Wreck-It-Ralph
Dr. Ralph Mann will forever be one of my favorite people, a man that I respect for his brain, his humor, and most importantly for never hesitating to break me down.
Of course the break down was always followed up with “homework” that I could do in order to be worthy of the title, “World Class Athlete”
We first met in 2012 when I was training in Daytona Beach with Rana Reider. I came to that training group with barely an expectation of myself after being beat down for years and years in the sport with ruthless reductions, and sub par performances.
I’m not ashamed (anymore) of how desperate I was for any sort of good thing to happen to me. I was starved for it.
But I wasn’t surprised or offended when Ralph told me how terrible I actually was at sprinting. I was terrible at everything by that time anyway- a washed up former world champion in the long jump who now couldn’t even outjump her high school self. I was consistently an 11.20ish sprinter who had run 11.05 once with my eyes closed in the outside lane at Randall’s Island because I was scared to death.
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Dr. Mann’s tent and equipment were set up in the infield of the track at Embry Riddle. Extension cords stretched like snakes across the grass. High-speed cameras were set up to capture every angle and expose every mistake.
“Tee!” Rana yelled to me across the track as I wrapped up my warm up. He introduced me to Dr. Mann and they both explained the purpose of the day’s session.
I was primed for Dr. Mann by Coach Brooks Johnson who linked physics to sport for me in a way that no one else had. Before that the concepts were introduced to me in highschool at an Olympic Development camp where I met Randy Hunington, Caryl Smith (Gilbert), Ritchie Mercado, and beloved Tony Wells. My foundational love for science I owe to incredible teachers I had at Windsor Elementary, Northwood Junior High, and Elyria High School and my mama- who put me in College for Kids most summers on a STEM track before it was cool.
There are few moments in life when you can actually feel how everything you’ve done or been through has led you to an exact moment. But that’s how I felt being in THAT training group at that time and meeting Dr. Mann that day.
My brain and heart were open to receiving whatever criticism he/they could dish out. And I learned recently through therapy that my insatiable need to prove myself created the perfect conditions for what would become one of my most important partnerships.
Before that day, I just wanted to earn enough money, consistently, to pay tuition, rent, buy groceries and gas so that I could move on from the sport that was breaking my heart. Notorious for staying in unsatisfying relationships for way too long I again gave track and field (and as a result myself) another chance by seeking Rana out.
Nichole Denby was my roommate at a little known meet deep in Ghana where she spent hours talking and I listening about her next move: Daytona Beach. I lived just 30 minutes away at the time- and I thought this must be a sign. I was a student at UCF at the time studying Molecular and Microbiology ready to pull the trigger on my plan B: medical school- if I could just secure the funds. I needed just enough coaching to make me competitive again. If I could get competitive again I could make $500-$1000 here and there. John Nubani, my agent at the time, could put together a string of meets that could have me in Europe the entire summer, and I’d stay gone unitl I could afford my life back in America.
But that mindset changed that day. The day I met Dr. Mann, my personal “wreck-it-Ralph” who made me see, for perhaps the first time, that I did not have to naturally be the most talented, I didn’t have to have a big contract, or be a favorite- I just had to learn. And then I had TO DO.
He wrecked my plans to quit track and field.
Wrecked my fixed mindset.
Wrecked my mechanics.
Wrecked my expectations.
Wrecked my mediocrity.
I took those words, that feedback, those criticisms and changed my posture, my form, my technique.
I dreamt models and stick figures, and 3 meter tests, and block clearances.
Between classes I walked with high knees and dorsiflexed feet trying to retrain and unlearn what I thought I knew about efficient sprinting.
When he returned for the follow-up session months later he was so proud of me. He and Rana intimated that they expected to see something “pretty cool” from me on the sprint side.
I still wasn’t a believer in Tianna Thee Sprinter, but I did know that the better my sprint form the better my jumps could be. And I was hoping that at the very least I could stop embarassing myself in the jumps now that I knew how to handle the runway like an adult with consistency, power, and speed.
But he wrecked that too.
Because we went to Arkansas. Where I was entered in the 60 and the Long Jump. And I won, beating Veronica Cambell, and Allyson, and others I had no business beating, in a time I had never imagined I could run: 7.02
7.02- me. Tianna the Ohioan who’s personal best out of high school was 11.72, personal best in college 7.24 and 11.40, A long jumper with two world championship gold medals from 2005 and 2006 and NADA for the following six years.
Tianna, stepped out on faith, science, and execution. Because Dr. Mann, his cameras, and his computer- showed me what was possible and what I could do, with my brain. Couple that with optimizing other areas of fitness and wellness and what do you get?
A washed up long jumper making the Olympic Team in the 100 meter dash and running one of the best first legs ever on the best 4x100m relay team EVER.
Writing this now, about him, I realize that now, as a coach myself I model him. Talent helps for sure, but know-how, and a willingness to do what you know matters most.
And I thank him for that. Because I was NEVER the girl that was chosen, never the athlete that was the favorite, never a top pick or first choice (and of course in hindsight the temptation is to say that I was- but I was there. I had a front row seat to this sport not checking for me lol.)
But Dr. Mann taught me that I could simply do it for myself. He taught me that if I could learn it, I could do it.
He taught me that my brain mattered as much as my body.
He taught me that it doesn’t much matter what you feel or expect because the data does not lie.
I haven’t written a blog post in nearly a year, my longest streak of inactivity with “the pen” since 2017.
I guess I can say, he wrecked that too.
I love you Dr. Mann- thank you for it all.
