All right, another Queen Anne's County, Maryland race...

Photo of Queen Anne's County High School found on http://www.boe.qacps.k12.md.us/qhs/


.... And this time it wasn't on or around the Kent Island area either, but in Centreville, Maryland!

This morning I had the pleasure of making it out to Queen Anne's County High School for the Second Annual "A Day at the Races" to help benefit the high school's girls' soccer team. This is an event that has track races for younger runners as well as an open mile race, and this year they added a 5K run on the high school's cross-country course. I found out about this event a couple of weeks ago after running the St. Patrick's Day 5K in Denton (Caroline County), Maryland from another participant in that race. I was happy to hear of an upcoming race in Queen Anne's County, a Maryland county that does not seem to have very many year-around running events (at least from what I can find out about over here in Howard County, MD). It even drew me in more when I found out it would be cross-country, 'cause I tend to run well in cross-country races and enjoy them.

After warming up and taking a ride with one of the event coordinators as well as some other participants (a couple of which I knew a little bit) in his van to check out the course, I found out that the course was probably not a full 5K, but somewhere between 3-and-3.1 miles (and after running it I felt it was closer to the 5K distance of approximately 3.1 miles). The race started in one of the school's athletic fields and we went up a short hill (which we had to go up two other times throughout the course of the race). Since this was on the Maryland Eastern Shore, there were hardly any hills on the course and we had just gone over one of the few. It did not take me long to make my way out to the front with my buddy Darryl, who I've seen at some of the Maryland Eastern Shore races over the past couple of years and who seems to be getting stronger as a runner.

I felt pretty strong at the beginning, and it helped that people (including my friend Allison who was watching) were cheerin' for me. I was also wearing my yellow Hammond High School Cross-Country t-shirt that I would wear to cross-country and track & field practice for a good portion of high school. It was kind of just like high school days running at the cross-country meets (only this time I would hopefully be running slightly stronger times). I was hoping to run a strong race and finish faster than 18:28, which is what I ran my previous 5K in a couple weekends ago in Baltimore City, MD at the Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K. After going through the first mile in front of Queen Anne County High School's front entrance in 5:46 and feelin' all right, I felt I was in good position to run that goal.

However, as I got around the baseball fields and backstops I felt the wind start to pick up and my body begin to fatigue. Not long after, there came some parts where the course narrowed into a bit of a wooded trail with some sand/loose dirt on it, but that did not slow me down too much. After entering this trail, I ran up another short but somewhat steep hill and encountered a field full of really green plants. As I quickly made a right, I knocked over a cone and I was slowed by the rough and uneven ground. Needless to say, I was grateful it was only a short distance through this field to the cone that I had to reach and turn-around, before I picked the trail (and the cone) back up.

After following the trail out of the woods, I was back behind the high school's campus and ran into another lightly wooded area, past a lake (which people apparently call "Lake Woe-be-gone" or something like that and one of the race coordinators mentioned that the two-mile point on the course was probably right around there, but it must have slipped my mind to check my watch). Shortly afterwards, I came up a light hill and ran on a narrow, well-mowed portion of the field next to the track, and then repeated a loop that went right through the starting line. Fortunately the end of this loop was a light descent towards the track, and I could feel myself begin to pick up speed despite how fatigued I felt. Just as I neared the track (on which I knew I had to run a lap and then some before finishing, I saw out of the corner of my eye a boys' lacrosse practice occurring and a ball had rolled outta bounds. I managed to slow, scoop it up and sorta lob/toss it back to one of the players, and then pick up the pace and dart into the track where Allison and some other spectators (including a woman dressed as a lion, the school's mascot) cheered me on. I'm not one who likes to be a show-boater, but with as tired as I felt as a result of the wind and probably a lot of the recent running I've been doing, I was grateful for it and it kept me going. After beginning my lap on the track I felt pretty tired and thought this would seem long (not to mention I felt like I was running into the wind running in this direction). I knew after the lap I would then run onto the football field in the middle of the track and run from one goal post to the goal post on the other end (about a 110 yards according to one of the event coordinators). When I reached a point where I had a little over a 100 meters to go before finishing the lap, I heard one of the race directors yell something along the lines of, "you're at 18 minutes and you have about 200 meters to go!" I knew that I probably still had a little over 200 meters to go, but that maybe if I worked hard enough I could still get under 19 minutes. So I kept on pushing (and having Allison and the other spectators yelling and cheering for me definitely helped) and by God's grace I dashed across that football field against the wind and crossed the finish line in 18:59!

