from
WARMING UP.
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I got my warms up in earlier so by the time we got called to the call room and came back outside i was good to go, but the other athletes havent warmed up yet. So i just chilled out and relaxed and after maybe 40 mins or so. I decided to take a short approach jump at 2.05m just to wake My body up back again from snooze.lol. and after that I just waited for the competition to start.
ACTION
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The bar started at 1.85m or something and i was coming in at a much higher height 2.00m so I watched as athletes cleared heights or got out and the bar kept going up by 5 increments.. as it got to 1.95 the comprtition started heating up as my 3 close competitors was going at it. and i m just still sitiing on the sideline just waiting for my turn. They finally cleared it and the Bar was raised to 2m which is 6′7ft ish. I was the first jumper called up at this height. Cleared the bar with ease, THEN Crazy thing happened. the Rain started sprinkling and it started pouring i was just saying to myself I have to ignore this rain and just do what i have to do. I didnt come all across the world to jump bad regardless of weather. So I ignored it and pumped myself up 2.05m easy clearance, and i started becoming soaking wet. I had to literaly squeeze water out of my clothes then i got over it because i cant control the weather its out of my hands. its the way i react to it that matters. All of my competitors pretty much got out at this height so it was only ME VS the High jump Bar and Rain So 2.10m. another easy clearance. Then 2.15m . I missed the 1st atempt but it was a good jump. So i ran to the stance for the 2nd jump and got the crowd involved and everybody at the finish line section started clapping and i started yelling and getting myself charged up. haha. I wanted to give them a little entertainment and bring some attention to the jumping area. The Rain was definitely coming down at this point but i just stayed relaxed and I cleared 2.15m and was filled with so much joy i couldnt hold my emotions back i jumped and yelled and the crowd was clapping and excited for me as well. then the Rain definitely came pouring haaard.at this tme I got the crowd involved again but i couldnt surpass 2.20m. I had a god height over the bar everytime cos i was more focused on jumping up because i didnt want to Slip because of the wet surface, So i was a little dissapointed but on the positive side i was the champion. So i went to the front of the stance of the people who cheered me on and thanked the Fans then ran underneath the stadium because the RAIN was really coming down.
Soooo I was happy to know that if i can clear 2.15m in the rain which means i can probably do much better in better conditions. Butt a Win is a WIN. SO i was happy to be crowned the 2010 NIGERIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION and was also happy that I am one of the few athletes selected to go represent Nigeria at the Upcomg African CHampionships. It is such a Big Honor to be able to represent your country in any international event. and i am working on getting time off work now because i used up all of my vacation time for travelling to competitions. Im crossing my fingers that they grant it to me. NEXT GOAL NOW is to medal a the Upcoming African Championships.
I am in the plane going to SCalifornia for a Track meet now this week just to keep the competitive spirits alive in my body this would be a penultimate competition before the championships. I will aslo get to see my Family. I miss them so much. SO that’ll be very nice So I’ll keep you guys updated on my training and journey to KENYA.
Thanks for reading…..
Please feel free to comment or send me a message anytime. I’ll try my best to reply as soon as possible.
E She and God Bless..
SMILE 