Post-2007 Maryland-Wide Running Quest: November 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

Yesterday's 5.5-mile track run!

In this photo, I'm finishing up strong at the 30th Annual Metric Marathon, Sunday, December 3, 2006 :)

After work yesterday (Friday, November 30, 2007), I went to Hammond High School's track for a nice and easy 5.5-mile (22 laps around the track) run. I started out a lot slower than many of my other recent training runs, but I felt all right and there were quite a few negative splits here as well. Here are a lot of my splits-per-lap on this run:

1/4-mile - 1:58

1/2-mile - 3:54

3/4-mile - 5:50

1-mile - 7:43

1.5 miles - 11:15ish

2 miles - 14:39

2.5 miles - 18:14

2.75 miles - 20:00

3 miles - 21:44

3.5 miles - 25:10

4 miles - 28:43

4.25 miles - 30:32

4.5 miles - 32:21

4.75 miles - 34:09

5 miles - 35:56

5.5 miles - 39:25

This is has been my longest track-based training run since I started to get back into shape. It went pretty nicely, I think at this point I feel like I can do more of my runs now off of the track, as my body is becoming much more accustomed again to a softer surface of a running track, so as to easy my body back into the motion of running. I am looking forward to that. Usually, I'm not the kind of guy who prefers to run a lot of laps anyway, but I thin it's for my own good. One really nice thing about it is that I can get a lotta splits and analyze my running/pacing too.

The next time I plan to run is actually in a 5K race around here in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. This is the 5K that goes along with the famous Columbia Metric Marathon that starts and ends by the Columbia Lakefront near Lake Kittamaqundi in downtown Columbia. In the fall of 2000 while I was an eleventh grader at Hammond High School, I ran the 5K and finished in 20:15. Last fall (Sunday, December 3, 2006), I ran the Metric Marathon (26.2 kilometers, which is about 16.3 miles) and that was a really great experience. A lot of my splits for the latter miles I'm pretty sure ended up being PR's and as a result, I had one of the better races in my life so far! This year I wanna get back to the Metric Marathon event, and I thought a slightly cheaper way would be to run in the 5K, which would be more appropriate to my current level of fitness. The course is really not that hard. Before I started college at Salisbury University and started running on the Maryland Eastern Shore, I thought that this course was one of the easiser 5K courses I had run on. From what I recall there are a couple of rolling hills towards the beginning and one fairly challenging uphill towards the end, but it's nothing too intimidating. The downhills are nice and gradual, as I remember them to be. Quite a bit of that course seems to occur on bike paths. In fact, I found Tom's 6th Annual 5K Reindeer Run last Saturday in Prince George's County, Maryland to be a little more challenging than this one, and if I could run a 20:08 on a slightly challenging on that course in the shape that I'm in (not to mention I had run a 5K the day before that one too), then I think if I'm feelin' all right tomorrow, I might just be able to beat 20:15 on the Metric Marathon 5K course tomorrow morning.

If anyone is interested in this Metric Marathon event tomorrow, Sunday, December 2, 2007, then please check out the Howard County Striders' website at: http://www.Striders.net Go to the "Metric Marathon" link in the schedule there.

I am sorry I am communicating this to you all at the last minute, I guess I did not get around to it earlier. I don't think many of you would do a metrical marathon distance on the fly, but maybe a 5K. I'm just puttin' that out there in case any of you are interested.

Thank you all for reading, I hope you all are enjoying this weekend!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Volleyball games followed by a five-mile track run!

After work today at the Homewood Center where I work, I got together with some of the staff and played some volleyball games with them. It was fun, I think I may be getting a little bit better, we'll see. I thought I made some good plays for myself, but at the cost of pulling a muscle in my left hand. Either way, we still had a good time. It's becoming common for the staff after work on Thursdays to play volleyball (and on Wednesday, to play basketball).

Originally I was just thinking of doing a two-mile track run, but since we finished volleyball before four in the afternoon, I thought that left plenty of time to go a little longer. So I decided to go for about five miles (twenty laps) on the track. Since it was close to the Homewood Center, I went to Centennial High School's track in Ellicott City (Howard County), Maryland. The neat thing about that school is that for the most part, it's interior design and hallways are structured very similar to those of Hammond High School, where I went to high school in Howard County.

My goal was to get the first couple of miles under a seven-per-minute-mile pace (which meant running two miles in under 14 minutes), and then sorta ease up after. I managed to do that, but by mile three, my right knee was feeling tense, so that slowed me up anyway. No negative splits here, really, although I was glad to have run three miles in just under twenty minutes. Below are some of my splits as I recall them.

1/4 mile - 1:40

1/2 mile - 3:20

3/4 mile - 5:00 - Very consistent pace these first three laps!

1 mile - 6:38

1.25 miles - 8:17ish

1.5 miles - 9:54

1.75 - 11:34

2 miles - 13:11 - Negative splits the first couple of miles, very nice!

