Well I ain't beatin' around the bush on this one, I intend to spend a good portion of Labor Day Weekend hopin' to get in at least three road races, each one for various reasons!!!!!
First, tomorrow mornin' (Saturday, September 1, 2007) I hope to get up really early and head over to Crisfield, Maryland for another Somerset County event. This weekend they are having the 60th Annual National Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield and in addition they are having the 28th Annual Mike Sterling 10K as part of the festivities (I think I got the years on these events right, please correct me if I am mistaken)! I enjoy Crisfield and I have had good experiences running there for McCready Health Services Foundation's Founder's Day 8K in May of 2006 and of this year. Last summer around Labor Day Weekend, I stayed with friends in Salisbury, Maryland (it's in Wicomico County, not too far from Crisfield), and came for the Mike Sterling 10K. However, it had been really rainy and some parts of the course were flooded so Mike Sterling, the gentleman who the event is named after, helped set up a quick improvised 5K Fun-Run where we simply went out-and-back on Route 413, starting and ending in the Depot area of Crisfield. This year, hopefully the weather will not be so rough and I can get the full Mike Sterling 10K experience. Running events in Somerset County, Maryland seem hard to come by, at least for me as I live almost three hours away.
Hopefully after the race, I can make it to Winter Place Park in Salisbury to watch Salisbury University's Cross Country Teams compete in their first meet of the season gainst some other schools. It will be great to see the coaches and some old team mates. In addition, I may see some other friends from college as well if time permits. After that I may do an errand or two and then head back to the Crab Derby for an armwrestling contest. I've always had fun arm-wrestling and I seem to do all right with it. This will probably be my first offical match, so I think it will be interesting, I hope I do not get hurt!
Sunday, I hope to be back home because... I FOUND A RACE IN PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY TO DO!!!! WHOOHOOO!!! Prince George's County is one of two Maryland counties where I have not run in a running event yet, and I hope to make it. It is in the Greenbelt area of Maryland and it is called the Larry Noel Greenbelt 15 & 3K. It is put on by the D.C> RoadRunners (hence the image near the top of this post). It is on Sunday evening (September 2nd), and I hope to make it and have a really strong finish! I have never run a 15K (I decided to be courageous and try it over the 3K, even though I would probably perform a little bit better at that distance int he shape I'm in), so it should be interesting. My best ten-mile time is 1:04:42 thereabouts, and I can only assume that maybe my 15K (which is about 9.3 miles) split was somewhat close to under an hour. I do not think I will be going at any PR pace, but you never know and I certainly want to do better than just sloggin' my way through it! Of course, what's really improtant to me is that I participate and have a good time!
Monday mornin', Labor Day (September 3rd) I am thinking of running in another Carroll County 5K. The Eldersburg Rogue Runners are helping to put on the 4th Annual (yes, I think it's the fourth one) Labor Day Rogue Race 5K which starts and ends around Liberty High School in Eldersburg, Maryland. I ran this last year not feeling well and I started off in the back, running about 20:03 on the clock and about 19:59 on my watch. I do not think I should have too much trouble surpassing that performance this year, however, if all goes as planned, I would have run in a 10K two mornings before, and then a 15K the evening before, so I'm not worrying about it too much. I want to do it because I like the event and the rather hilly course!
With these races in such a short time I hope to do them all fairly conservatively, building up my pace throughout. Like with the Mike Sterling 10K and the Labor Day Rogue Race 5K, I wanna maybe go out at around 6:30ish/upper 6:20's for the first mile, and then gradually start to build so that I hope to have a strong finish. For the Larry Noel Greenbelt 15K, I hope to go out in maybe 6:40/6:50ish, and then ever so slightly increase my pace throughout the race to have a great finish.
I'll see how this goes, I hope that I do not get hurt (granted I take time to stretch, eat, sleep, and recover well among other things). I think what's really important is that I get that Larry Noel Greenbelt 15K race in because I have not run in a running event in Prince George's County yet this year, and it's been about a month-and-a-half since I've run in any Maryland counties that I have not run in this year. I just gotta stay focused, stay healthy, and stya prayerful that everything works out. I think I'm at a level of fitness where if I act smart and pace well, this can really help strengthen me.
