Aug. 1, 2008
UK Assistant Track Coach Erin Tucker was asked by the Venezuelan National Team to serve as a guest coach for its Olympic Track and Field squad. Tucker just wrapped up his fifth season overseeing sprints, hurdles and relays at Kentucky. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, Tucker coached the men’s 4x400m relay squad to a third-place finish nationally. The team also set a new school record of 3:02.00 in the process. During the indoor season, sprinter Jenna Martin earned All-America honors under Tucker’s direction in the women’s 400m dash. His signature calls of “moooooove” during competition attracts attention and provides motivation to his talented athletes.
Leading up to and during the 2008 Beijing Games, Tucker will periodically submit entries to provide his unique personal insights and inspirational thoughts on his first Olympic experience from a Coach’s perspective.
» MONDAY | AUGUST 25, 2008
Ne Hao, Buenas Dias, and GREAT morning Wildcat fans,
The Beijing Olympics closed last night and it closed with a bang. London 2012 has a lot of competition because China did a great job. I don’t know if I am biased because this is my first Olympic Games in person or because this is the first Olympics I didn’t get to see with the horrible television coverage in the United States (sorry for calling the Olympic network out, but I am just telling you what millions of viewers in the US think). Either or Great Britain better come hard or don’t come at all!
Jose – you missed a great ceremony chief, I wish you would have stayed man!
As the games were coming to an end with all of the fireworks going off and the flame put out, all I could think about was the 91,000 strong that came to support these great athletes every day. I normally do not stop to appreciate the present as I am living in it, but I could not help but get choked up as I was filled with so much emotion thinking about the struggle of all of the athletes and what it meant to the to be here, make finals, medal, and win a gold! Everyone had a different dream that was realized or that fell short motivating them for the next four years. I am thankful that my Lord gave me breath to be here and experience it.
As I ascended the Great Wall this morning with Mikel and the remaining Venezuelan athletes, I could not stop thinking that I felt like I was on top of the world. Mikel motivated me to keep climbing when my limbs could go no more (thanks brethren). There is a saying at the Great Wall “You’re not a man unless you make it to the top!”
Once we got to the top, I knew my mission was complete and my time in China was finally up. We enjoyed the view for about 10 minutes and realized we had to go down now! LOL! We cheated by taking the cable car, but our bus was going to leave us in 15 minutes and we knew if we walked down we would be left at the Great Wall! We felt like they were playing a cruel trick on us at one point going down because the cable car stopped and we were forced to face our fear of heights. We were looking down at what might have been our graveyard thousands of feet below us. I guess when you are on top of the world the Lord always reminds you that you have to come back down at some point right?
Thanks for all your support and for reading my long and boring blogs. I hope I was able to capture the essence of the games for you and allow you to view what I have been viewing for weeks!
Practice starts the day after Labor Day!
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
Thought of the day:Breathing is easy for some, appreciating why you are breathing and being thankful is the hard part! Appreciating everything you see in your life makes life ten times easier!
» SATURDAY | AUGUST 23, 2008
Wildcats fans, Usain Bolt of Jamaica did what I hoped he would, but “Insane” did not do it alone. The Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay team broke the world record by three tenths of a second – 37.10! That is amazing to say the least.
The Jamaican women were met with the same fate as both the USA 4x100m relay squad and the women’s 4x100m team from Trinidad. The key to winning the 4x100m relay is moving the stick around the track! Japan was third, not because people made mistakes, but because they did not make a mistake while stretching the zone. “Stretching the zone” is a term we use to describe using every bit of the baton exchange zone. By using all of it, a team can be on the verge of the destruction and it can be a huge gamble. Japan benefited from gambling on Friday night!
It is now final that the USA squads came out on top in terms of the most gold medals in track and field as well as the most overall. Jamaica and Russia tied for second in the gold count while Russia held second by itself for the second-most medals.
This was an interesting games for the USA because of a few mishaps and bad luck. Well I will say my home country went out in style. The last two events of the day, the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays, were awesome. I tell the UK 4x400m teams all the time that it is the last event of the day for a reason; let’s give them a show!
Sanya Richards showed the world that her 400m final was not a fluke by passing Russia in the last 60m on the anchor leg to secure the gold.
