Nice Sunday!

well some good and bad news on today's racing front. I'll start with the more disappointing news, but then move onto the better stuff. First off, after finishing up at the Run4Fun 5K in Elkton (Cecil County), MD, I was driving towards Worcester County (it was gonna be a haul across the MD Eastern Shore that's for sure) for the River Run 5K around Berlin this evening, when I get a call from the race director saying that because of the weather, they have to reschedule it to Sunday evening, June 24th. Oh man! I was pretty much lookin' forward to that race the most this weekend, because that was the only county on the MD Eastern Shore that I had not run a running event in. Good things happened for me in the previous two races this weekend, but for some reason that all got drowned out in a moment in the rain pouring all around me as I drove in a bitter daze towards the small towns and open fields of Queen Anne's and Caroline Counties. For a good portion of the afternoon I felt down about it, and it just put me in a dismal mood. It was nice it was postponed, but I did not want to have try and pull any more strings than I feel like I have to request another day off so I can have time to go out there and do that race, plus that's the same day as the Damien F. Massella Run for Recovery 5K, a very fast and popular 5K that I've become a regular at these past several years. Even though Damien's Run is in the morning and the River Run is at night, for some reason I did not want to have to deal with both and having to ask off work to run them both on that Sunday (though, if I had to choose, I would probably have chosen the River Run 5K over Damien's this year just for the sake of progress on my goal). Plus, I knew that there was going to be another Francis Scott Key Resort Splash and Dash 5K series race in Worcester County this coming Saturday morning (and I do have that Saturday), but it seems quite expensive and it may require me to actually have to go into Ocean City to pick up my race bib and all that, and then go a little westward to Stephen Decatur High School where the actual race would be held, and I may be really pressed for time in getting back to work. For some reason, I felt like I had a lotta decisions to make on my tentative schedule, and man was I tired.

Well one good thing was that I got back to Howard County a lot earlier than I intended since the River Run was postponed (and I probably saved on gas and did not get stuck back there in tight traffic and the rough rain storm brewin' over there). Instead, I was able to make it to Grace Community Church, where they have their Fusion (young adult ministry) service, and the guy speaking seemed to speak right to my situation. He was talking about temptation as well as the difference between faith and hope. He helped remind me that faith in God is faith based on Him and His promises, while hope involves wanting something that is not there. For example, I wanted the River Run to be on, so that I could have done a running event in every county on the Maryland Eastern Shore within a year like I wanted, but that did not happen. But let's be fair, I don't think God promised that I would be able to make that race either (that's why in previous posts I'm like "if I make that event...") From then on, the speaker said things that made me realize and be reminded that I must continue to trust God and know that everything happens for a reason. Just because I did not get to run the event I wanted did not mean that I would not have other opportunities to run events in Worcester County. I had become so fixated on that event at the EXCLUSION of some of the other things that went on. Maybe that is a race He wants me to run, maybe not. Maybe God knew that I would not perform as well since I have not slept all that great this weekend and that I had already run two 5K races, so maybe if I ran a different one in that county, I would run and perform better. Who knows. The message was about not manipulating God to bend to my plans, but to learn to cooperate with His. Time and again He's proven His plans are better than my own.... And wouldn't you know it, I found out that the Splash and Dash race this coming Saturday in Worcester County is apparently not going to require participants to pick up their race necessities in Ocean City, but at Stephen Decatur High School, the race site itself. Plus it's apparently going to be cross country, a kind of environment where I have surprisingly had some solid races this past year. So yea, now I'm definitely lookin' forward to that on Saturday and then scramblin' back to Howard County for my work shift. Plus, I'm also lookin' forward to Washington County's cross country race at Hagerstown Community College (the first Tom Auschermann's series 2-mile/1-mile) in the Hagerstown area. I have off that Tuesday night (and this time I looked at the weather report, hopefully it stays dry), so I'm lookin' forward to more progress in western Maryland in the near future. On that note, I took a good gander at the Queen City Striders' website (http://www.qcstriders.org) a huge western-Maryland-based running club that has a lot of their races in Allegany and Garrett counties (and some in West Virginia too even) and they had quite a few events comin' up this month and in July for Allegany and Garrett, so I'm hoping I might even have some opportunities to get out there!

Also, feelin' a little bitter and upset about the postponement of the River Run, I almost forgot about the fact that yesterday I got a running event in in Saint Mary's County yesterday (and even won it and ran stronger there than I had in the past month), and then earlier today there was the 4th annual Run4Fun in Cecil County. That race was cool, a lotta friendly folks. I intended to take it easier there and what hills there were were not too bad at all. I felt my legs go leaden/cramp up on that last mile and my form began to fall apart, but I was blessed enough to hold it together and finish fifth overall and first in the 20-29 year age-group. I might have been able to push it a little harder had I know I was only going to run that one event that day instead of two, but it was probably better for my body. I ran 19:29, which was actually faster than the 19:40-19:50 times I was hopin' for.

Definitely some good blessings to count. I guess I just felt the wind sorta knocked outta me for a while there, because I was really gettin' ready to be all happy about finishing up the Maryland Eastern Shore portion of this goal. Oh well, like I said, maybe I'll be in better shape to have a stronger performance in Worcester County than I would have had a run the River Run this evening! I'm definitely glad I made it into church and got to prayerfully talk to God about what was on my mind and feel His comfort and reassurance that I should not be worked up about this, that it is all part of a better Plan!

All right, thanks for reading. Hopefully some more interesting things to follow in the near future. Have a good night and I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend!