I am happy with it! I know I wanted a little faster, but I guess with the wind and some of the uneven ground in some parts, it made it more challenging. I'm also grateful that my right foot, which was feeling a bit tender and achy the past couple of days did not give me any noticeable pain at all (and I was running in my spikes, which could sometimes make my feet feel a bit uncomfortable). I wonder if it's just that right now my body responds better to cross-country terrain or if God simply stepped in and removed the pains! My right foot feels a bit tender now, but not nearly as much so as earlier this week. I was blessed to have gotten through that race without such bothersome aches and pains. Hopefully I can run more cross-country races like this later on this year; I felt like I was running hard for most of the way too! I'm hopin' to maybe get back to this event sometime in the future. I like the course and it's the first race I've done in Queen Anne's County that has not been on or around Kent Island (not that I have a problem with Kent Island, I just thought it'd be neat to do a race elsewhere in Queen Anne's County for a bit of a change).

In addition, I got to run in the open-mile on the track (it may have just been 1,600 meters, but that's not much of a difference). I took this easy, sort of as a cool-down almost, but was pleasantly surprised nonetheless to be able to hang with a couple of the lead runners (who were a bit younger than I). I remember going through about 800 meters in 3:09, 1,200 meters in 4:45ish, and then finishing in 6:34. I remember I ran with the girl who ended up winning this race right through 800 meters, meaning she probably hit about 3:09, and her finish time was about 6:16 I think, so I do believe she ran a negative split (where the second half of a distance is run faster than the first half, because she would have had to have run about 3:07 for the second half of a 6:16 time in a 1,600 meter/1-mile distance if she went through the first half in 3:09). I thought that was pretty cool. Running behind her, it did seem that she was picking it up and full of energy!


I got to see a lot of people that I knew, including Allison, Darryl, Lucia and their families. It was so much fun getting to talk with them and meet new people as well. I was blessed with an "OK" to go ahead and display the results on my Queen Anne's County running events Blogspot.Com blog at: http://runinqueenannescountymd.blogspot.com, and I'm hoping in the next week or so to have results of this event posted there.

All right, thank you all for reading. Tomorrow I hope to do a long distance run nice and easy around my neck of the woods in Columbia/Jessup/Savage (Howard County), MD. Part of it will include running to and from a low-key Howard County Striders 10K race on the bike paths around Lake Elkhorn (it's the last in the Winter "Operation Iceberg" Series for this year too. Hopefully it works out that I can make this race. Since it's near an area that I like to run on a lot, I try to make it a point to run the Striders' races here.

I hope you all have a blessed night and great job for all who ran at "A Day at the Races" today :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Saturday, March 29, 2008

Maryland

Allegany County

Anne Arundel County

-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course :)

Baltimore City

- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)

Baltimore County

- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34

Calvert County

- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47

Caroline County

- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)

Carroll County

- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)

Cecil County

Charles County

Dorchester County

Frederick County

Garrett County

Harford County

- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11

- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)

Kent County

Montgomery County

- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51

Prince George’s (P.G.) County

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:

- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9

- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5

- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:

- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15

- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)

Queen Anne’s County

- A Day at the Races – Saturday, March 29, 2008 – Queen Anne’s County High School, Centreville:

- 5K (on the high school cross country course) – Winner – 18:59 (probably a little shorter than a 5K, somewhere between 3 and 3.1 miles)

- 1,600 meter/1-mile track open fun run – 3rd overall – 6:34

Saint Mary’s County

Somerset County

Talbot County

- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)

Washington County

Wicomico County

- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35

Worcester County

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County

New Castle County

Sussex County

District of Columbia – Washington

- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46

Virginia

Accomack County

Arlington County

- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:

- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0

- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5

- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8

Northampton County

Nice mile repeat workout

Hey there! Today, March 24 marks my one-year anniversary of when I ran the inaugural Race to Impact 10K that started and ended around Chester (Queen Anne's County), Maryland and ran along Kent Island's Cross-Island Trail. Pictured above is a photo of me (left) with some performance awards from the race, standing next to the race coordinator. The race is important, not only because it raised funds for the Shore Christian Fellowship Church's Impact Ministries to go to Peru for a missions trip (I think to pretty much help serve in orphanages), but because I think it led to me being struck later that night after I finished the race, with the challenge of running in a running event in every county of Maryland before 2007 was over (the endeavor that eventually led to me starting up these blogs a little over two months later to chronicle my progress). I just thought it was a pretty neat date to remember, as that was when I first thought of actually trying to do races and running events in every county of Maryland within a year (and of course that includes Baltimore City).

Today's running involved doing three one-mile repeats around the bikepaths behind Hammond High School and the surrounding neighborhoods in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. These are on the same hilly bikepaths where I ran the two-mile repeats last Friday and where I did a lot of my running with the team and by myself when I ran for Hammond High School. After warming up about two miles, I started off on the first repeat (whihc involved me slowing up for a second or two to drop a piece of mail int he mail box that my mother wanted me to drop in there, and I was glad to comply, so that it would actually slow me up at the start of this first interval, so I could build into the first mile repeat and into the workout. I was well-pleased with how I ran. The first mile repeat involved running along roads adn I did not get to the wooded bikepath area until almost the end of that ile, so I was sort of slowed by having to check for traffic while crossing some streets, but I dont' think it slowed me that drastically. Then, the second and third mile repeats were in the woods ont eh bike path with rolling and larger hils, but they were both faster than the first mile repeat and they were really CONSISTENT! My times weren't quite as fast as what I was turning out in practice during college (and sometimes during college years, but of course they were usually either on the track or on relatively flat courses). Here's how I ran this morning:

Rep#1 - 5:57
Rep#2 - 5:46
Rep#3 - 5:47

The second interval had a fairly long hil towards thee end of it before flattening out into a gradual downgrade. I think I would hav eactually run a bit faster than the second interval on my third one, but on the third mile repeat the finish was right on a short, but fairly challenging uphill. No complaints, I'm grateful for the consistency of it and for the fact that they were all covered in under six minutes. I felt like I had a solid workout!

Now I'm off to Howard Community College to lift some weights (the gym was closed for spring break last week, so I'm gonna try and take it easy on myself in it as I start lifting after not lifting for a little over a week). Tomorrow, the Howard County Public School System re-opens from Spring Break and I'll go back to work at the Homewood Center. I'll be working with a long-term sub for a good duration, so hopefully it goes wel in supporting her and helping her to learn how things are done in the classroom as well as getting to know some of the high school students we work with better. I feel like this spring break has gone by pretty fast, but then again, I felt like it was pretty fun in that I got run three races over spring break (in Caroline County, MD, Baltimore City, MD, and then in Washington D.C.). Plus I got to spend time with friends and spend a lot of time cleaning up/packing up things in my room to move in with my friends in Baltimore County in a couple of weeks. I'm sure I'll have a lot to kepe me busy with work, school, moving, running, and family and friends, so I may not be able to update on here as frequently for a while. But do keep the comments and e-mails coming, because I'm confident that I tend to do well with responding to those. And thank you in advance for them!

All right, I hope you all have a blessed day and week :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Monday, March 24, 2008

Maryland

Allegany County

Anne Arundel County

-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course :)

Baltimore City

- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)

Baltimore County

- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34

Calvert County

- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47

Caroline County

- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)

Carroll County

- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)

Cecil County

Charles County

Dorchester County

Frederick County

Garrett County

Harford County

- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11

- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)

Kent County

Montgomery County

- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51

Prince George’s (P.G.) County

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:

- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9

- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5

- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:

- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15

- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)

Queen Anne’s County

Saint Mary’s County

Somerset County

Talbot County

- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)

Washington County

Wicomico County

- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35

Worcester County

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County

New Castle County

Sussex County

District of Columbia – Washington

- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46

Virginia

Accomack County

Arlington County

- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:

- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0

- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5

- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8

Northampton County

Happy Easter Everyone :)

HAPPY EASTER AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!! :)

Another great run today!