Lashawn Merrit (the men’s Olympic gold medalist in the 400m) lead off a blazing relay to Angelo Taylor (a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 400m hurdles) who handed off to David Neville (the bronze medalist in the 400m) who gave the baton to Jeremy Wariner (a man that needs no introduction and has a file too long to write!) who crossed the line in a new Olympic Record of 2:55.39 (2:56.00 is 44.0 per man just to give you an idea of how fast each guy had to run!).
The Bahamas ran a galiant race taking silver in 2:58.03 and Russia came up for the bronze at the end with a 2:58.06. Between you and me, Russia had a much better Olympic Games than Jamaica, but because of Usain “Insane” Bolt no one ever noticed it!
Jamaica’s men’s 4x400m relay squad finished dead last with a 3:01.45! Why did I mention that relay? Well because UK’s 4x400m relay was third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, in a school record time of 3:02.00. What that means is that they would have been fighting to the end with the eighth-place team at the Olympics! Not too bad for a relay with two seniors, a junior and a sophomore.
Though of the day:
Never wake a sleeping giant!
The USA contingent ended the Olympic track and field meet letting the world know why they are the best track team in the world!
» THURSDAY | AUGUST 21, 2008
The West Indies have arrived! The small group of islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles has always been known for sprinting. From the 100 meter to 400 meter dash, they perform very well.
I will say this: the Olympics Games have made the rest of the world aware of what we American track coaches have known for years. This has been by far the best Olympics Games for Jamaica ever. And after the misfortune of the USA 4x100m relays today (both dropped batons), unless disaster strikes them, it is safe to say Jamaica will be the 4x100m relay champs as well.
Insane Bolt (Typo? No, I have officially changed Usain Bolt’s first name to Insane because he is crazy good! LOL!!) will run in the relay finals and if they break the world record he will be viewed in the same class as Mr. Phelps.
There is no one person that can get as many medals in a track meet as Phelps did swimming – so we won’t go there. Swimmers have different stroke distances and they normally do about 4-6 events per meet. Swimmers that are considered sprinters swim more miles in a week than our distance runners run on the road. So we should never compare the two, other than the fact that they are both Olympic sports.
If Bolt wins gold in a World or Olympic Record time then he will be as close to Phelps’ feat as any sprinter in the history of the Olympics. Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Marion Jones all earned four or five gold medals, but not four or five World/Olympic Records. I would like to see Insane Bolt run on the 4x400m as well, but he said the reason he started running the 100m was so he did not have to run the 400m.
Folks, he is human because he has fears as well. That fear for him would be the pain of the last 50 meters in the 400m! I guarantee if he decided to run the 400m that he would be the first man in history to run under 43.00. He was the first under 9.70 in the 100m and will be the first under 19.30 in the 200m later this summer.
MARK MY WORDS: Insane Bolt will go down as the best sprinter in history!!!!!!!
Thought of the day:
Why do we put limits on ourselves? When we reach beyond our limits we always surprise ourselves with the outcome!
» TUESDAY | AUGUST 19, 2008
Well folks Mikel ran another wind legal personal record giving it all he had, but today it was not enough to move on. This learning experience will be great for him and Jose as they start their fourth and final year at UK. I know for a fact they will be a force to be reckoned with!
Wildcat fans, this senior class learned more about themselves this year and matured more than like I have never seen with another group. We lose Justin Harrison and Nate Browning, but we get a better Jose Acevedo, Mikel Thomas and Gordon McKenzie back. The junior class with Kwasi Obeng and Geoff Daley turned the corner and will be stronger. Brendan Ames learned what college track and the SEC is all about last season. The incoming freshmen have a great group to look up to and will add a bang as well.
On the women’s side, senior Ashley Trimble will grow in the heptathlon and has taken a huge step forward in the 400m hurdles that will pay huge dividends next year. Jenna Martin had more late-season success, but not quite what we planned for at the beginning of the season. So she returns hungrier than ever! Jazmyn Shorter, like Brendan, got a nice taste of this level and will return ready to rock and roll. We add one freshman to the small group and with the help of another freshman 800m runner, the 4x400m relay will be ready to shake up the world!
Stay tuned for the 2009 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships held at home in Nutter Field House. We promise to make it magical!!
Thought of the day:Patience is a virtue! (I cannot wait until the 2009 Indoor SEC Meet!)
