My Passport Came!!!!!

All right, my passport that I applied for with my dad within a month ago came in!!!! YAAAY! I don't have any plans to travel outside of the U.S. anytime soon, since I feel like I have enough to do traveling around Maryland to run in all of these events, but I'm confident it may come in handy someday!
Just wanted to pass on the good news!

Photos from Saturday's Seven Sister's Race!

Here are some photos I took (and one from the event's website, http://www.races2run.com) of the 6th Annual Venus on the Half Shell 5K Run put on as part of the Seven Sisters, Four Brothers Road Race Series in Dewey Beach (Sussex County), DE. I ran this race on Saturday, August 4, 2007. I hope you enjoy the sunny photos. Most of them are taken of the back of the Venus on the Half Shell restaurant, facing the bay. The guy in white I'm pictured with in one of the photos is my friend, Chris Stanley, an avid runner of the MD/DE Eastern Shore races who sometimes comes over to the western side of the Chesapeake Bay and runs in events put on by the Annapolis Striders and Howard County Striders. He's pretty fast and like me, he seemed to have his best race in a while at this one. Many of the other photos are from the awards ceremony as well, where I was fortunate enough to make second in my age group that morning.

Thank you for checkin' out the photos!

Running Events I have done this year as of Monday, August 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)

– 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)

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 :)

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

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

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

- 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)

Didn't "Dog" My Way Through The Dog Days 8K Race Like I Thought I Would....

This morning I was able to make it out to the Anne Arundel Community College Campus for a race around the Earl Scott Trail area of Arnold (Anne Arundel County), MD for the Dog Days 8K Cross Country Run. The event was put on by the Annapolis Striders (http://www.annapolisstriders.org). I ran a lot better than I expected considering I pushed myself yesterday. I was expecting that maybe if I pushed myself a little bit on this fairly challenging course, I would probably land somewhere between thirty-three-to-thirty-four minutes, but instead I kinda came close to breakin' thirty-two minutes and taking thirteenth overall. Not too shabby at all, and I felt like I was gaining on some of the runners in front of me towards the end too, so that sorta told me that I was strong enough throughout to lay down a solid kick at the end (and it was set up nicely for it, with a downhill and straightaway on the track at the end of the course). One thing that sorta got me was when I was comin' close to gettin' through the three-mile mark, I got a little pebble/stone in my shoe, and at first it aggravated me, yet I felt like I was really keepin' a good strong pace and catchin' up to the runners in front of me. Within the last mile, I knew that if I kept up a strong pace, the race would be over soon and at that point it did not seem worth it to stop, take off my shoe, remove the stone/pebble, and then put the shoe back on. Heck at that point it was not even bothering me too much. Had that not happened, I might have actually had a decent chance maybe of breaking thirty-two minutes, but I'm still happy with my time, especially since it was pretty much a minute faster than what I was expecting to run.
Anyway, here are my splits. You can tell on some of them that I slowed down quite a bit towards the middle, mainly because of the stone/pebble in right shoe, plus running on some narrow trails that kind of had me apprehensive about running fast on them for fear of twisting my ankle or worse. You can also tell that I probably went out too fast for what I intended to run, but maybe that helped me:

First 400 meters: 1:37ish (The first part of the course was a lap on the track).
1-mile: 6:02
2 miles: 12:31
3 miles: 19:35
4 miles: 26:10
8K (finish): 32:18 (clock), 32:17 (watch - I definitely started further back in the pack on this one).

I definitely enjoyed this race, I like just about everything on the course. Even the trails were not really treacherous, and that was one of the things that had me apprehensive about doing this event. It was a great turnout, nice weather for the 8 A.M. start, and I saw some people I knew from the Howard County Striders and other events between this side of the Bay Bridge and the Maryland Eastern Shore. This is right up there with my favorite Anne Arundel County, MD races that the Annapolis Striders put on.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that I finished third in the male 20-29 age-group division, something I thought I would not make because usually this race brings a strongly competitive field based on previous years' results. I was really glad that this was my second day in a row where I had a strong race. Plus, I did not feel too much in the way of cramping and no loss of feeling in my legs either. I felt better than yesterday for the most part (okay, I did start out relatively conservatively, but I think that it was a smarter way of entering this race).
All right, well thank you for reading about my successful weekend at the races, and for continuing to encourage me. It was really cool to see some of you at the race this morning and I congratulate you all on gettin' through that course! Hopefully I'll see you at other races and events soon in the near future, have a good night :)

Successful Seven Sisters Experience!!!!

And if I had a lisp, that title would have sounded so strange, haha! Any way, I finally made it to a famous Seven Sisters & Four Brothers Road Races Series around the Dewey Beach area(Sussex County), Delaware. The Races2Run crew (http://www.races2run.com) put this one on in addition to the Wilmington Games 5K I ran in New Castle County, DE on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. This one was the Venus on the Half Shell 5K Run with a start and finish by the Venus on the Half Shell restaurant (very beautiful bayside area in addition to a nice shaded out-and-back course that was pretty much flat). I hope to get some pictures up of this event soon.
I wanted to get a good ways under 19:00 and I was able to do that and pleasantly surprised to see that I finished ninth overall and I took second in the male 19-24 age group division, and I almost got first in it too. I ran pretty strongly and evenly, both of my 1/2 mile splits in the second mile being about 3:01, and I even had a strong kick at the end before the 3-mile mark. One of the best parts of it was that I did not really feel lilke my legs were losing feeling like they have in recent races, nor did I feel too much cramping. I wonder if it had something to do with me making sure I ate A LOT leading up to the race, plus praying about it before and during the race. Here are my splits:

1-mile: 5:54
1.5 miles: 8:55
2 miles: 11:56
3 miles: 18:03
Finish (5K - 3.1 miles): 18:35 /18:36

It was very sligtly faster than the Grantsville Days 5K I ran in Garrett County (18:36) on Saturday June 23, 2007, and since then I have not run a faster 5K, so that's why I compared those two races, even though the race in Grantsville was much more hilly than this!
All right, I'm gonna hopefully go visit a friend before I head into work. Tomorrow mornin' I hope to run an 8K cross country race in Arnold (Anne Arundel County), MD, called the Dog Days Cross Country 8K Run, put on by the Annapolis Striders (http://www.annapolisstriders.org)

"This Just In!!!!" (Please send feedback on this if you are interested)!