Before I started running for Hammond High School's cross-country team in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland, back in the late 1990's, almost every morning I would run this loop that's about 1.5 miles on the roads, twice, to get used to running three-miles (since most high school cross country races are 5-kilometers/3.1 miles thereabouts). Almost every morning was challenging on this run, as there would be a big downhill at the beginning and a rather grueling uphill towards the end of the loop. And then I'd run it again. I think I would typically run anywhere between 22-26 minutes on average. My best time I think was a Saturday morning back in the summer of 1998 when I ran it in 21:50 while my dad was riding alongside of me on his bike.

Towards the end of that summer, I had bumped up some of those runs to three laps, thus covering 4.5 miles, some of my longest runs to date! Once high school running started, I would still do a lot of my runs on my own on these loops, especially fart-leks (Swedish for "Speed play" where I'd run parts of the run hard and others more easy). I thought running on this course was nice preparation as it helped me get used to running three-miles/5-kilometers in the cross-country races. My sophomore year of high school (I think it was in the early September of 1999), I ran 20:36 for two laps on this course and I thought that if I put my mind to it and if I were in a little better shape, I could probably break 20 minutes, but I never got around to it...

... Until I made an attempt on it today.

I'm planning on moving to my friends' place in Baltimore County, Maryland the first week in April, and since there are some races coming up in the near future that I would like to do, I would have trouble trying to fit attempting this goal in before I moved out. So I decided this morning less than an hour before my run to give it a whirl. I figured it would not be too hard to try and run under a 6:40-per-mile pace to run 4.5 miles in under a half-hour (I decided to do three laps on this course since I did that one quite a bit, and hopefully I would break twenty minutes for two laps as a result of me trying to break thirty minutes for three laps). I knew that this would certainly be my fastest time on the course to date if I achieved it, 'cause for one thing back in the late spring/early summer of 2004 after my sophomore year ended at Salisbury University, I came home and after some time off took a lap on this course and I felt so good on that run that I ran the lap in 10:06, which I think was my fastest time on that loop.


When I stepped out this morning, I was not expecting it to be sprinkling. Not only that, the precipitation felt kinda thick, almost like freezing rain (ah well, maybe I should not have been surprised 'cause it was around the high 30's/low 40's when I started). For some reason, it just sorta "egged me on" to get started and get after it.

I began my run all right, I felt like I built into it fairly conservatively. I ran through the first mile thereabouts in about 6:24 and I felt like I was gettin' a workout. Soon after was the tough uphill which I felt had slowed me down quite a bit. Towards the end of the loop, when I made a left turn down the last long stretch, my watch read nine minutes flat and I'm thinkin', "wow, nine minutes already, I better hustle if I wanna keep all three of these laps under ten minutes-per-lap!"

I just barely managed to run that as I went through the first loop in 9:56ish, my best time on that course by ten seconds. I was beginning to breathe hard and realized this was going to be tougher than I thought to get three laps of this done in under a half hour, but at least I was still on pace for it, barely. Breathing hard I charged back into the second loop and when I got to the uphill again, I worked that pretty hard and focused on keeping up my pace from the first lap, if not surpassing it a bit. I thank God for getting me through this second lap, 'cause it would have been mentally draining for me otherwise to be in the middle of this run, challenged by a pace I wanted to keep to get it done in under a half-hour. When I came to the left turn before the last long stretch on the loop, my watch read 18:58 (yes, I was actually faster at this point than I was the first lap, taking about 9:58 to complete this loop here). I took advantage of this slight increase in pace that I noticed and it helped encourage me to really push the pace and I came through the second lap in 19:50

WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!

I finally broke 20 minutes on this course! And it does not seem all that long ago that running 23-something minutes on it would have me huffin' and puffin'. What a blessing!

