"How the West was Run, YEEEHHAAAWWW!"

Whooohooo! Early this morning I ran in Grantsville, Maryland in Garrett County after finishing in the top ten in the first annual Grantsville Days 5K at the Grantsville Town/Area Park! I recently found out that running events in Garrett County (apparently Maryland's largest county) were rather slim pickin's, so it was a blessing to have found and finished this one. As of today, I have run races in every far western Maryland county within the month (by that I mean the ones to the far west like Allegany, Garrett and Washington Counties). Such wonderful fortune, in less than a week I finished races in both Allegany and Garrett Counties, the two western-most counties in Maryland if I have my geography right!
I definitely ran a lot better than I intended at this race. I came to the Grantsville Days 5K (part of the Grantsville Days festival) on probably no more than four hours of sleep (I had trouble falling a sleep last night, probably from being anxious of all the upcoming races) and then I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and I had trouble falling back asleep. I was definitely blessed enough to make it there and back without any traveling or logistical complications. I was expecting to run somewhere between 19:20ish-19:50ish on the balanced course that had plenty of solid uphills and downhills, an expectation based on my recent running and the fact I had run in two races earlier this week and that I may do another one tomorrow too. The race started going up hill and I was already huffing and puffing at the top of it, barely a couple of minutes into the race. I thought to myself already my hopes of having a strong performance were dwindling and that I only had to deal with this for about seventeen more minutes if I kept up a decent pace. I went through the first mile in about six minutes flat (a little faster than I intended, but that's normal for me), and shortly after that, the course had a couple of strong downhills and I ended up going through the second mile in about 11:36 (meaning my second mile was about 5:36, both of my mile and two mile times being faster than my mile and two mile race times at the Allegany County cross country running event earlier this week on Tuesday in the Paris N. Glendenning Park) I ended up having a fairly strong finish, crossing the line in about 18:36 (18:37 based on their clock, since I did not start my watch until I crossed the starting line and it took me about a second to do that since I started closer to the middle of the race pack). My body did not cramp up like it has been doing fairly often until like the last minute-and-a-half to two minutes of the race, and at that point I was on my way to the finish line and it did not mess me up all that much.
I was pleased to see that I finished eighth overall and that I earned a mug as a prize for finishing third in my age group (20-29)! I was definitely excited that my time was about a good 50-60 seconds faster than I intended, and faster than I've gone on some of the flatter 5K's I've done over the last month or so.
Tomorrow evening, I was intending to go all the way to the eastern end of Maryland for a Worcester County race in Berlin (the rescheduled River Run 5-Kilometer race at the River Run Community). Even though I requested off at Safeway for tomorrow afternoon and evening (after offering to get up early and work in the morning and reminding my department manager about this request), but I was still slapped on the schedule for a late afternoon-into-the-evening shift, and it seems like now there's nothing much I can do to change it (I could of course "call out"/just not show up, but that's just plain flaky and unethical to m if I did not have a good reason to call out since the schedule and us getting things done in the department are built around people being there when they should). Don't get me wrong, I was definitely disappointed. For the third time this month, my attempts to run in a running event in Worcester County were thwarted (the first two times, the races were postponed and now apparently my request to have off that evening was not honored). This is why I don't like leaving certain goal areas to chance for too long. After not having the request honored, it's a sobering reminder of how hard I may have to work/bug my manager to have the time off to run in an event, but if that event gets cancelled or postponed, I may not be able to get the time off again to go to the rescheduled event.... It just gets to me that Worcester County is the only county on the Maryland Eastern Shore that I have not run an event in this year (and if you read my previous blogs, you can probably see how much I want to get all the counties on the Maryland Eastern Shore in as soon as I can). I mean, if I were to run in an event in Worcester County now, I would have managed to pull off running in a running event in every (all nine) Maryland Eastern Shore counties in under four months, which, in my mind (and I'm sure a lotta other avid runners in that area of Maryland will agree) is no easy task!!!!! Yet, whenever I try to put a cap on it, the Worcester County running events seem to leap out of my hand like a wet escaping frog for one reason or another (and it just seems the reasons get more and more ridiculous). I mean I can understand them postponing the River Run 5K the first time for safety reasons because of that storm there the first weekend in June. Then the Splash and Dash 5K was postponed until later because I guess of "other stuff going on" (okay I guess I can buy that, I just hope that does not keep happening though), but now I can't make it to the rescheduled River Run 5K (on what looks like will be a really nice, rain-free evening) because my request to have off work at a certain time was apparently not granted (maybe deliberately, maybe it was an accident, I dunno, my manager was off today and she had gone home yesterday before I got to look at the schedule so I could not talk to her about it). I'm like, c'mon, I'm doin' things right here, I'm puttin' in my request with plenty of advance (almost two weeks worth) plus throwing in a couple of reminders in the days leading up to this weekend about it, and it still isn't granted. Man, this can't keep happening if I'm to be successful in this goal. Fortunately, though, Worcester County is one of the counties on the Maryland Eastern Shore these days that has been having more races year-around, but I want to get one of them in as soon as I can before I run into conflicts in other areas of my life. If I keep getting sidetracked because of all this stuff, I either won't be successful at this or I will be scrambling around in December, trying to look for running events in the counties I have not run in yet this year... And that's just why I do not procrastinate with this project. If I gotta run more than two or three races a week or even do more than one a day to make progress and get in goal areas where it may be difficult to find running events, then that's what it will take. I would rather be tired and worn-out from that then being stressed out about having to wait until the last minute to get in running events in certain counties.