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
» MONDAY | AUGUST 18, 2008
You take the good with the bad. As disappointed as I am for Jose I must shift my focus to Mikel. That little son-of-a-gun continues to impress me. He is truly a success story.
His personal record in high school was 14.90 and his first 110 high hurdles race was last year when he won the Trinidad and Tobago National Championship with 14.14! He was recruited as a 400m intermediate hurdler on very little money from my home city of Brooklyn and he has matured into an Olympic 110m high hurdler!
I am proud that he is not just an Olympian now, but an Olympian that has advanced to the next round. That is truly why we are here, to get through the rounds!!!
Jose will definitely learn from this experience…no other track meet in his life will be as big as this one – not next year’s World Championship, not next year’s Venezuelan Championship not next year’s NCAA or SEC Championships, not even the Olympics in London four years from now. Your first Olympic Games competition is always the hardest, nothing will ever compare!
Jose will be ready next year Wildcat fans! He was ready to roll, but his nerves got the best of him. He won’t have that problem anymore!!!
Thought of the day:
Every bad experience will be followed by a great one when you stay positive about the situation!
» SATURDAY | AUGUST 16, 2008
Today I can talk about Jose and Mikel because tomorrow is the calm before the storm. I have never felt this good going into a meet about either of them (Coach Weber the Tucker curse is gone!), but I must take a moment to give credit where credit is due.
Some say the Olympics are magical; some call it a spectacle, while others say it is unbelievable but 15 minutes ago I just witnessed a human being run sub 9.7 seconds in the 100m dash – 9.69 to be specific. He did not even run the last 20 meters of the race.
Some might feel cheated because of what might have been but I feel as if my brain will never fully process what my eyes saw. I called 9.68 last night at dinner so I am not angry I was only .01 off!
Was it magical, spectacular, or unbelievable? Honestly, I still do not know if it is one, two, or all three. I am literally shocked and done babbling for the night! LOL!
Stay tuned for more!
News flash!…they just canceled the rest of the track meet, all the clocks are destroyed!! (joke)
Thought of the day:
Allow yourself to believe the unbelievable at least once in your life! It is a great feeling.
» THURSDAY | AUGUST 14, 2008
Ne Hao (Hello),
Practice was interesting today because the track was packed. Next time we will go to another facility – the same stadium that Gordon McKenzie ran in during the World Junior Championships two years ago. Jose and Mikel both looked sharp today. Tomorrow will be their last day of fast work before they race on Monday!
Stay tuned, these guys are ready to roll!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH TUCKER, YOU’RE WELCOME COACH TUCKER…LOL!
Thought of the day:
It is okay to talk to yourself as long as you don’t change positions as if you were two different people! 😉
» MONDAY | AUGUST 11, 2008
Good Day Folks,
Jose Acevedo is on fire. He is setting personal records and breaking every practice record for the workouts that he is doing. His weight lifting is better than ever and he has a calming confidence about what he is doing that I have never seen before! I could be wrong, but I think he is ready to run very fast.
Jose-3
Coach Tucker-1
Jose is leading 3-1 because he smashed another workout during the week I failed to report.
Jose ran 8.25 for 80m walked 100m and then ran 9.69 for 100m. He took 11 minutes off then ran a 120m dash in a sizzling 11.77, with his last 100m in 9.53!
Mikel gets here tomorrow and I cannot wait to get my hands on him. It has been over six weeks! We will have less than a week to make any last minute tune-ups, but we should be fine!
Thought of the day:
Hard work alone doesn’t give you the victory, it is the desire to do your best and the talent you were born with!!
» FRIDAY | AUGUST 8, 2008
The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games left me speechless! Anyone who knows me knows that is close to impossible!
One word “UNIMAGINABLE!”
Thought of the day:
SOMETIMES REALITY IS MORE SHOCKING AND EXCITING THAN A DREAM!!
» THURSDAY | AUGUST 7, 2008
It is 10:12 a.m. local time on Thursday morning since I am 12 hours ahead of you I am sure you will be reading this almost a day after this activity is in the books.
Let’s talk about smog for a minute. It is close to 90 degrees and humid, but because of the smog there is no sunshine. The sky is similar to the hazing smoke and fog seen during California forest fires. Now I could complain and say this city is polluted and the air quality is bad, but I am not! I cannot imagine how hot it would be right now if the sun was beaming on my head. I am thankful for the sun cover and I will worry about my health when I am 80, LOL!