Running Events I have done this year as of Sunday June 3, 2007

Maryland

Allegany County – Nothing yet

Anne Arundel County
– Governor’s “Non-Bay Bridge” Run (2.93 miles) – Sunday, May 6, 2007 - Sandy Point State Park/Annapolis – 8th overall (1st in 20-24-year-old age group) – 18:09 (clock), 18:07 (my watch)

Baltimore City – None yet, but hopefully soon!

Baltimore County
– Patapsco State Park Avalon area trail race (a little over 6 miles) – Sunday, May 13th, 2007 – Near University of Maryland-Baltimore County/Arbutus area – 18th overall – 58:03

Calvert County – Nothing yet

Caroline County
- Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day Fun Run (10K) – Saturday, April 21st, 2007 – Ridgley – 1st overall – 37:59 PR!!!!! J

Carroll County
- Westminster Road Runners Club (W.R.R.C.) Predicted Time Four-Miler – Saturday, March 10, 2007 – Westminster/Bachman Valley area – 2nd person in, 14th closest to predicted time – 25:34 (my predicted time was 27:00, I was 1:26 fast, whoops J-)

- Andy Hayes Memorial 5K Run – Saturday, April 7, 2007 – Westminster/near Farm Museum – 2nd overall – 18:47

Cecil County
- Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area (N.M.R.A.) Fools Frolic 22K (I ran the much shorter 5-6 mile route) – Sunday, April 1, 2007 – Fair Hill/Elkton – First person in, but it was not much of a race, just pretty much me and another gentleman chillin’ and chattin’ our way through – 1 hour, 21 minutes, 55 seconds

- Run4Fun 5K Run/Walk – Sunday, June 3, 2007 – Elkton – 5th overall (1st in 20-29 year-old age group) – 19:29

Charles County
- Civista Health Services Run for Wellness 5K – Sunday, May 20, 2007 – LaPlata – 5th overall – 19:14 (clock), 19:08 (chip)

Dorchester County
- Dorchester Family YMCA Healthy Kid’s Day Fun Run (1.9 miles, mainly flat cross country) – Saturday, April 14, 2007 - Cambridge – 1st overall – 10:54 (ran negative splits too J)

Frederick County – Nothing yet

Garrett County – Nothing yet

Harford County – Nothing yet

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Winter Series (a.k.a. “Operation Iceberg”) # 3: Atholton High School 5 Kilometer – Sunday, January 21, 2007 – Columbia – 15th overall – 19:43

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #4: Thunder Hill Elementary School 2miles – Sunday, January 28, 2007 - Columbia - 30th overall - 20:17

- Penguin Pace 5K – Sunday, February 4, 2007 – Columbia – 8th overall (1st in 20-29 age group) – 18:43.86

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #6: Thunder Hill Elementary School 2 miles – Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Columbia – 2nd overall – 11:52 (my best time on that course J)

- Outback’s 5K for the YMCA – Sunday, March 11, 2007 – Ellicott City – 9th overall – 18:01.05 (clock), 17:59/18:00 (my watch)

- H.C.S. Spring Series Race (“Vernal Velocity) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 2 miles – Sunday, April 1, 2007 - Ellicott City/Columbia area – 2nd overall – 10:51 (best time on the course J)

- Inaugural Musical Madness 5K – Saturday, May 12, 2007 – Maple Lawn/Fulton/Scaggsville – 7th overall (1st in 20-29 age group category) – 18:48.71

Kent County
- 31st Annual Chestertown Tea Party Distance Classic (10 miler) – Saturday, May 26, 2007 – Chestertown – 31st overall (2nd in 20-24 age group) – 1:14:57

Montgomery County
- Gaithersburg Fireirds Track one mile race – Thursday, April 12, 2007 – Gaithersburg – 3rd overall – 5:04

Prince George’s (P.G.) County – Nothing yet

Queen Anne’s County
- Shore Christian Fellowship Church’s Inaugural Race to Impact (10K) – Saturday, March 24th, 2007 – Chester/Kent Narrows/Kent Island (it was all on the shaded Cross Island Trail) – 1st overall – 38:51

Somerset County
- 2nd Annual McCready Health Services Foundations Founder’s Day 8K Run & 2-mile walk (8K) – Saturday, May 5, 2007 (El Cinco de Mayo) – Crisfield – 1st overall – 31:58 (ran faster there this year than last year J)

Saint Mary’s County
- National Trails Day 5K (it was a little more than that, probably closer to 3.5 miles) – Saturday, June 2, 2007. – Historic St. Mary’s City area – 1st overall – 21:38

Talbot County
- Oxford Day 10K – Saturday, April 28, 2007 – Oxford – 1st overall – 38:35 (big improvement over last year’s time here, and a well-paced race on a relatively short amount of sleep J)

Washington County – Nothing yet

Wicomico County
- Salisbury University Track & Field’s Seagull Home Opener Meet – Saturday, March 3, 2007 – Salisbury
- 1500 meter run – 7th overall – 4:48.7
- 800 meter run - 2nd overall – 2:12.5
- 4X400 meter relay (alumni team) – 4th overall (1st alumni team) – 4:01.5

- 4th Annual Tim Kennard 5 mile River Run and 3 mile walk – Sunday, March 4, 2007 – Salisbury – 14th overall (3rd in the 20-24 age group division) – 31:25 (clock), 31:14 (chip – Nice performance for me that surpassed my expectations, especially after running three track races less than twenty-four hours ago J)

Worcester County – Nothing yet

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County
- March Moonlight Madness 5K – Thursday, March 1, 2007 – Wyoming – 2nd overall (1st in male 20-29 age group division) – 18:28