"Turtle Power!"

Kind of a silly inspirational moment, I was chillin' by my relatives' hot tub in San Diego, by myself with my feet in the water, and my hands on my Gameboy Advance as I was playin' "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 - Fall of the Foot Clan", a Gameboy game made back around 1990. Being on vacation and around my younger cousins, I guess I've sorta let my younger side out. Anyway, I bought this game the other week and started playin' it a few days ago. I played it once when I was a little kid at my friend James' house, and I remembered it was hard, I hardly got very far at all. Well, now that I gues I'm a little older or whatever, I was able to have a much more easier and fun time with it, and I barely ended up beatin' the game today, as I was chillin' by the hot tub with my feet in the water. I was on my last life, down to my last hit point, and I beat the last stage boss ("Krang"), and ended up beating the game (as Donatello, the Ninja Turtle with the purple headband).

At first I thought that that did not take too long to beat, but then I remembered how hard it was to even learn how to play that game as a little kid. That quickly led me to think about my running, and how I'm blessed to now be running times consistently that I would have struggled immensely to hit several years back. It's a positive sign of improvement. This experience with beating a video game I used to have so much trouble with reminded me that just because something appears insurmountable at first, that does not mean it is not meant to be achieved. The night that I thought up this goal, I felt a heavy burden sorta just take over my mind, becaus I knew it seemed very challenging, yet doable if I planned and strategized well. The more and more I plugged away at it with the possibility of achieving this goal in mind, the more and more realistic it became.... And now here I am with three more Maryland counties left in my goal this year, and just about all the tougher ones completed. I know there will be some more year-around running events in the remaining counties coming up, I just have to be patient and take advantage of them as soon as I can.

Anyway, tough, beating the game helped inspire me to know that just because something worthwhile seems impossible at first, it is not always that way until you persevere to pursue it. God has been great in working through many things to keep me motivated and focused on this, and I hope that if you think some of this is corny (hey I had fun playing the video game), I hope you come away from this a little more motivated. God may allow challenges to come into your life, and even if you feel you are down to your "last life, last hit point" or whatever and you are just flailing desperately about (kinda like I was when I was fighting that last stage boss in the game), He has a plan with your success and success in mind, and even though it may not turn out the way you envision it, sometimes over time you will come to understand the why and how of the reasons why things worked out the way that they did. Do not give up on something that means so much to you and that you feel called to pursue, no matter how discouraged or run down you may feel... Your victory could very well be close at hand!

Just thought I'd share that cool experience with all of you, thank you for reading.

"COWABUNGA!!!!!"

Running Events I have done this year as of Friday, July 6, 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 – 5:51
- Two mile race – 7th overall – 12:37

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 :-)

- 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 J)

Frederick County – Nothing yet

Garrett County
- 1st Annual Grantsville Days 5K – Saturday, June 23, 2007 – Grantsville – 8th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 18:37 (clock), 18:36 (watch)

Harford County
- 2nd annual Eden Mill 5-Miler (4.8 miles approximately) – Sunday, July 1, 2007 – Eden Mill Park, Pylesville – 2nd overall – 30:37 (clock), 30:35 (watch)

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 :)

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

- 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 :)

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

- Damien F. Massella Run for Recovery 5K – Sunday, June 24, 2007 – Columbia – 52nd overall – 19:58.12 (clock), 19:55 (watch)

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 Foundation’ss 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
- Francis Scott Key Family Resort “Dash and Splash” Run/Walk Series 5K Race#3 at Stephen Decatur High School (on the track) – Saturday, June 30, 2007 – Berlin – 1st overall/only finisher – 18:52 (clock), 18:50 (watch) – Finished out the Maryland Eastern Shore portion of my endeavor with this event :)

Events outside of Maryland

California

San Diego County
- 30th Annual Scripp’s Ranch Old Pros Run and Bike 10K and 2-mile Fun Run (10K) – Wednesday, July 4, 2007 – Scripp’s Ranch neighborhood, San Diego – 73rd overall-39:08 (clock), 39:05/39:06 (chip)

Delaware

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

District of Columbia – Washington

- Hugh Jascourt Memorial Four Miler – Thursday evening, June 21, 2007 – Northwest Washington D.C./C&O Towpath area – 17th overall – 26:04 (clock), 26:01 (watch)