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I know, I know, I promised this blog a couple nights ago, but I’m sure you guys can understand what it’s like to visit home after a long while. Here goes…

It’s hard to decide where to start because I feel like there’s so much to tell you. I guess I can start at how things went for me at Penn State last week. Oddly enough, I decided to open my season with some sprinting. I always joke and say even though I’m a quarter miler, I do have some decent foot speed! That’s one thing I appreciate about working with Coach Frye, because he’s not afraid to help me develop that speed, and understands that with me, the quicker I am, the faster my 400 will be. So how about I go to the Nittany Lion Challenge and start the season with two personal bests? The 1st round of the 60m, I just told myself to focus on the techniques and steps we had been practicing the last few weeks, and I somehow manage to come back and run 7.32! Some of you may laugh and say that’s not so fast, but when you are a quarter miler and your previous best was 7.47, I think you can understand where that excitement comes from! After re-evaluating, I was sure I could break 7.30 in the final, however, I only managed a 7.36. Not bad again considering I won, and again, I’m just a quarter miler! About an hour later, came the 200. Last year, I opened up at this meet in 23.90, and just hoped to run faster that that. I was so shocked to see 23.22 after crossing the line. Training has been going very well, but I had no idea I was carrying that much speed, and so early in the season!

Fast forward to this week. Of course after that 7.32, Coach and I could not resist hopping in that 60m Friday night at the Great Dane Classic in the Armory in New York City. There were two rounds again, this time they were five hours apart! So the first round went well; 7.35 again, and still feeling like I could break that threshold. I talked to Coach Frye about whether we though it was worth it to run the final considering I had my first 400 the next day, but we decided to go ahead and give it one last shot. So five hours later we lined up for a two section final. I was left in the blocks, just as I was in the final a week before, but remembered to hold on to my drive phase regardless this time. I caught the field and managed to win, but considering my slow start and having to catch everyone I was not expecting to have hit my target. For some reason, it took a while for the the officials to display the official times on the score board, so I was fully dressed and headed to do my cool down when 7.28 finally flashed across the screen. You can imagine how excited I was to see that! I’m sure by the end of indoor season it’ll be way different, but as a quarter miler, I am marveling at being in the top ten on the IAAF 60m top mark list! Lol.

Wait a minute, I totally skipped over my trip to New York. I had a pleasant flight up to JFK, but something in particular made my trip. When we had just landed, I over heard two ladies sitting a couple rows ahead of me arguing about subway directions into Manhattan. I didn’t pay them any attention, and just kept on proceeding off the plane. We get to baggage claim and one of the ladies says to me, “excuse me, are you originally from here?” I was flattered! Despite living in the south for 6 years, I still have my New York flare! I know that probably sounds lame, but it really made my day. My high school coach, Sean London, picked me up from the airport, and took me to lunch. I had some jerk chicken and rice and peas; so good! The ride into the city is always sentimental. I think when you live and grow up in New York you take the surroundings for granted. I always love looking at the bridges and skyline, and seeing how much the city has changed since I last visited. I even rode the subway to the Armory from my hotel. It’s the little things that make my trips back home special.

So, back to the track. Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little overwhelmed. For me, the day was going to be special for so many reasons. First and foremost, I was excited about running my first 400 for the season. But I also felt excitement in knowing a lot of my family and old friends would be there in support of me. My mom and god parents were there of course. My high school coach was there to take me through my warm up. My best friend with her daughters (my god daughters) and some of my cousins were all there. It just felt good to know that so many people were there in support of me. I finally made it to a room where it was just me and some of my family, and just let the tears flow. I reflected on the things that had happened over the last few years, and how I had made a full circle back to where it all started. I just thought God makes everything happen for a reason. I didn’t know how I was going to perform, but I just knew that whatever happened I had this day to look back on and see how much I had to be thankful for. As I’m writing this I don’t even feel like I have the words to truly express what I was feeling at the moment. Humbled, inspired, excited, anxious, joyous. At that moment I just felt that all the things I had been holding on to for the past few years, it was time to let go of. All the doubt, fear, and uncertainty was GONE! It was time to accept that whatever God has for me is for me, and I have to be obedient in order to receive those things.

After, I dried up my tears, and finished my moment of drama, lol, I got my myself and my thoughts together and got focused for my opener. Like old times, Brandi Cross and I warmed up together. I remember back in college we used to always say how much better we felt when we knew we had each other out there on the track. I was proud to see Brandi making the transition from collegiate to professional athlete. I’ve known her since she was 13, recruited her to come to USC, and promised her dad I would always look out for her. We had our final pow-wow before the race, and again like old times, stepped on the track ready to represent!

I only make it back to the Armory once a year, and the experience only gets better every year. Ian Brooks, my favorite commentator and who announced most of my races at the Armory throughout high school, was announcing the race; he even wore hot pink pants just for me! Lol. When he announced my name to the crowd, and I heard everyone scream that sense of pride took over again. I was ready to give everyone a good performance. As the starter gave the first command, I zoned everything out, and focused on what Coach Frye and I had discussed prior to my warm up. It was time for business. The gun went off, and at that point it was just time to execute. It’s always funny to me to think about all the nerves and emotions I go through before a race, but once that gun goes off something just takes over and the nerves disappear! Regardless of the outcome, I knew it was going to be a good race with Mary Wineberg, Brandi Cross and Fawn Dorr. When I crossed the line I was so excited to see my time, 52.29, and again the emotions. Lol. I couldn’t even finish my interview! But this is just the start of 2011, and I have faith that it will end even better than it started!

I’m so grateful, for the support everyone has shown me! To know that I inspire some of you, inspires me even more to continue to work even harder at my dreams. All I am is a testimony that nothing happens before it’s time, and God takes you through things to prepare you for what He really wants to Bless you with. I recently watched The Book of Eli again, and the biggest message I took from it is that we must live by faith and not by sight!

Thanks for being so patient with me on this blog! Follow me on Twitter @natashahastings.

Until next time, Be Blessed.

Natasha

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• Running, Track & Field, Sports