This certainly encouraged me to try and keep that pace going for one more lap so I could do three laps on this course in under thirty minutes. It was great to see that my second lap was about two seconds faster than my first. When I got to the bottom of the downhill portion of this run, I felt like my right shoe was a little loose and I was worried that my shoes would be come untied (or that having a loose shoe would somehow re-aggravate my injury in the right foot). Yet, the Good Lord kept me going strong (and kept my shoes on), and before I knew it, I was reaching the top of the uphill and I knew I had a decent chance of hitting my goal for this run. When the course went slightly downhill to that intersection where I make a left turn onto the last long stretch of the course, I saw that my watch read 28:44. All right, I was definitely on pace for a sub-30!!!! I knew that from the previous two laps, that it had taken me less than a minute to run from this point to the end of the loop. Yet, I still pushed the pace really hard and kicked it in, figuring that maybe just maybe I might run in the 29:30's, and sure enough I crossed the finish line that I had crossed so many times before over the years while doing this course in 29:39.

PRAISE GOD, THAT'S A NEW COURSE RECORD FOR MYSELF!!!!!

Lap 1 - 9:56 (best time for one-lap on this course :)
Lap 2 - 19:50 (best time for two laps on this course :)
Lap 3 - 29:39 (best time for three laps on this course :)

Wow, I'm quite amazed at how well this run went and how God helped me run each lap faster, even when I felt a little winded towards the end of the first one and not that confident I could keep up the pace for the next couple of laps. My first lap was about 9:56, the second was about 9:54, and the third was about 9:49. I think it helped that I had a mind to try and build into it and go out conservatively. It was great, because I did not feel too tired (if at all) from the previous day's workout of running two two-mile repeats on bike paths with rolling hills on them. This is terrific and I'm glad I could accomplish this goal on this course before I move away from this area (however, if I wanted too, I could come back and run it again).

This is one of those runs that keeps me encouraged about improvement and running in general. Somewhere during this run (I didn't even notice until after I finished) it stopped sprinkling. I also think that this course may be slightly more than 4.5 miles, but whatever, I'm happy with it.

Later in the afternoon I tried to take my digital camera in for some repairs in Best Buy, and found out the warranty does not cover repairs for accidental damage (which sounded fair enough to me), so now I either gotta buy a new digital camera or pay for repairs (and I think I'm more likely to find that I'll spend less money getting a new camera as opposed to getting the one I have, fixed). Though, I really wanna save my money for my new living arrangement and races among a few other things, so I think I'm gonna have to settle for using disposable cameras until maybe around the summer time, and hopefully then I might have a little extra money saved to buy a digital camera. I like disposable cameras, but I don't think they usually take as sharp of pictures as digital ones and it would take more time to get them developed, scan 'em, and post some of 'em up on my blogs instead of plugging the camera into the computer, transferring the photos onto my hard drive, and then posting them up (which is what I used to do with the digital camera). I feel bad because my folks got me that camera as a graduation present from when I graduated from Salisbury University... I think that and feeling tired as sorta put me in a bit of a... lethargic mood to say the least...

... But you know what, Easter is tomorrow and I'm going to choose to enjoy it and not let something like this put my mood down! I need to focus on Jesus Christ, whom this holiday is about. Easter is about Jesus Christ coming back from the dead after dying to set you and I free from our sins. The fact that someone would love me and everyone else that much to lay down their lives to save us from hell is an overwhelming, but unconditional love, and I'm not taking it for granted. A broken camera is petty compared to God giving His Son to save people, some of whom do not even know or love God in return... I definitely have a great deal to be thankful for and I don't need a digital camera for it either (even though God creates such picturesque scenery and wonderful people to take photos of :)


Thank you all for reading and keeping up with my blogs! I hope that your running is going well and that you are as happy with it as I am with mine (or more). I wish you all a blessed Easter and a terrific weekend :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Saturday, March 22, 2008

Maryland

Allegany County

Anne Arundel County

-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course :)

Baltimore City

- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)

Baltimore County

- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34

Calvert County

- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47

Caroline County

- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)

Carroll County

- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)

Cecil County

Charles County

Dorchester County

Frederick County

Garrett County

Harford County

- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11

- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)

Kent County

Montgomery County

- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51

Prince George’s (P.G.) County

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:

- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9

- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5

- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:

- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15

- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)

Queen Anne’s County

Saint Mary’s County

Somerset County

Talbot County

- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)

Washington County

Wicomico County

- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35

Worcester County

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County

New Castle County

Sussex County

District of Columbia – Washington

- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46

Virginia

Accomack County

Arlington County

- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:

- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0

- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5

- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8

Northampton County

Tried out some two-mile repeats for the first time this afternoon!

