TrackMom JO Diaries Part 2

Dr.Bill Booker of Capitol Rehab  and Lauren visiting DC before we head home to California

Well the last post I wrote  was a catch up about the USATF Junior Olympics and now this is the wrap up of the second week in Norfolk Virgina for the AAU Junior Olympic Games picking up were I left off …….

Tuesday August 3rd

Lauren runs the 200m and then  later in the day the 400m .My hope is that she PR’s this week and maybe even brings home two Gold medals. The weather was MUCH different in California.California was hot but not very uncomfortable under a canopy or umbrella. Norfolk was humid and HOT,It’s not like I was unaware it would be like this, one just can’t really prepare when humidity just isn’t a factor where you live.  On Tuesday I was probably a little grumpy due to the fact of the weather transition and my nerves were a little amped. After the 200m I began to feel a little more relaxed.In between races I meet a few people that have visited Trackmom.com  and that was great.

They shared there excitement about the 400m race and congratulations on the great performances in California. Everyone was so kind ,I really had no problem connecting at all with these perfect strangers.  Once the remaining 20 minutes before the race time commenced My phone started ringing my family wanted to know what was going on. Did she run yet..give details.Of course I had none to share yet but that was about to change.

Lauren’s seed time was not very good compared to her Then PR of 59.73 we thought she would get into lane  1 or 3 but it ended up being lane 7 and then my next thought was oh boy she will be by herself for a moment not really knowing where she stands. i also thought I have on a few ocassions seen Lauren run the 200m in a qualifying  round and she just stayed in the fron the entire time. so I was hoping that would be the case.

As soon as the gun went off I said in my head Go Lauren.My voice  very hoarse,(and not  much left after Sacramento) I decided to go back to my quiet mom routine. at the top of the curve I just kept saying to myself “okay Lauren your still in the lead good job you look good”  and 57.93 seconds later I saw her cross the line first and then hug Daesha and the other athletes.

I was so happy for her. I felt the weight of the track lift. Finally this race was over and now we could move on. Lauren may have won the 400m sub Midget girls but that in no way diminished Daesha’s high level of performance and great competitive spirit. After all, a few hours before she broke a National Record in the 1500m . All and All it was a good day. Lauren looked very happy on the podium and everyone was so kind with many congratulations. when that was  all over and back to the hotel I went shopping  at Costco with Michele Cunliffe .I was so excited to finally get some real food in my midst. ALL IS WELL.

Wednesday August 4th,2010

Henry is taking the girls shopping today we slept in until 9:30 that was real nice…He’s off with the girls and I am doing a little bit of everything while they are gone…..This is nice, peaceful,quiet and  cool indoors.

My house keeping staff is less than stellar.I ask for towels they say we are still washing them ..Oh brother. I tell them I will clean the room today they don’t even take dirty towels out. I could go on but I have to say there has been good customer service on the part of the manager and front desk staff. And one nice lady named Angie  did a great job.

Thursday August 5th,2010 

 Today’s only race was the 200m semi-finals, because Lauren  remaining race is the 200m it makes it very nice to come and go much easier.We did want to see a few races run besides Lauren’s 200m.The Youth girls had a great line up with Aleia Hobbs,Hannah Cunliffe,Deanna Hill  the Intermediate girls had just as hot a line up with  Laquisha Jackson, Kendall Baisden , Aaliyah Brown, Regine Williams.

Lauren ran well and even PR’ed .These have been the best performances in a JO she has ever had.She has been more consistent and more focused than ever.I guess that is  what a year older will do. I am very happy about all the PR’s this 200m was 25.68 last years was  27.04 I think?? So a great improvement ,she is also about   2 3/4 inches taller. So it is all working together for a faster sprinter.

After all the 200m’s were over we left for the day and looked forwards to another day off. I think this was great for Lauren having these days in between off, especially after run already 4 days in Sacramento at  such a high level.

Thursday August 6th,2010

Went to the track briefly,then just relaxed at the hotel,later in the evening we went to see Dr.Bob the acupuncturist,I adjusted Lauren ate  some dinner and everyone was in bed excited for the next day, FINALS DAY!