Since I will probably be so busy goin' to and from races (not to mention that I will probably be spending time with friends and family this weekend at some point), I may not have time to get anotehr good post up on how I'm doing until into next week sometime (not to mention have photos ready either, and hopefully I will take some)!
Thank you all for reading, encouraging and I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day Weekend :)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Looks like it may be a Laborious Labor Day Weekend!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Students' first day of the school year at Homewood!!!
Well today was the first day of school for the students in Howard County public schools in Maryland, and it went pretty well for me and a lot of other staff at the Homewood Center. I know there will be challenges among the small classes of students that we work with, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was nothing really bad that happened. I mean, I was expecting these students to curse me out, make fun of me and the other staff (maybe they did behind our backs), or just make a lot of noise, but they were really well-behaved! I mean, the number of curse words I heard from students today I think I could actually count on one hand, so for an alternative education school, I'd say that's pretty darn good. I am certainly grateful for that and I hope it lasts throughout the year. Hopefully with a good deal of prayer in addition to keeping in shape through running and other things, I hope that I can find the more challenging experiences at this new job manageable and that I can have a good influence on the students who may not have many.
I am sure I mentioned this briefly in an earlier post, but the Homewood Center is right down the road from the Centennial Park in Howard County, Maryland, and that's where the Columbia Triathlon, the IronGirl Triathlon, and many other events occur. I went for a run there right after work and warmed up for almost 17 minutes, cooled down for almost 13-and-a-half minutes, and then ran three-by-five minutes hard (with about three minutes walking/jogging rest in between). There were some rolling hills on the bike paths around the lake, and they were challening but nothing too enormous. According to reliable sources, it is about 2.4 miles around the lake in Centennial Park and doing three of the five minute intervals at the pace I was pushin', I was able to do a lap around with about 2:25 to spare. It was a little goal I had for myself, to make at least one lap around the lake with the intervals I was doing (and I had a little help by covering ground by slowly walking/jogging in between, but it did not seem to make that much of a difference).
I feel pretty good about the workout, and I am lookin' forward to gettin' in some races this weekend (more on that later on hopefully), so I'm thinkin' I might do a long run of about 7-8 miles tomorrow around the Centennial Park area, then an easy-to-moderate-paced 5-mile run near my house on Wednesday, then take Thursday and Friday off (possibly cross train). We'll see.
Thanks for readin' up on my progress and such, I hope you all have a good week and all the best to those returning to school, be it as a student or staff :)
Running Events I have done this year as of Monday, August 27, 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)
– 800 meters – 2nd overall – 2:21
– 3,000 meters – 2nd overall – 10:41
– John Wall Memorial Track Run (One mile) – Saturday, July 21, 2007 – Broadneck Senior High School track, Annapolis – 6th overall (1st in 20-29 year-old age group) – 4:53
- 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
- Inaugural River Valley Run 5K – Saturday, August 25, 2007 – River Valley Ranch, Manchester – 5th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 19:15 (clock), 19:13 (chip)
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
- 11th Annual Frederick Steeplechasers Run for the Pie 10K – Saturday, July 14, 2007 – Frederick 4th overall (1st in the 20-24 age group) – 42:39
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)
- Centennial Fun Run (one mile)#3 – Tuesday, July 10, 2007 – Ellicott City area – 1st overall – 5:11 (tied my second-best time on the course :)
- Centennial Fun Run (one mile)#4 – Tuesday, July 17, 2007 – Ellicott City area – 12th overall – 5:44
- H.C.S. Summer Series Race (“Summer Sizzler”) #3: Burleigh Manor Middle School 2 miles – Wednesday, July 18, 2007 – Ellicott City/Columbia area – 1st overall – 11:02
- PRE – Season Cross Country Races – Saturday, August 11, 2007 – Oakland Mills High School, Columbia
- 5K – 11th overall – 18:53 (best time on the course :)
- 3K – 5th overall – 15:12
- Emerson Community Fun Run (one mile) #6 – Tuesday, August 14, 2007 – North Laurel – 1st overall – 5:27 – Hit the fifty-races-per-year mark with this for the fifty-plus club :)