Back when I was at Salisbury University on the Maryland Eastern Shore, some of my teammates on the cross-country team would talk about workouts they used to do that involved doing two-mile repeats. I would think to myself, "wow, I find it tough enough to work through one-mile repeats".
Now I figured that since I'm trying to up my mileage-per-week (it looks like this week I'll run about 47 miles or so if I get in about 4.5 miles tomorrow like I plan to do), trying these out for stronger endurance purposes may not be too bad. I was going to try and build into them and probably end up running no faster than mid-to-upper 12's and possibly in the 13's for each two mile repeat (I decided to start out with two reps with about six-to-seven minutes rest in between). However, I was pleasantly surprised to have run them a little faster than I expected (and with much more consistency). Most of this workout was on some rather hilly bike paths in the woods behind Hammond High School in and the surrounding neighborhoods in Howard County, Maryland, where my teammates and I from Hammond High School's running teams would do many of our runs. The downhils felt nice and the up hills made me work, and there were not too many straight flat areas, which was fine with me, otherwise it might have gotten a bit monotonous. I would say that the second two-mile repeat had more hills on it than the first one, because that second one was all on the bike paths in the woods, versus the first one that almost took a whole mile to get from the start onto the bike path in the woods.

Here are the splits that I ran:

Rep#1 - 12:05
1/2-mile split - 3:04
1-mile - 6:08 (well-paced :)
1.5 miles - About 9:02

Rep#2 - 12:09
1/2-mile split - 3:12
1-mile - 6:07ish


I was quite pleased with this workout, especially since I did a longer run yesterday of about eleven miles in one hour, twenty minutes, and fifty-one seconds. I am happy with the consistency of pace and the negative splits :)

All right I'm gonna get back to packin' up to move and I also gotta get some things ready for a few friends that I'm having over to watch some March Madness. It's a good thing they're into it, 'cause I don't follow much in the way of televised sports, so I'm glad I can have an opportunity to see what's up in college basketball. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest of the day and upcomign weekend :)

And now for a visit to U.S.A.'s nation's capital/Some great news :)

Yesterday afternoon I was fortunate enough to make it Washington D.C., the United States of America's capital, and run my first Tidal Basin 3K run there around the Tidal basin area by the Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorials. I took some photos of the Tidal Basin and Hains Point area of D.C., but it was on a disposable camera so it might tak a while to develop and upload photos.

The 410th running of the Tidal Basin 3K went pretty well. Apparently the course was a little different and of course I did not know any different since I had never run a race on this course before). I had a little trouble finding exactly where everyone was meeting but I eventually found them towards the time the race started, after running about a lap-and-a-half aorund the Tidal Basin and then some, but that's okay because I got in about 3.5 miles worth of a warm up. I did not feel too tired either starting out. The course was pretty much flat except for a couple of gentle, almost unnoticeable hills near the beginning. The course ran clockwise around the Tidal Basin. The only challenge was that it was windy, and even that did not seem to be too rough until the last several mintues of the race.

When the race began, I was probably around fifth or sixth place, but then soon got passed by three people around the first minor uphill after crossing the first bridge over the water. Soon after, I started gaining on some other runners ahead of me, despite that the pace began to wear on me. Around the middle of the race, I enjoyed running past the Jefferson Memorial and I think that nice scenery helped motivate me to stay strong.

Now the course was not marked, so I did not know when I passed through the first mile or what pace I was going, but from how I was starting to huff I knew I was pushing myself pretty well. After a few more minutes of running through a little garden/past a park, we made a slight right onto a street that stretched out ahead and I knew that this was the final stretch and that somewhere down this street was the finish area. Knowing that the end of the race was near, I pumped my arms against the heavy winds that were beginning to blow against me and the runners close behind and in front of me. I could feel my legs tighten with fatigure, but fortunately my recent workout s in the gym for my upper body seemed to help me maintain decent form, and before I knew it I had caught up to a couple of runners ahead of me who had passed me earlier in the race, and then when I wsaw the red to the right about a hundred yards or so down the street, I knew that we were definitely nearing the finish line, and I ban to kick. I kept pushing it and pushing it, knowing that at any moment that someone with more sprint speed than I would probably catch me before I got to the end. But that did not happen. Instead, I barely managed to finish in the top -ten with a 3,000 meter/3-kilometer time of 10:46, just three seconds slower than the 10:43, I ran back on Sunday, January 27, my best time for that distance so far this year and about fithy or so seconds slower than my personal best time for that distance. Not bad at all!

