C. Rod Qualifies for London | 2012 Olympic Journey | Taking London Ep. 5

My
season is going very well now. I just qualified for the 2012 London Olympics. I qualified
on the 5th, which was three days before the deadline. So, definitely going well. With
that in mind, my training has gotten a lot more intense. It's gotten intense, but at
the same time, I would say, the moral has gotten better. More so -- was trying to get
the mark, trying to get the mark, trying to qualify. Now, it's like, I qualified and so
-- it's more so like a confidence builder. And it's more so something like, I can just
have fun and just focus on training and have fun. It's not more so like trying to get a
marker, chase a time. It's more about: I'm here, I'm on this big, center stage in front
of the world, and I get to just have fun and run and do something that I love doing. That's
the best part about it. Because I didn't qualify in Jamaica. I had hit the mark -- I was very
close to the mark. I was 800s of a second off the mark. And so, when I flew back to
Jamaica, it was kinda like: Okay, if I don't run another meet, I'm not gonna make it. Mind
you, the deadline is on July 8, and this was July 2. So my agent had talked about a meet
down in Canada, and she was like: You know what, I think it would be a really good idea
for you to go to Canada and try this one last time. Like, one more time. When I got there,
was still running the course. I warmed up as usual. My body felt really good. I woke
up the next morning, I thought my legs were gonna be tired. My legs felt great the next
day. I took all my vitamins -- I felt great. So with the track, I'm warming up, felt good,
you know, ignored the rain or whatever, and I just kinda was like: Okay, this is it. Like,
this is it. If I don't make this -- if I don't hit this mark at this meet, I'm not going
to London. And, like I said, the type of athlete I am, I tend to do better, not even athlete,
person just in general, like, I tend to work better under pressure. I tend to do better
when I feel like I have a lot at risk. I feel like when I'm in this mode of like: I have
to go get it -- it comes a lot easier versus me being in a situation where I'm kinda relaxed
and I'm like: Oh I have another chance. I have another -- no. I need to be pushed to
the limit. I rise to the occasion. That's what I do. I feel like I rise to the occasion,
I rise to the competition, whatever it is, like, I'm gonna do it. If I have my mind set
to it, and I feel like the pressure, I feel it -- I don't crack under pressure. I feel
more so like it drives me more to go and get it. You know, I like to be against the odds.
So, pretty much in that race, I went into the mindset thinking: Okay, Carol, you know
what you went through. You just sat on this long flight. You just sat on a second flight
from where you just came from in Jamaica, and then from L.A., back. So it was kinda
like: I'm just gonna relax, I'm not gonna think about anything, I'm not gonna think
about what I need to do in my race, because I already know what I need to do in my race.
I kinda just zoned out, you know, and did what I had to do. I just reacted to the gun.
When I crossed that finish, I
knew I won. It's kinda like I was running her down, so I had to -- I knew I won when
I got the line. I've been running for so long. I know how to lean. I know how to dip. I know
how to get to the line. And it was like, I knew I won. I like literally like felt like
a whole weight was lifted off of my shoulders, and the first thing I did was throw my hands
up in the air and signed the cross, because it's all for him. The glory goes to him. Me
running is a gift from God. Any talent that anybody has is God-given gift. You know, we
perfect it by putting in energy and working out and sleeping and taking our vitamins,
but the talent is given from God. So automatic praise went to him, and I was just like thank
you. Hi, my name is Myeisha, but I go by Ty. I've know Carol for a while now -- maybe at
least over ten years. Yeah, about ten years. A little bit over. Everybody that sees Carol,
does see me. Anybody that see me, they're asking for her. So it's pretty much we're
never ever apart. And when we are apart, we're on the phone 24/7, calling each other, making
sure we're okay. We both give each other advice along the way. Pretty much, she knows all
my secrets, and I know all hers. So we are considered best friends, yeah. Actually, I
met her through another friend of ours named Kye Kelly. He ran track. And he introduced
us -- and ever since then, we just always been friends. When she told me, I was actually
at my house on the floor. I was actually, like, I don't know what I was doing, but I
was on the floor doing something -- I remember being on the floor. And when I got the text,
I was just screaming, I just started crying, and I was just happy, because we've been through
this journey, and it just… it's just so much work that she put in. And I've seen all
the work she's been through, and I'm just proud of her. Like, I'm gonna cry now, because
we've really been through a lot, and I'm proud of her. I'll actually be going to London to
support her. I'll be leaving August the 1st. Ready. Prepared. I have my red, white and
blue outfits. I really can't express how much fun it's gonna be for me -- I've never been
to a place like this, ever. So I'm thankful that she's given me an opportunity to be her
friend to even go and support her. So, that's another good thing about it. But I can't wait
to go to London. C. Rod is an alter-ego. Like, if you don't know Carol, you're not gonna
know C. Rod. Because when people meet her, she goes by C. Rod. Because she's a track
runner. Everybody look at her legs, her body, and their like: What do you do? And she has
to say I'm C. Rod. Pretty much, Carol, if you know her personally, then you will understand
that track is her life. And being C. Rod is all you should really know about and care
about anyway, because that what she do. My name is Jennifer Dawn, and I'm a stylist and
a designer. Today, I'm here to support my girl, C. Rod. I just ran into her for the
first time in like -- well, actually, I seen her in December for an event that I was doing.