- Emerson Community Fun Run (one mile) # 7 – Tuesday, August 21, 2007 – North Laurel – 1st overall – 5:26 (my best time on the course :)
- H.C.S. Summer Series (“Summer Sizzler”) #7: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5 miles – Wednesday, August 22, 2007 – Ellicott City/Columbia area – 3rd overall – 32:33
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 – 5:04.88
- Comus Cross Country 5K – Sunday, August 12, 2007 – Comus/Dickerson – 10th overall (1st in age group division) – 20:29
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 42:04 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
- 1,500 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 :)
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
New Castle County
- 2nd Annual Wilmington Games 5K – Wednesday, July 25, 2007 – Wilmington – 5th overall (2nd in 19-29 age group division) – 19:35 (clock), 18:35 (watch-probably would have been low-to-mid 19’s since I accidentally missed a turn and cut the course a bit short near the end)
Sussex County
- 25th Annual Y.M.C.A. 5-Mile Run/Walk – Sunday, July 29, 2007 – Deauville/Rehoboth Beach area – 13th overall (1st in 20-29 age group division) – 31:59 (clock), 31:57 (watch) – Completing this race, I have run in all three Delaware counties this year!!!!!!!!! :)
- Seven Sisters, Four Brothers 6th Annual Venus on the Half Shell 5K – Saturday, August 4, 2007 – Dewey Beach – 9th overall (2nd in 20-24 age group division) – 18:36 (clock), 18:35 (watch)
- 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)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
River Valley Run 2007 Photo!!!!
Yesterday morning's River Valley Run 5-Kilometer (3.1 miles approximately) in Manchester (Carroll County), Maryland was really scenic! Here are the photos from the event. As you can tell, I definitely got into the ranch theme and ran in a cowboy hat thing (I always wanted to do that :)-
In the upper left is a photo of me that JD's co-worker, Amanda, took of me with my age group award (I took asecond in my age group)! To the right is the shaded Fort Roller area for a particular age gruop of campers. We did not run through this area, but kind of near it dduring the race. Then, in the center right is my friend, JD, and I after we finished the race! This was JD's first race in about two months or so and he was definitely glad to be back into it! The center left is a photo of a speaker speaking before the awards ceremony, on the lower right is a picture of the large finish line, and then on the lower left is a picture of the parking lot where we parked! I definitely enjoyed myself running around this camp area in Carroll County, Maryland. Although my time was not as strong as I would have liked (I expect that I could handle a little faster than a six-minute-per-mile pace for a 5k), I was glad that JD and I made it out here for this race and that I finally got in some good photos of a Carroll County running event this year!
Well thank you for reading and checkin' up on my photos. I gotta take care of some other things, like when the students start school tomorrow in Howard County, Maryland's public schools. I'm a bit anxious about it, but I am sure the Good Lord has a great Lesson Plan for this school year in play and I know in that case things will work out to some beneficial end!
I hope you all continue to have an awesome weekend, and it was good seeing some of you at the Annapolis Ten-Miler this morning in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and I hope that anyone watching the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan have fun with that. Take it easy.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
First time at River Valley Ranch!!!!
The course was mostly on shaded and hilly roads, although towards the end it went downhill and was flat through the Frontier Town part of the camp. Frontier Town was really cool because it was like running through an old time western town (ghost town in my case, because I did not notice anyone too close behind me and the people in front of me were at least twenty seconds ahead, haha). Near the end they had a little sprinkler thing we ran through (a "mist tent" I think they called it) in addition to a covered bridge goin' over a creek/river just before the finish line. I really enjoyed the course, even though my 19:13 finishing time was not that strong for me compared to other 5-Kilometer times I have run. Though, I guess I will take it considering I was tired from gettin' up so early and my right foot was kind of hurting (but fortunately my legs did not fall asleep like they did last race on Wednesday in Howard County). I know I've said it several times before throughout this year, but I hope from now on, I can put down faster 5K's in my races. At least I finished second in the male 20-29 age category and took fifth overall. WHOOHOO!!!
Hopefully soon I can put some ice on my foot too.