My blurb that I sent to the Howard County Times on my quest/goal went through and was printed in this week's edition of the Howard County Times! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!!! This stuff actually made it to the newspaper. The article is on page B7 of the Howard County Times (for the week of August 2, 2007, 166th year, No.28) in a section called Your best shot in the Neighbors insert!!! It is so amazing, what a blessing they published something on me that I did not think (at least at first) would be serious enough to be deemed newsworthy by the folks at the Patuxent Publishing Company that prints the Howard County Times (or any newspaper or publisher for that matter). To my knowledge, the Howard County Times is the only publication from Patuxent Publishing that has this in it, but if I see it somewhere like the Laurel Leader or Columbia Flyer, I'll say something about it on here.
The article is titled "Amazing Racer", an overstatement to say the least, but apparently the Good Lord has seen fit to bless me with great racing experiences along with equally terrific progress in such a surprisingly short time. The gist of the article is just goin' over my goal and briefly the progress I've made, making specific mention to having run in a race in all nine Maryland Eastern Shore counties this year. The article comes with the photo that John Gygax took of me outside of the Francis Scott Key Resort in Ocean City upon completing the third "Dash and Splash" Series Race, a huge milestone because I completed races in all of the Maryland Eastern Shore Counties with that event! I submitted the photo along with the article and was glad that it was put in. Ms. Simpson did an excellent job with the article and the probably-more-than-necessary details I gave her in my blurb.
This is where the feedback comes in. I wanted to post this in case anyone local to the Howard County area has been following me on my endeavors and would like to see a little press coverage on it. If you are from Howard County (or live in another County close by where you can still get a copy), then I hope you check out this brief article and I thank you for your interest in my endeavors, whether you've just started checkin' this out or you've been supportin' me from the beginning. Now, for all of you supporters who live in other parts of Maryland (and outside of the state), if you want a hard copy of the article, just leave me a comment letting me know on this thing, or better yet, send me an e-mail at: noahwood@juno.com My e-mail addy should be easy to find through Blogspot.Com, but in case that doesn't work out there it is. Please make sure you include your mailing address and whether you prefer if I mail you just the article or the whole issue of the Howard County Times. I would prefer it if you e-mail me about it within the next coupla weeks, since this issue will only be in circulation for about a week or so, and I need to know how many copies to pick up (only about fifty cents a pop, nothing too much for me to sweat about). I'm already planning on buyin' some more copies for my family and some friends, and I hope to have extras for my loyal supporters or anyone else who is interested! If you wanna get it shipped straight from the publisher, check out Patuxent Publishing's website at: http://www.patuxent.com/ Maybe look under the "Circulation" section. They're a pretty solid business and they print a lotta different things between the Carroll County area and the Baltimore area I do believe!
Well thank you for listening and all of the encouragement. Remember if you wanna piece of this success and positive step forward in my state-wide running endeavors, just let me know if you would like a copy and I would be happy to hook you up! You guys bring me a lot of encouragement through your comments, e-mails, personal conversations, and phone calls so I don't wanna leave any of you out of this great time in my quest/project.
I hope you all have a good night and a blessed week!

Those Rehoboth Beach Photos I've been talkin' about!

Hey there, here are several photos from my trip to Rehoboth Beach (Sussex County), Delaware last weekend with my family. It was a nice vacation, though I was too busy reading, running, swimming, bodysurfing, shopping, and chillin' to take more than five photos, but here are several that I have. The more cloudy images are more likely from Saturday afternoon, July 28 when it rained and thundered, and the sunny one is probably from Sunday morning, July 29 not too long after I ran the Y.M.C.A. 5-Mile Run!
I hope you all enjoy the photos, thanks for keepin' up!

Just got back from seein' the fifth "Harry Potter" movie!

During the afternoon today I got in a good training run, about 6.25 miles in 42:34, not too bad considering I started out with about a 7:12 mile, I had an interval workout last evening, and it was probably the hottest point of the day. Still, I ended up goin' strong throughout and even picked it up in the middle. While I did not intend for it to be so, it was probably closer to a tempo run than an easy distance run. Ah well, at least I got the miles in!
I ran in the afternoon versus the early morning 'cause I had to be at work at eight, and then in the evening I volunteered at a Howard County Striders weekly series race at the Longfellow Elementary School venue in Columbia, helping out at the water stop at the 5K turnaround of the out-and-back 10K course they have at that venue. It was fun, it went by faster than I thought and it was different helpin' out at a race versus running one. After helpin' out at the race, my friend Walton and I went to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the theater and I liked it. It's based off of the fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a series that has been a huge bestseller. I enjoyed the book more than the movie, but the movie was entertaining andnow that I'm on the seventh and apparently final book in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), it was a good refresher of what happened earlier in the storyline and series.
All right, I'm gonna hit the hay. I'm thinkin' of taking the rest of the week off of running until Saturday's Venus on the Half Shell 5K in Dewey Beach, DE. I figure with all of the races I've done lately, my body can use whatever rest it can I'm sure. I'll still be doing other exercises, but a coupla days not running should not hurt too much .
Thank you for reading, I hope you all have a good night and are enjoying the week!