So those are the constant worries that have wracked my mind constantly on this endeavor...
However, I know that God has a plan and He is ordering my steps in this! Perhaps if He intends for me to run in a running event in Worcester County this year, He may be preparing me for a find performance (and I might not have had it tomorrow, 'cause I may have been too tired from running a lot faster than I expected today at the Grantsville Days 5K). And hey, like I said, there are quite a few more races and other such events going on throughout this year in the Ocean City area and Wicomico County areas in general, so I'm sure it's reasonable to assume that something should work out if I keep tabs on the upcoming events (I just don't want to keep getting slipped up on something and then have to miss out on them constantly). I know in the above paragraph, it was probably a more "panicked overreaction" as some of you probably thought (especially if you are aware of a lot of the running events that go on in Worcester County). I guess that just goes to show how into this I am getting, with all of my emotions and planning, it's like I'm sitting up close to the television screen, rigid with a Nintendo controller clutched in my sweaty hands as I'm working very hard to beat a challenging videogame where enemies keep attacking the good guy/protagonist (okay, maybe that's a little far-fetched, but you get the picture :)- I just need to patient, pray, relax and recover from today's race, and see what God has in store for these coming days. Do not get me wrong, I am most certainly grateful for all that has happened for me as far as running and racing this year so far, not to mention all the progress I have made and all the awards that have come with it! I am certainly grateful to have gotten a Garrett County running event in today, running faster than I expected, and being a part of the town's history with their first Grantsville Days festival running race. Now I do not have to travel out that far in western Maryland for any more running events this year as far as this endeavor is concerned! And oh my gosh, the Queen City Striders did a wonderful job posting the results for the run and walk, as well as event photos and even video clips of it , today! Check it out on the front page of the Queen City Striders' website at: http://www.qcstriders.org/ Also, tomorrow, my morning is now free to run a race nearby in Howard County, the Damien F. Massella Run for Recovery 5K, a relatively flat 5K that I've been doing consistently since high school and throughout college that draws quite a crowd, and then I might go to a Howard County Striders volunteer bar-b-que afterwards. Of course, I'll take it easy in Damien's Run 5K because I had a harder effort today (though, with how quick that first mile is, I would not be surprised to still go through it in upper fives/lower sixes). Check out http://www.damien.tv/ for information on the Columbia, Maryland event in Howard County if any of you happen to be interested.
So yes, in conclusion, I recognize how blessed I am, it just concerns me that I have tried three times to run in a running event in a certain county, and for some reason something has always gone wrong. Thank you for being patient while I rambled on about all of it, but I also want this endeavor to be authentic from the inside out, and that involves me keepin' it real with how I feel and what I think throughout this! I continue to thank you all for your support, encouragment, support, and prayers! I am very grateful and fortunate for all of you, even if we do not know each other (yet) and for all my progress on this project! I wish others out there with similar challenges and endeavors to keep your head up always, because if you're lookin' down at what you missed, you will not be looking forward to what's ahead. It's just that simple, don't give up or wallow in discouragement for long (or not at all even).
Keep up the good work and I hope everyone continues to have a great weekend :)