I would like to run this race again and hopefully run a much stronger time. I heard from the people putting this on that in the future they may try to expand this race into a 10K route. That would be cool, I am sure there would be a lot more hills!
Well I started out fairly conservatively, which I thought was smart, because most of the first half of the race was uphill. I managed to make my way up through the runners and get about 5:59 the first mile, and from then I pretty much held on to fifth place. My second mile saw me slow up, goin' through it in about 12:20. However, I must have held that pace quite well with a strong finish, because my third mile was about 18:44 with a 5K finish of 19:13 ((19:15 by their clock, but the two second discrepancy is most likely because I started a little ways back in the pack and it took me about a second or two to get up to the starting line. I know that the third mile was a 6:24 given those splits, but I must have really pushed it in with a 29-second difference between 3 miles and 3.1 miles (I do not think I have ever broken 30 seconds for the last .1 miles of a 5K). Either that or else that third mile may have been a bit long. I'm not gonna give myself a headache over-analyzin' that stuff. Either way, a 19:13 is pretty much the result of a 6:10-per-mile pace, the same pace it took to run a 12:20 two-mile distance, so therefore my face was strongly even comin' up on two miles to the end of the race! That's another plus!
Sometime soon I hope to get the photos I took of the camp and event up on this blog, but I want to get ready for bed so I can get up at least a little past five in the morning to go get good parking to watch the famous Annapolis 10-Miler at the Naval Academy's Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, the state's capital located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. I know quite a few people participating in it so I hope I can be there to support! Also I'm pretty tired from gettin' up early and goin' around Howard County with J.D. today and hangin' out with people in addition to the race.
I hope all of you have a good night and enjoy the weekend :)
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Another Howard County Striders Summer Series Race!
Didn't quite go down that way.
I ended up goin' out what I felt was fairly conservative, but I was surprised that I went through the first mile in 5:52. After that there were some uphills and I carelessly made a few wrong turns goin' a bit longer than intended, but fortunately one gentleman who knew where he was going yelled to me and corrected me. I think had I worn my glasses and been a bit more observant, I would not have tripped up on this. I went through halfway in probably low-16's (I forgot to look at my watch), then shortly afterwards, I felt my legs fall asleep a bit (but not as bad as in some other races). I was sure it was because I had probably not eaten as much or slept as much as I wanted, but I felt strong in my upper body and it helped me to run about a 6:11 last mile. I went through four miles in about 26:22 and finished in about 32:33. It certainly was not my best time on the course (30:49 back on Sunday, January 8, 2007), but I'm fine with it considering I was tired from yesterday, my left leg is recovering from the strain-like feeling. I'm sure I could have run a lot faster had my legs not fallen asleep and I'm sure I would have broken 32:30 had I not carelessly made a couple of wrong turns, but hey, sometimes running a little extra doesn't hurt :)
I hope you all have a great night out there and are enjoying the week!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Got another Emerson Community One-Mile Fun Run In!
I wanted to use this mile fun run as one of three mile repeats. However, I feel like I pulled/strained a muscle in my left knee on Sunday night (from what I'm not quite sure, it just started hurting then), and since then the pain's gone down a bit and I had not run since Sunday after hellping out at the IronGirl Triathlon in Howard County. When I warmed up this evening, I could stilll feel it a bit and decided to maybe just try and run two. I would do one before the one mile race, then do the one mile race for the second. Having people to run against might help me mentally through the fatigue of having done one mile repeat prior to it. However, my first mile repeat was relatively slow for me, only 6:23. Within about ten minutes after it, I ran the race and the same course in 5:26, one second faster than last week's time (even though I went a little further last week, so I don't think I actually ran quite as fast as last week, but at least I am consistent :) Needless to say I think it helped me to mentally push myself knowing I was in a race and I hate to say it, I think I sorta mentally "fell asleep" on that first mile repeat (and I think part of it was because I woke up in the middle of the night last night and I could not fall back asleep)
I am glad that I was able to get that workout in and upon cooling down afterwards, my left knee did not seem to hurt as much. We'll see how I feel tomorrow and then go from there!