Yesterday Jose warmed-up and lifted weights. Today we will come from the blocks. We will be working on his start which is ten times better since the collegiate season ended. We will be working on pure speed (30’s, 40’s, 50’s, etc.) as well as the transition off the turn! If it is done right the last 100’s will be easy and very, very fast! Any time I use the word “easy” I am not thinking of less effort but referencing the efficiency necessary to run fast. Track is all about rhythm and if you can establish it early, it makes the race easy. You got it? Good!
Thought of the day:
Complaining does not change the situation. Always find a positive in every negative situation because life is too short to complain and worry about today!
» TUESDAY | AUGUST 5, 2008
Great Morning Folks,
There is a 12 hour time change between China and Kentucky, so I will be blogging as you awake! We are in Beijing and the Olympic Village is like a small Division II University! Everything you need is here and more.
Venezuela has four track and field athletes: Jose, a female javelin thrower, a marathon runner and an 800m specialist. My roommate Mario coaches Edward Villenueva who runs the 800m and is from Luis Luna’s hometown. Mario and I struck a deal that every day we will work to improve the other person’s secondary language. We agree in order to truly learn another language you must practice it everyday. Trust me I have come a long way since I got to Caracas, but now it is time for intensive Spanish training!
I feel like a college freshman all over again in the village. Here is why. We have huge dorms, tiny rooms with a roommate, dinning hall food (actually this food is waaay better), people from different places hanging out trying to get to know each other and importantly the feeling that you are here for a very important reason. In college I was there to start my preparation for a career and I get the same sense that athletes are preparing themselves to start a career (make a name for themselves) or build on the great career they already have!
Thought of the day:
The older you get the more you can draw off of past experiences to make the current experience that more memorable.
» MONDAY | AUGUST 4, 2008
It is 1:45 p.m. in Paris and I am still on Caracas time which is 7:15 a.m. My body hates me right now.
I have been humbled by the Euro! For the first time in my life the U.S. dollar does not pull any weight. Jose and I just spent $17 on breakfast in a French restaurant and trust me his little sandwich and my half plate of food was not even $17 combined, let alone solo. When we saw the price in Euros it seemed reasonable, but we were quickly humbled when we got the total in dollars!
The nine hour flight from Caracas to Paris was not that bad, but I am dreading the nine hour flight to Beijing. Can you say cabin fever?! I am keeping a very positive outlook on things because this is the first time I’ve crossed the “Great Pond” and I will cherish this memory for a lifetime. The view from my window seat on the plane was awesome and I only wish that I could spend more time in this great city outside of the airport! We are 11 hours away from checking into the athlete village and officially being apart of the Olympic Games. That is more than enough motivation to keep a smile on my face.
Though of the day:
How did the Euro overtake the U.S. dollar?!?
Another random thought of the day:
Thinking becomes very difficult when you have been awake for 24 hours!
» SATURDAY | AUGUST 2, 2008
Hola mi amigos!
I hope everyone is doing well since our last meeting. Yesterday was Jose’s last workout before we head out to Beijing and let me tell you he smashed it!
Jose-1
Coach Tucker-1
Jose was losing since our last workout and he came back with a vengeance on Friday. I know I mentioned to you the more wins I get the faster they run, but I will take that loss any day of the week. The Venezuelan bio-mechanics department came to film Jose’s start and stride pattern so we can make any last- minute adjustments in Beijing and he was on fire for the camera. His workout was 120 meters from the blocks, walk 120m, run 120m, rest 15 minutes and finally run 150m from a fly.
Paying attention to the times, Jose ran 12.65 for the first 120m coming through the first 100m in 10.78. Then he came back and ran a blistering 12.06 for 120m and his last 100m was 9.61!!! Let’s take a look at this 12.06 for 120 meters. That is easily a 10.00 100m pace – and that is coming from a dead stop. If you add his 1st 100m from the blocks with his last 100m on the fly that is 20.39 – yes 20.39!!!
With a personal record of 20.58, that tells me that Jose is in the best shape of his life. After 12 minutes rest, Jose ran 14.71 for 150 meters with the last 100m in 9.83! He told me after he didn’t get out that well. Jose is the first athlete that I have ever coached or seen run faster than 14.80 in the 150m. The goal is to make it happen in Beijing and he is on his way!