2.25 miles - 14:57ish

2.5 miles - 16:39

2.75 miles - 18:18

3 miles - 19:55.55

3.5 miles - 23:28

3.75 miles - 26:21

4 miles - 27:06

4.5 miles - 30:45

4.75 miles - 32:31

5 miles - 34:08

Towards the end in the last mile, I realized if I just ran a little ways under a seven-minute-mile, I could actually break thirty four, but I guess with my knee crampin' up and a little wind resistance, that did not quite happen. It looks like I could use some work on my leg speed, but I was expecting that since I'm getting back into shape. I am pleased that I have run five miles in under a seven-minute-per-mile pace. In fact, if that's accurate, I'd say 34:08 for five miles is about a 6:49-per-mile-pace. Not bad!

All right, thank you all for reading. I hope you all stay warm and have a good night :)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Easy track run before sunrise!

Today was a little different work-wise, instead of going to work at the Homewood Center (a public alternative education school in Howard County, Maryland), I went to Dayton Oaks Elementary School for CPI training with some other new employees at Homewood. It was pretty interesting, it involved a lot on managing conflicts where students would act out. I even learned some classroom-appropriate self-defense holds and blocks. I thought it was an effective training, and it was a nice change of scenery. Dayton Oaks ES is in Dayton, Maryland, kind of out near the more rural and western area of Howard County (and the photo above in the upper left is a photo of Dayton Oaks Elementary School taken from the Howard County Public School System's website).

I was at this training from about 8 in the morning until a little after four in the afternoon (with a nice lunch break in between of course). This meant I could get goin' a bit later and thus I would have time to fit in a run early in the morning. So I drove over to Hammond High School's track, all bundled up in layers as it was still dark and cold (I started my run before six in the morning). I ended up running four miles on the track (about sixteen laps) nice and easy. Although it felt nice compared to Sunday's 3.5-mile track run, I went at a slightly faster pace. Since it was dark for most of the run, I only looked at my watch pretty much every two laps as opposed to every lap. Here are the splits I remember from this morning's run in case anyone is interested:

1/2 mile - Low 3:40's

1 mile - 7:20

2 miles - 14:55

2.5 miles - 18:29ish

3.5 miles - 25:46ish

4 miles - 29:16

As you can see, I was blessed with another nice negative-split run. My first two miles were in about 14 minutes and 55 seconds, and then my second one was faster at 14 minutes and 21 seconds. 29:16 for four miles is right about at 7:19-per-mile. My first mile was 7:20. Not bad at all, especially considering this was in the dark and I tend to run a lot more prudently and conservatively in the dark, for the most part.

Another piece of interesting news, this evening after CPI training, I applied for my first teacher's certification course at Howard Community College in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. It's called Human Development, I think it's more along the lines of a general education course. I'm takin' it on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for about four weeks after 2008 begins. This will be my first winter college-level course, pretty neat stuff. During my four school years at Salisbury University in Wicomico County, Maryland, I only took classes in the fall and summer semesters. So now I am officially in the system as a Howard Community College student, whooo-hooo!!!! That'll be cool, I still have some friends who are involved with that school, if not taking classes. I have friends who went through that school and seem to be successfully involved in four-year schools or pursuing jobs and such.

So that's been my busy, yet very productive day (at least in my mind). Ah, and a nice early-morning run with the sun risin' helped me get the day started :)

Thank you all for reading, have a good night out there!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Nice easy track run

This afternoon I got to go to the track at Hammond High School in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland to go for a nice easy run after the 10K prediction run I did on Thanksgiving and the two 5K races I ran on Friday and Saturday. It felt really nice and I thought it served it's purpose well. I felt like I was going fairly slow, and that helped me to keep it easy and not force myself to "push" myself to keep up some sorta pace (although I did notice that the second half of my run was slightly faster than the first part of it). I think I was slowed up by having to use the bathroom for a good portion of the run. Plus, I had been out late last night at a ballroom outside of Washington D.C., swing dancing (yea, imagine me swing dancing, I've done all sorts of... unique things this year, as you can probably get from reading my past blog entries). Also, I was fairly hungry from not eating much this morning. I thought it worked out great that I planned for today to be an easier running day.

I ran 14 laps on the track (about 3.5 miles) in 26:08. Here are some of the splits I remember running.

- 1/4 mile - 1:53

- 1/2 mile - 3:39ish

3/4 mile - 5:27

- 1 mile - 7:33

- 1.25 miles - 9:21ish

- 1.75 miles - 13:08

- 2 miles - 15:07 (same 7:33 pace as the first mile :)

- 2.25 miles - 17:07

- 2.75 miles - 20:45

3 miles - 22:30 (started to pick it up a bit there).

3.5 miles - 26:08

The first half of the run was about 13:08 and the second half was about 13:00. That's not too bad at all. I hope you all continue to enjoy the weekend!