As for my first day at the Homewood Center, it went real nicely. I met a lotta new and helpful people there, and it seems like I am going to have some good experiences working there with them. Although the students themselves don't start classes there until Monday, I am sure it will be full of challenges, but it seems like I am a part of a hard-working team that I can take pride in and hopefully come to feel comfortable around. I look forward to getting more into it and doing some training that will enhance my skills and knowledge to effectively serve as a paraeducator there!
Thank you for reading my updates, I hope you all have a good night!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Volunteered at the Ryka IronGirl Triathlon!
Hey there, just got in from the Ryka IronGirl Triathlon in Howard County, Maryland. The event started and ended by Centennial Lake in Centennial Park. The event consist of a one-kilometer (.62 miles thereabouts) swim, a 17-mile bike, and a 3.3 mile run at the end. Since it's for women I didn't participate, but volunteered. I helped out with a Team in Training water stop right as the participants finished the biking portion and started on the running portion of the triathlon. It was definitely a lot of fun and time went by fast. While I'm not (yet) a member of Team in Training, my friend Allison was one of the participants I knew doing this event and I went out to cheer her on and she mentioned the Team in Training water stop as a good opportunity and I was able to help out there. It was a good time and I met some cool people, and my friend Allison did real well, finishing her first IronGirl triathlon. I could not believe that there were girls so young they could probably be in middle school, partiicpating in such a hardcore triathlon activity.
The whole atmosphere was positive and inspiring. This was my first weekend in about two months that I not done a race, and yet it still felt like I cam eback from one because I had been around the positivity of one and some of the peole I see at them. I went for a nice easy 5-to-5.5 mile run thereabouts around the Centennial Park area, and it was relaxing. Even though it was raining ever now and then, it usually was not heavy and it kep tthe heat down making it a good day to run and have a triathlon.
Thank you all for reaing, I hope you all continue to enjoy the weekend, and congratulations to any of you who completed the IronGirl Triathlon or other such events this weekend :)
Friday, August 17, 2007
Quite Possibly My Longest Run of the Year to Date!
Good mornin' everyone, just got in from a nice long run. I think it may just have been my longest run of the year, I'm not sure. I'm pretty confident that it is my longest run since last spring when I ran in the Chestertown Tea Party Distance Classic 10-Miler in about 1:14:57 in Kent County, Maryland. Today's run was I think a little over 11 miles, mainly through shaded bike paths and all the way up to the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia, Maryland and then pretty much retracing my steps back to the house and added on a little bit from there. I went through the first half mile in about 3:28, the first mile in the mid-6:50's, and I thought from there I would slow down into an easier pace, but I felt pretty good and surprised myself picking up the pace slightly and gettin' through the aboug five miles in 33:44. After that I ran up from teh bike paths onto some wooden stairs behind some neighborhoods up into the Long reach Village Center. From there I decided to ease off, as I did not want this to be a hard run, but rather more of an easy-to-moderate paced long run to up my mileage this week to something just over thirty miles and get me ready for some longer races that I may do in the near future hopefully. I do want to start keepin' more tabs on my mileage-per-week, 'cause I think I don't do as much since I've been running a lot of races lately, and it's pretty effective for training and I suspect that I probably have not been running too much over twenty miles a week on some weeks (back in college when I was in strong running shape, I was usually puttin' in anywhere from 40-60 miles a week and one week last fall when I was training for Columbia's Metric Marathon, I put in about 57 miles).
Anyway, with about several miles to go, my right leg (which tends to be the one more susceptible to injury it seems) started to cramp up and I eased off 'cause I definitely did not want to mess myself up on this. I managed to finish the run in about 1:18:52, which was pretty nice for a distance probably a little over 11 miles and I'm sure I was going quite a bit faster than I was for a majority of the Chestertown Tea Party 10-Miler (even though I thought it was a little less humid on this run). In addition, this run was a little bit more hilly. I'm going to put some ice on my legs pretty soon after I get some food in me. Also, this evening I'll probably have more exercise from playing basketball with my friends (that'll be interesting, because I'm probably going to be mighty tired from this run and I haven't played basketball in a good while). Tomorrow, I hope to have a nice easy-to-moderate four miles or so, and that should get me in at about 33-to-34 miles this week, we'll see.
