Reflecting

As I continue to search for where I may have put my usars card I stumbled across my clinic evaluation from my first and only bank track clinic from back in March of 2004. It's weird to think how I stumbled may way through this sport thus far.
When I first started I was bad, and I was so small. Not that I am any bigger really but I was ridiculously small and there weren't really all the three wheel frames there are now so if you stood my frames up against my leg they went up to my knee at least. I remembering just wanting to get a 5x80mm frame because that meant I was going to be faster. All the older kids were no it so I wanted one. I saw video of me skating on those things and they were huge on me, like the 4x110's look like on Sara S. that was me. I couldn't cross very good lol. No novice then either, it was JO back then. 3 years and your done, that's it. Three years of JO or novice whatever you called it and I never managed a medal. I did however get a JO relay medal, back when they had JO relays at nationals. That was cool, I admit I was the weaker one on the team but either way I still threw the pass into first place. haha. I remember being in JO racing with the same people I do now. I remember meets with Hank from forever ago. I actually have a video of me racing Mariah Richardson in a Juvenile 4 person (there were no juvenile 4 boys and 4 girls and mixes it was just one four person) to say the least she beat me off the start and beat me all together. I remember my first regionals all I wanted to do was make it out, and sure enough I managed to get fourth place overall and qualify for nationals.
I remember coming to SOS back in the 2000-2001 season. I was little, young. I remember one of my first practices we were doing circles (our floor was still wood and had circles) and Jeff paired me up with Dante Tuscai so I could follow his technique. That made me happy, he always won at the league meets, him Dominic and Chris Semus where the fastest so if I followed one of them I could get faster. I was the little kid, smaller then he should be. At first I was so quiet at SOS I probably only talked to Ben Tuscai for my first 2-3 years in Reading, I never even talked to Jeff. Back then Jeff used a stop watch and Steve Carter was still coming to practice regularly. I remember the first time I ever ran a 10 second lap. I was so happy. I hurt my leg on that lap but I managed a 10 second lap and I was second year juvenile. That just goes to show how good our floor use to be.. uncoated. I remember every time Steve would run 9's and I just couldn't imagine how he did it.
I was the little kid at practice that if Jeff gave one of his lectures I sat down on the wall, because the big kids did it. If they were quiet, I was quiet. I use to listen to every word. I can remember getting the chills when Jeff talked about skating hard and how it can make you the best.
2003 was my first year of standard in a sense I grew up that year. Somehow I got fast. I think it was probably because of Kelly Archie. After I won a relay medal in 2002 I got a shirt that said national champion on it and he would always joke about my shirt and make me feel 'cool' and good about having a national medal. Things like that just made winning seem like the only option. Practice was fun, the fast guys like Steve were there so it always the funnest place to be.
in 2003 I placed at nationals in my division, my very first year of standard. My first race though I fell down in my heat and I just remember Jeff not necessarily yelling at me but I was so small I thought of it that way. He told me how if I would have just gotten up and started running again I probably could have caught up and made it out but instead I stomped my feet and took my time getting back to speed. Then I managed to place it was awesome. I probably smiled forever.
Back to the evaluation.. Jeff told me parents we should go to a clinic and attend Outdoor Nationals because everyone else was doing it and it was my last year of freshman (outdoor). So we went to the clinic and then I went to Outdoor Nationals. I got so mad after my first race, the 300m I got 4th place and only three got medals. But that was where I would say it all started. The story of my life, lol. I always wanted everything a race to soon. Every single time. Jeff tried to tell me that there were 5 more races and I had plenty of chances to get a medal but i didn't want to hear it. I wanted it now. It never feels better to say there is another race when you lose. I ended up getting 3 national medals there at outdoor nationals and a national record. It was great lol.
I always wondered why no one knew who I was. When I was freshman I thought I was like older and people she realize who I was if i was winning. But even Bob Justice got my name wrong at nationals. He never gets names wrongs lol. I was winning a semi and he announced me as Dominic and I heard it, that made me so mad lol.

Time flies, even when you are young.