School's Out, YAHOOO!

Hi there, just got in from Wilde Lake High School, where I've been subbing for close to two months with the special education students. Today was the last day of school for the Howard County Public School System schools and it had gotten pushed back this far into June because of the snow days earlier this year. I'm going to miss that school and many of the people who work there and attend. I worked with some cool people on the staff, as well as met some neat students both in the regular education and special education programs. It was nice to meet some of the teens on the cross country and track & field teams as well as the coaches. Plus there was a young guy in one of the gym classes I worked in who recently teamed up with his day in his first triathlon at the Pocomoke Triathlon earlier this month in Worcester County, Maryland.

I served as a student assistant, pretty much working one-on-one with a student (or small groups of them) and I enjoyed doing that, even though sometimes it took patience and there were tedious moments that just caused me to daydream (and I daydreamt of this goal a lot no less)... I would like to return to work at that school some more come late August when the school year starts again, preferably as a full-time instructional assistant (I.A.) or student assistant (S.A.), but we'll see what happens and where I can be fit in.

Even if I worked at another school, I think I would be fine. I would prefer Wilde Lake High School just because I've come to know some of the staff and I seem to click well with some of the students there. I think it's a valuable thing, patience, and working with those who are less fortunate than myself (such as physically/mentally disabled folks who are younger than me) helps build that up. Doin' simple and common things that help me get by, such as being able to go to the bathroom by myself, dressing myself, being able to form complete sentences... Those are things that some others struggle epically to do, and it can really make their entire day, if not week if they can pull off what common folks can do at the drop of the proverbial hat. I honestly think it's a rewarding way to serve and to meet people who value and care about the less fortunate. I also find that working in a school system, usually means a very firm and reliable schedule (pretty much workin' mornings to afternoons) with many evenings, weekends, and holidays off (a wonderfully accomodating schedule for family stuff, social stuff, running events, and also time to go to meets in case I end up helping to coach a running team). I hear the benefits are really solid too in addition to the salary. Though, aside from the lifestyle and pay, I think it is a strong way to serve people the way they are meant to be served, especially for the students. I know it may sound like a cliche, but I've come to believe more and more that a good solid teacher/mentor can really help make the difference for them in making important choices in their lives.

In middle school, I felt like I was gettin' into a pretty low spot... Didn't have many friends, got into a lotta trouble it seemed, lacked hope, inspiration, and solid vision for the future... Fortunately, towards the end of middle and into high school, there were some teachers and coaches and teammates who had a great influence on me and inspired me to be a good student, a kinder person, and a diligent teammate. Running no doubt played a large role in that and all those blessings have helped to motivate me to this unique goal that I'm goin' after now.

And on that note...

LAST NIGHT I GOT A RUNNING EVENT IN ALLEGANY COUNTY IN!!!! WHOOOHHOOOO!!!!

For those of you who are not too familiar with the state of Maryland, Allegany County is far to the west in Maryland and includes towns/cities like Cumberland, Frostburg, Little Orleans, and Lonaconing. There's a Cumberland-based running club that puts on a lotta events in Allegany and Garrett Counties called the Queen City Striders (http://www.qcstriders.org/) and yesterday evening at the Paris N. Glendenning Park in Frostburg, I ran the Queen City Striders Junior Striders summer meet #2, which included a cross country one-mile race and a cross country two-mile race (the two mile course was pretty much the one-mile course twice). It was set up like the Tom Ausherman Memorial Series cross country race I ran in Washington County a coupla weeks back. Yesterday evening, my times were not all that good, but I was definitely glad to have gotten the event in in a county that was a little over two hours from my house, and I ran both races. In the one-mile, I ran a 5:52 and placed second, and in the two-mile race, I ran about 12:37/12:38 and placed seventh overall. The course was kinda tough goin' up hill and then having some strong downhills during the second portion of the course (and I don't do cross country downhills all that well any more, I guess it's because of quite a few past injuries), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was definitely a blessing that they still had it, because it was raining and thundering a few hours before the event. I knew I was taking a risk in going out to the race, because if the weather was really rough, I'm sure it would have been cancelled and I would have driven two-plus hours out there for a cancelled/postponed race. That wouldn't have been too delightful, but fortunately God held the storms at bay it seemed and according to my dad this morning after checking out the weather, he said that the storms had skirted around us. I was definitely relieved and I was glad that God answered my prayers of allowing for that event to happen, 'cause who knew with everything else going on with my job at Safeway and with other counties I want to run running events in, when the next time I would be able to make it out to Allegany County for a running event would be.

I'm hoping for similar blessings in the future, in the near future I'm hoping to make some more progress towards this goal. As of today, I'm back to working one job consistently for the next coupla months or so, and then I'll most likely take up subbing again if I don't get back into Wilde Lake High School. This will leave me a little more time to keep up with my journals, updates, and more importantly, my health on this project. I will have a little more time to eat, sleep, train, and have fun too :)

We'll see what happens with the future events, I'm looking forward to them. School may be out, but there are still lessons to be learned for sure.

Running Events I have done this year as of Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Maryland

Allegany County
- Queen City Striders Junior Striders Cross Country meet (1 mile and 2 mile) – Tuesday evening, June 19, 2007 – Paris N. Glendenning Park/Frostburg
- One mile race – 2nd overall – 5:52
- Two mile race – 7th overall – 12:37/12:38

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
- Survivor Harbor 7-mile/3-mile – Sunday, June 10, 2007 – Baltimore City – 2nd overall (3-mile run) – 17:56 (clock), 17:53 (watch)

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

– PopPop and Pinhead Trail Scramble (about 5-6 miles) – Saturday, June 9, 2007 - Perry Hall/Gunpowder Falls State Park area – 5th overall - 52:14

Calvert County – Nothing yet

Caroline County
- Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day Fun Run (10K) – Saturday, April 21st, 2007 – Ridgley – 1st overall – 37:59 PR (Personal Record/best time in that distance!!!!! :)

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 (1st in male 20-29 age group) – 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 :)

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) – 1:15:01 (clock), 1:14:57 (watch)

Montgomery County
- Gaithersburg Firebirds 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 :)

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 :)

Washington County
- Tom Ausherman Memorial Series #1 (2-mile/1-mile) – Tuesday, June 5, 2007 – Hagerstown – 6th overall(2-mile race) – 11:36

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