Jersey #9: Kentucky's Journey

Okay....so I'm trying not to get too excited. But here is the update on my 4o yard time. Tonight at practice we ran indoors on the track in tennis shoes. No wind. I don't know why I'm reporting conditions but, whatever, they do it in the Olympics and right now I feel like an Olympian...

Anyways, so...Da da da DUM! my first run was a:

5.42!!!!!!!

I know, right!?! Okay, so if you don't know me, you probably don't understand the significance of that little number, so let me explain. I have always been, well, that slow kid that people mistake as looking really fast. When I first started playing rugby I weighed a buck fifteen and ran a 6.6 (wow) 40 yard time. Ridiculous. Luckily at u19 tryouts fate intervened and something happened to cause us to NOT time 4o's (thank the good Lord). Since that time, I have been able to lower my 40 to somewhere around a 5.9-6.1. Still not so hot (okay, so terrible) but an improvement. As time has gone on and I have advanced to higher levels, my 40 has kind of been my thorn in my side - an achilles heel, if you will. My goal, therefore, has been to lower it to a 5.7 flat - that's all I asked...

So imagine my sheer disbelief and utter amazement when I saw this time written down beside my name after my first run. "No f***ing way" was all I said to my coach". I then proceeded to find my way to the back of the line and prayed to all that was good and holy that I wouldn't run through the second time and pull a more likely 5.9...

So what happened? Another 5.42? Or did I clock something like a 6.1 and accept the first run as a fluke....welll.....I ran a:

5.61!!!

Yeah, I know!! Not as fast as the first run, but WHO FREAKING CARES!!! That's still over two tenths of a second faster than my previous fastest time. To check for accuracy, I went over and checked out everybody elses times - completely normal, if not a little on the slow side. Could it be? Am I no longer the slow kid??? I really really REALLY hope so. Average those babies out and you get a solid 5.51...an AVERAGE of a 5.51!!! I'm sorry...I just can't contain myself.

We'll be timing again next week and so I'll find out just how accurate these things are in a hurry...for now, I'll just enjoy this momentary blissssss =)