And that was like: What are you doing here! Like, kinda just chit-chatting. We hung out
that night. But before December, I hadn't seen her in, like, some years. We went our
separate ways, and then I just seen her the other day, and she's like: Oh, I'm going to
the Olympics. I'm like: What! So then she asked me what I was up to, and I told her
I'm designing. I have an online store. And she was like: Dude, what if… And I'm like:
What if… It was like: I make some custom outfit for you. And she's like: Yeah, let's
do it. And then so, she's like: I run in socks too. You do socks? And I was like: I've never
done socks, but I could try and do some custom socks for you. So we're here today just to
kinda go over, like, what kind of fabric, what kind of patterns. I'm gonna take her
measurements and just kinda go over some different ideas with her. Okay, so today we're gonna
actually get the concept of the design, the fabric and just kinda brainstorm, and I have
some ideas I gonna share with her and then give her feedback. And we're gonna go from
there. The thing that I love about her is that she is very -- she's fast, but she's
feisty too. And she's still like a diva. She's very feminine. So I definitely wanna capture
that. Like, she's like -- she's a girly girl, but she's a beast at the same time. So, I
kinda wanna capture all that. Like, the tough girl, but then: Don't trip, I'm cute too.
Like, I wanna capture that whole thing with her. So, her personality kinda matches, like,
the type of stuff that I do. Definitely something that's stretchy, so she can move and she can
breathe in it. And just something -- just something that kinda matches her personality.
The sock thing. The sock thing. That started back in 2000? 2000 -- when I first started
running. And, you know, that was my little swag thing. I used to wear like the socks.
Like, everybody had their little thing they did. And I would wear like one sock, two sock.
That was like my whole little -- it kinda gave me more confidence. It was like: Okay,
I got the socks on, so I can't be coming in last place with these socks. Because like:
She has the socks, so she gotta run fast. So it was kinda like that -- kinda a joking
thing. But then when I got to SC, you know, my first years in there, I had -- I would
wear the cardinal the one side and the gold the other side. And that was like my signature.
That became like 'it'. Cardinal and gold sock. There she is with her cardinal and gold sock.
And that was like my signature. I loved it. You know, even in '08 in the Olympics, if
you look back, our colors are red, white and blue, not like USA. The blue's more of an
electric, loud blue. And I had a red sock and a electric, loud blue sock in Beijing,
and that was my thing. And since I've been out of school, you know, I've been running
and I had like a crazy career. And it's been good, it's been bad. Ups and downs, highs
and lows. And it was kinda like I didn't really wear my sock thing anymore, because it was
kinda like, I don't wanna say I stopped having fun running for awhile, but I kinda had some
different situations where, you know, change of coach and injuries. And so, it was kinda
like I stopped wearing the socks for awhile. And I never forgot about them. I just kinda
shelved them for a little bit. 2012, I bringing them back, because for my last race in Canada,
the race I said: Okay, this race, I need to qualify. And I said: You know what, this is
my last race, and I'm gonna bring the socks back, and this is it. This is all in or nothing.
It's the clutch, it's like the playoff. It's like -- it's like anything you need. It's
all in or nothing. So I said: You know what, I'm gonna bring my socks back, because that's
gonna give me more confidence. It's gonna give me -- it's gonna bring back the fun of
this sport, you know, for me at least. Like, I like to put the socks on -- it kinda adds
kiddy side of me. It's fun. So I put the socks on and got my mark in the socks, so now the
socks have to stay. They can't go. The socks are back. They'll be in London. I'm actually
getting some cool socks -- something different. I like -- I'm edgy. I like different things.
So, definitely gonna have the high socks. Don't know exactly what the design or pattern's
gonna be, but they're gonna be there. They have to be there, because I made my mark in
them.