June 3, 2004

Well, my adventures this week took me back to the state of California to compete at the Payton Jordan U.S. Track & Field Open in Palo Alto. After finishing on a high note last week in Los Angeles, I was quickly reminded that you can still be knocked down - literally.

I did not have a great or even a good race on Memorial Day after the the 200-meter mark of the race. There was a collision that caused four to five people - including me - to go down. I lost my composure, along with my balance, in the race.

I managed to run a good 700 meters, but my last 100 was the slowest I have ever run. That is ironic because my last 100 meters is usually the fastest of my race. I finished fifth with a time of 1:51.29, four seconds slower than my time in L.A.

So after this race I am rather down, because I knew I was going to run fast. Instead, it was a Memorial Day not worth remembering. But never fear, I will bounce back from this minor glitch in my progress.

Derrick P