I'm happy with that time considering the wind resisteance and the two 5K races I had run in Caroline County and Baltimore City, Maryland the previous weekend. I am glad I had off this week so that I could make it to a Tidal Basin run, that the D.C. Road Runners (http://www.dcroadrunners.org) seem to put on every third Wednesday of the month at the Tidal Basin. If I'm available again, I may do another one (and now I know where to find the runners too).

And now onto some other great news! It looks like in the near future I'll be moving in with some friends who live in Baltimore County, Maryland. It looks like a nice living arrangement. Just the other week my friend asked 'em if I wanted to move in with him and his roommates and after talking it over with my folks, we made an official decision to move in. This is going to be really cool to live with some of my friends and have a little more independence like I did when I was going to college at Salisbury University. Plus, some of them are physically active so maybe we can work out together sometimes. I did not post it up because I had not reached a decision on it until very recently. One thing I should adjust too is that they do not have the internet over there just yet, but that may be changing in the near future. I plan on moving over there in about a couple of weeks (possibly even sooner), and after that I may not be able to update or e-mail as much, at least until we get internet if that ends up happening. So I'll probaby have to use the library, computers at work, or go to my folks' place to use the internet and update my blog. And I do plan on updating it, just not as frequently!

And on that note, I'll mention several races that I hope to run in the near future:


- Saturday, March 29, 2008, 10:00 A.M. - "A Day at the Races" 5K Run - Queen Anne's High School, Centreville (Queen Anne's County), MD - Call Barb Thompson (410) 758 - 2994 if you are interested. They have track races for younger runners as well as an open one-mile track race (which I might do in addition to the 5K run that is said to be on the Queen Anne's County High School cross-country course). I hope to make it to this event as Queen Anne's County is a county in Maryland that does not have a lot of year-around running events.

- Sunday, March 30, 2008, 2 P.M. - Howard County Striders Winter "Operation Iceberg" Series Race #9 at Elkhorn for either a 10K or 2-mile (I'll probably run the 10K, sorta as a nice easy-to-moderate recover run from the previous day's run, which I hopefully do) - Columbia (Howard County), MD - http://striders.net/weeklySeries/

- Friday, April 4, 2008, 6:30 P.M. - Dead Man's Hill Down Hill Mile - Brunswick (Frederick County), MD - http://marylandrunning.com/index.phtm?month=4

- Sunday, April 6, 2008, 8:30 A.M. - Spring Is Here 10K! - Cumberland (Allegany County), MD - http://www.carr.org/~wrrc/spring10K.htm Another one that I really hope I can make, because my buddy Kevin is putting it on and it's low-key apparently, so it is definitely affordable. I'm looking forward to running more races out in western Maryland this year if possible!


All right, hopefully I can run in all those races coming up. we'll see! Enjoy this first day of spring, I know I did by taking a break from getting things togethe by going for a run of about eleven miles nice and easy in about an hour, twenty minutes and fifty-one seconds (I only had to stop the watch once to sotp and tie my shoes, otherwise I felt all right). Thank you all for reading, and if I do not post before then, I hope you all have a blessed Easter :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Thursday, March 20, 2008

Maryland

Allegany County

Anne Arundel County

-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course J)

Baltimore City

- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)

Baltimore County

- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34

Calvert County

- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47

Caroline County

- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)

Carroll County

- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)

Cecil County

Charles County

Dorchester County

Frederick County

Garrett County

Harford County

- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11

- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)

Kent County

Montgomery County

- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51

Prince George’s (P.G.) County

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:

- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9

- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5

- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)

- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:

- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15

- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)

Queen Anne’s County

Saint Mary’s County

Somerset County

Talbot County

- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)

Washington County

Wicomico County

- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35

Worcester County

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County

New Castle County

Sussex County

District of Columbia – Washington

- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46

Virginia

Accomack County

Arlington County

- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:

- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0

- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5

- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8

Northampton County