Before I go though, I have some good news I have been holding back from you. In fact I think it's great! About a week-and-a-half ago I was hired by the Homewood Center, a specialized school in Howard County, Maryland for students with special needs and behavioral issues (hence the Homewood Center logo up above this entry). I will be serving as a paraeducator special education instructional assistant. I am really excited about it, it seems like a solid match because I will mainly be working with high school age students, and when I was substitute teaching, I enjoyed working with that age group a little bit more. Also, I will be helping out in a lot of English classes, and that's a strong academic point for me (not to mention that's what I majored in at Salisbury University). I start on this coming Tuesday morning and my last day at the Safeway grocery store will be on Monday, the day before. I've worked for Safeway mostly on a part-time basis for about six years off-and-on during breaks from school during high school and college. This particular store in the Harper's Choice shopping center I've been at for about fourteen months straight. I will miss the people I work with but I feel it's time to move on from something I don't want to do as an occupation into something I feel like I care a little bit more about. Plus, that Safeway is not too far from me, I'll be sure to visit. As far as substitute teaching goes, I probably won't be doing that for a while allthough I was doing that through the Howard County Public School System, which just hired me full-time into this position, so I'll pretty much be workin' for the same organization except pretty much in one place. In addition, it is near Wilde Lake High School, another Howard County Public School where I was a long-term substitute student assistant in the special education/academic life skills department last spring, so I'm sure I'll be seeing/visiting them. I'll miss the students I wasworking with last spring, and I definitely have some fun memories of that place, plus it was during that time that I was making a lot of progress on this state-wide running endeavor, running races in about nine counties I had not run in yet and in Baltimore City while also working at Safeway too. Such a blessing to have been able to have opportunities to make progress like that and have the energy to do so between two consistent jobs...
I am definitely really pleased that I have landed what seems like a good match for me right now. It will have its challenging moments, but I know I am there for a reason and I am faithful that the Good Lord will help to make my time there beneficial for others and myself! And it looks like I will only be working one job when that starts, so it will not be like last winter and spring, where I would sometimes substitute teach then work at Safeway and then be a little hard pressed to fit in adequate eating, sleeping, training plus time for family, friends, and to write on my various projects.
Anyway, I did not come right out and say that on here when I first heard the news (well to some of my closer friends and buddies among you readers, I spilled the beans to you), but I was not ready to announce it to the general public because I was not sure yet if something would go wrong, but now that I am through my phyical and orientation and it seems like all the necessary paper work and credentials are in order, I should be legit to start on Tuesday!!!
Thank you all for reading this and suporting me on my running and occupational endeavors, I hope you all have a good weekend!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I Hit The "Fifty" Mark This Evening :)
Well as of this evening, Tuesday, August 14, 2007, I accomplished a smaller goal I was tryin' to get of running fifty races in a year! I wanted to do it before I run a running event in all the Maryland counties this year (if I'm fortunate enough to get that done, I only have Calvert and Prince George's Counties left)! WHOOOHOOOO!!!! That's a nice relief. As some of you readers may recall, I joined the "Fifty-Plus" Races-per-Year Club, because I thought trying to run at least one running event in all the different Maryland Counties and in Baltimore City would at least get me close to hitting the fifty-races-per-year quoata. I do not know actually if I have ever done this many races in a year. I know I've actually run a little more than fifty races this year, but by the club's standards, any distance less than 1500 meters does not count as a "race", but oh well, there are plenty races that are at least 1500 meters out there!
You can check out my little spot on the club's webpage at: http://www.racepacket.com/james/50plus.htm#Noah%20Wood
If you check it out now, you may only see that I've done fifty races as I have not e-mailed the webmaster of this club yet with the news on my latest race. In addition, to check out other things about the club as well as other runners and athletes who have run at least fifty races in a year or are trying for that goal, then check out: http://www.racepacket.com/james/50plus.htm
They definitely have some nice things on there and runners who have great backgrounds and performances as well!
Now about that race this evening...