After we finished lifting, Jose was driving me to the hotel and he said something to me that made me realize how much he has grown. After not performing well at the NCAA meet in the 200m, I told Jose if he was nervous or scared at the NCAAs that we might as well not go to the Olympics because the NCAA meet cannot hold a stick to the Olympics. I told him we did not have time for fear and he needed to get it out of his system NOW! So, how has he grown in such a short time?
He asked me, “Coach is it bad that I am not nervous when everyone else here is so nervous for me?”
I told him, “Jose there is nothing to be nervous about. It is a meet just like all the meets you have run since you were in elementary school.”
He agreed and replied, “What is the worse thing that can happen – I might get beat or I might not advance? I know I will run fast, so I am not worried.”
Thought of the day:
The worst thing that will happen to you when you give your all is that you might lose! But giving the best you have is always a victory!
» THURSDAY | JULY 31, 2008
The last business day of the month!
So what has Coach Tucker been up to since our last conversation?!? Well, on Monday I went to the Chinese embassy to get a visa since my credential will not be ready until I get to the Olympic Village. After the Chinese consulate cursed us up and down the hall because an American was trying to get a visa to China in Venezuela, I realized I had to fly back to the States.
Yes, Tuesday morning I flew to Washington, D.C., so I could be first in line on Wednesday morning to start the process. To make a long story short: after five hours of negotiations, calls to Beijing, and frequent trips to the copy store I finally got my visa.
But folks it was all worth it, to miss the games on a technicality would have been blasphemous! LOL!
I am currently in Miami at 2:00 p.m. waiting to board my flight back to Caracas that was supposed to leave at 11:40 a.m.! No track talk today, just a lesson!
Thought of the day:
If you really want something you will bust your butt and jump over many hurdles to get it! The crazy thing is you will never complain along the way!
» FRIDAY | JULY 25, 2008
Today was a very busy day because I had the opportunity to meet the President of the Federation, the Lead Coach for the Olympic Team, the Head Coach of the Federation and the Minister of Deportes (Sports). I was given a huge bag full of Venezuelan stuff, now I know how our frosh feel when they get that huge bag from us the week before practice starts – I absolutely felt like an 18-year-old athlete the day they get their UK gear!
After that great meeting we chatted with the Minister of Deportes and I convinced him to send a group of Bio-Mechanists to the track on Monday to do video analysis on Jose and Luis. The minister has a PhD. in Bio-Mechanics from USC and I had to put his knowledge to work, LOL! I should get a CD back in less than a week which gives me enough time to sit with Jose and show him what I’ve been working on with him for three years.
I think evaluating his running from the scientific side of things might trigger the response I have been working on. Don’t get me wrong, Jose has come a long way in terms of understanding acceleration since he has arrived. Since he is a numbers guy I know he will respond well.
When we finally got to the track it was after 5:00 p.m. and we were chasing the sun. The sun sets here around 7:00 p.m. this time of year and his last two runs were basically in the dark. The only light we had was from the concourse of the National Stadium. Good thing for Jose because he looked ugly at the end of that workout, lol!
Coach Tucker-1, Jose-0
I look at it like this way: at the end of the year the more wins I get the faster they run! 😉 So that means we both win in the end.
Until next time have a great weekend and GO WILDCATS!
Thought of the day:
No matter what you give never underestimate the power of giving.
» THURSDAY | JULY 24, 2008
Buenos Tardes!
When I arrived in Caracas on Tuesday, I was greeted at the airport by Jose (Acevedo), Luis (Luna), and a few other Venezuelan National team members. Five hours is a long flight time, but nothing in comparison to the 12 hours we will endure on our flight to Beijing. Wish me luck folks!
Soccer rules South America. There was a 14-and-under tournament going on yesterday and they threatened to call the police on us if we continued to practice. Well most people that know me know that everything I do is for the athletes and sometimes there is a slight conflict with the powers that be. This was a last- minute tournament and no one from the federation was informed until we started training. To make a long story short as much as soccer rules here someone training for the Olympics has priority and our workout went well.
Thought of the day:
You decide what is important for you everyday. A script is good, but it is not gold!
Ciao
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