August 7th,2010

The last day of the season for Lauren the last race.She told her dad when I cross the line I am on full vacation until 2011 season….LOL she was right no more running for a while.  As much as I love Track and Field I am ready to get back home and start working on the web site with more time to give and my practice and other things that get placed  on the shelf February through August.

The finals were great.It is so exciting to watch all the amazing talent in one place heat after heat. The wind wasn’t in favor of fast times but a win is a win all the same.It was a bit cooler and over all a more comfortable day.

Stand outs for me were the Bantam girls Tia Jones from GA,  she looked so composed and on the podium her smile  lit up the room winning both 100m and 200m

 Youth Girls was exciting and hearing all the buzz about Hannah was amazing.Hannah dominated the field winning the 100m and the 200m from an impressive field and she too was happy for her wins .

Finals                                                              
  1 Hannah Cunliffe  11.86N (New National Record)
  2 Aleia Hobbs        12.32  
  3 Deanna Hill         12.50 

 The Intermediate girls had a packed field with the top three being

  1 Aaliyah Brown        11.80  
  2 MyasiaJacobs       11.84  (on Wednesday she broke the National record with a time of 11.51)
  3 Laquisha Jackson  11.88 

All I can say about the 100m 200m it’s the wild west and on any given day any of the top sprinters just might  win.

The 200m was more of the same

                             
  1 Laquisha Jackson     24.06 
  2 Kendall Baisden        24.11  (broke the National record on 8.5.10)
  3 Aaliyah Brown          24.12 

Lauren wins the Sub-midget girls and she was happy to win, happy to see the season end on a happy note.

Later that evening we went to celebrate with a nice pool side party with the Seattle Speed Team and a few others.Nice to finally be so relaxed and I was looking forward to the next few days of a little vacation like time before we headed home to California.

August 8th,2010

We are leaving on the 10th and so my goals are to see Jamestown and Virginia Beach the kids goals are the beach and Henry’s is what every we wanted(smart man). Well once again just relaxed at the hotel Henry took the girls  for a little more shopping, I am doing a little pre- packing to make it easier later on.

August 9th,2010

Today was beach day the kids won…Well I wanted to go to the beach too, just not enough time for everything. It was closer than I thought and after just a few short minutes of looking for parking and finding quarters,renting a cabana and noticing that unlike the beaches at home it was really hot and humid. We all get in and it was great.So much warmer than California’s pacific coast waters. We were there for six plus hours it felt like two.The time just flew by. That was nice icing on the cake of two weeks of JO’s. When we got back to the hotel it was time to pack for real.

August 10th,2010 our last day in Virginia

We were taking a trip to DC the next day to visit a colleague and friend Dr.Bill Brooker of Capitol Rehab for some lunch,treatment and to shoot a little bit of video footage for an up coming exercise training video for TrackMom.com We had a great time enjoyed the drive up and the beautiful trees everywhere…Just don’t see that in L.A. much .We had lunch at nice Asian restaurant and then we headed for the airport.

And so The 2010 Track and Field season is officially over….

I want to say thanks for all the encouragement I recievedfrom coaches , Track Moms,Dads and even the  athletes.This season something very special happened   athletes wanted to meet me and tell be about their races and medals and great efforts even without a medal.That was truly along withLauren’s performances the highlight of my JO experience. I find that no two JO experienced are ever alike and 4 years in although not a seasoned Vet yet I am in the mix and have a much better understanding of just what it takes to get to the Jo’s and to help it be as rewarding as possible with what you can control(not much but a little)

My personal mishaps are to numerous to name  but between broken computers broken phones,missing luggage, GPS meltdowns I am ready for another vacation in Palms Springs next week just to fully decompress from my own personal travel dramas : – )

So Until Next Time ,

 Proud TrackMom  of Lauren Williams

                  2010 USATF

Midget Girl 100m Silver Medalist  4x100m Silver Medalist

Midget Girl Gold medalist and National Junior Olympic and National Record 4x400m R

 National AAU Junior Olympic Games Sub-Midget Girl  Gold Medalist 200m,400m

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