It was no more than a local low-key race near my house in Howard County, Maryland. It is a relatively new series of one-mile fun runs in the Emerson Community of the North Laurel area of Howard County. This was the sixth running of the event in the series, and this is the first summer they have put on the series. It drew a good amount of people and the course is not quite as challenging as the Centennial Fun Run course in Howard County, but it does have a decent incline towards the end as well as some downhills throughout. I was blessed enough to also have won the race with a time of 5:27. I think it would have been more like 5:18 or 5:19, but I got a little lost near the beginning but fortunately the race coordinator, Glenn Meininger, was in the race and helped me get back on the right course. I'm glad he was honest like that and very helpful!
I had a good time otherwise, I may try to make it out next Tuesday, August 21, 2007, for their last fun run of the summer (and they hope to run it again next summer) and maybe try to improve a bit on what I ran this evening. We'll see. The photo in the top center is a park near the center of the Emerson Community that we ran by towards the end. The photo on the left is the court where the race starts and ends (Ocean Sand Court is what the court is called). Then, the photo on the right is a downhill portion into the park near the beginning of the route. If anyone's local and is up for a nice friendly mile fun run, this is a nice one. I really liked that at this one at least, they had popsicles for us. YUMMY :)
Running Events I have done this year as of Tuesday, August 14, 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)
– Metro Harriers’ fourth summer track and field all-comers meet – Thursday, July 19, 2007 – North County High School, Ferndale/Glen Burnie, MD
– 1,500 meters – 1st overall – 4:42
– 800 meters – 2nd overall – 2:21
– 3,000 meters – 2nd overall – 10:41
– John Wall Memorial Track Run (One mile) – Saturday, July 21, 2007 – Broadneck Senior High School track, Annapolis – 6th overall (1st in 20-29 year-old age group) – 4:53
– Dog Days 8K Cross Country Run – Sunday, August 5, 2007 – Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold – 13th overall (3rd in 20-29 year age group) – 32:18 (clock), 32:17 (watch)
- 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 :)
Frederick County
- 11th Annual Frederick Steeplechasers Run for the Pie 10K – Saturday, July 14, 2007 – Frederick 4th overall (1st in the 20-24 age group) – 42:39
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)
- Centennial Fun Run (one mile)#3 – Tuesday, July 10, 2007 – Ellicott City area – 1st overall – 5:11 (tied my second-best time on the course :)
- Centennial Fun Run (one mile)#4 – Tuesday, July 17, 2007 – Ellicott City area – 12th overall – 5:44
- H.C.S. Summer Series Race (“Summer Sizzler”) #3: Burleigh Manor Middle School 2 miles – Wednesday, July 18, 2007 – Ellicott City/Columbia area – 1st overall – 11:02
- PRE – Season Cross Country Races – Saturday, August 11, 2007 – Oakland Mills High School, Columbia
- 5K – 11th overall – 18:53 (best time on the course J)
- 3K – 5th overall – 15:12
- Emerson Community Fun Run (one mile) – Tuesday, August 14, 2007 – North Laurel – 1st overall – 5:27 – Hit the fifty-races-per-year mark with this for the fifty-plus club :)
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 – 5:04.88
- Comus Cross Country 5K – Sunday, August 12, 2007 – Comus/Dickerson – 10th overall (1st in age group division) – 20:29
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 42:04 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
- 1,500 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 :)
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
New Castle County
- 2nd Annual Wilmington Games 5K – Wednesday, July 25, 2007 – Wilmington – 5th overall (2nd in 19-29 age group division) – 19:35 (clock), 18:35 (watch-probably would have been low-to-mid 19’s since I accidentally missed a turn and cut the course a bit short near the end)
Sussex County
- 25th Annual Y.M.C.A. 5-Mile Run/Walk – Sunday, July 29, 2007 – Deauville/Rehoboth Beach area – 13th overall (1st in 20-29 age group division) – 31:59 (clock), 31:57 (watch) – Completing this race, I have run in all three Delaware counties this year!!!!!!!!! :)
- Seven Sisters, Four Brothers 6th Annual Venus on the Half Shell 5K – Saturday, August 4, 2007 – Dewey Beach – 9th overall (2nd in 20-24 age group division) – 18:36 (clock), 18:35 (watch)
District of Columbia – Washington