Running Events I have done this year as of Sunday, November 25, 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)

– National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Coalition Run for Her 5K – Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis – 7th overall - 22:26

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

– Bull Run Invitational Reunion Run (3 miles) – Saturday, September 29, 2007 – Hereford High School, Parkton – 24th overall – 19:45 (clock), 19:41 (watch)

Calvert County

- 12th Annual North Beach 5K – Saturday, September 15, 2007 – North Beach, MD – 3rd overall – 18:48 – The event that marked my completion of a race in all my goal areas of Maryland!!!! :)

Caroline County

- 2nd annual Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day Fun Run (10K) – Saturday, April 21st, 2007 – Ridgley – 1st overall – 37:59 PR (Personal Record/best time in that distance!!!!! :)

- Caroline Hospice Remembrances Five-Miler – Saturday, September 22, 2007 – Federalsburg – 3rd overall (1st in 20-29 age group) – 33:59

- 22nd Annual Turkey Trot Two-Mile Fun Run – Saturday, November 17, 2007 – Denton Elementary School, Denton – 5th overall (1st in 20-29 age group) – 12:36

Carroll County

- Westminster Road Runners Club (W.R.R.C.) Predicted Time Four-Miler – Saturday, March 10, 2007 – Westminster/Bachman Valley area – 2nd person in, 14th closest to predicted time – 25:34 (my predicted time was 27:00, I was 1:26 fast, whoops J-)

- Andy Hayes Memorial 5K Run – Saturday, April 7, 2007 – Westminster/near Farm Museum – 2nd overall – 18:47

- 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 (watch)

- 4th Annual Eldersburg Labor Day 5K Rogue Race – Monday, September 3, 2007 – Eldersburg – 7th overall (1st in 20-29 age group division) – 19:35.0 (best time at the event :)

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

- 16th Annual Police Pace 5K – Sunday, September 9, 2007 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 16th overall – 18:37.69

- H.C.S. Fall Series Race (“Legends of the Fall”) #1: Swansfield Elementary School 5K – Sunday, September 16, 2007 – Columbia – 8th overall – 19:27

- H.C.S. Fall Series Race (“Legends of the Fall”) #2: Longfellow Elementary School 2-miles – Sunday, September 23, 2007 – Columbia – 4th overall – 13:37

- 10 – The Race 5K – Saturday, October 27, 2007 – Columbia – 20:46 (clock), 20:44 (watch)

- 2A South and 3A North Regional Cross Country Championships – Thursday, November 1, 2007 – Centennial High School, Ellicott City, MD – 21:47

- Symphony of Lights Dazzle Dash (two 1.4 laps = approximately 2.8 miles) – Saturday, November 17 – Columbia - 17:38

- Turkey Trot Prediction Run 10K – Thursday, November 22, 2007 – Columbia – 173rd finisher, 60th closest to 11 A.M. – Intended time, 46:00, actual time: 46:37. Left at 10:14:02 A.M., Finished at 11:00:39.37 A.M. (closest finish to 11 A.M. wins, I think I was closer than last year :)

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)

- Inaugural Oyster Run 5K Race – Saturday, October 13, 2007 – Rock Hall – 2nd overall (1st in 20-35 “open men” age group) – 20:10

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

- 49th Annual Larry Noel Greenbelt 15K and 3K (15K) – Sunday, September 2, 2007 – Greenbelt - 13th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group division) – 1:06:50

- Tom’s 6th Annual 5K Reindeer Run – Saturday, November 24, 2007 – Laurel – (1st in 21-35 age group division) – 20:08

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

- Inaugural Eastern Shore Butterball Belly Buster 5K Run – Friday, November 23, 2007 – Grasonville – 2nd overall (1st in 19-24 age group) – 20:44

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. – St. Mary’s City area – 1st overall – 21:38

Somerset County

- 2nd Annual McCready Health Services Foundation’s Founder’s Day 8K Run & 2-mile walk – Saturday, May 5, 2007 (El Cinco de Mayo) – Crisfield – 1st overall(8K) – 31:58 (ran faster there this year than last year :)

- 60th Annual National Hard Crab Derby, 28th Annual Mike Sterling 10K – Saturday, September 1, 2007 – Crisfield – 4th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 41:48

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 :)

- Sneakers and Creepers 5K – Sunday, October 21, 2007 – Salisbury – approximately 4th overall – clock (20:15ish), watch (20:10)

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)

Tom's Sixth Annual 5K Reindeer Run

Yesterday (Saturday, November 24, 2007) was the second year in a row that I ran in Tom's Annual 5K Reindeer Run in western Laurel (Prince George's County), Maryland. I did not know what to expect of myself here, since I have only been back at running for a little over a week now, I probably would have been happy to come within three miutes of 18:06, the time I ran on that course last year. Plus, I had run the Eastern Shore Butterbally Belly Buster 5K in Queen Anne's County, Maryland the previous day in 20:44 (and I was hurting at the very end, despite how flat it was). I figured I would probably be hard-pressed to break 21 minutes on this fairly challenging course, and I had not even gotten that much sleep the night before. Oh well, I'm glad I came into this with the mindset of just runnin' it for fun...
Well, I was pleasantly surprise that I expected wrong of myself and I still had fun.
I started off nice and steady, probably towards the back or middle of the pack. There were porbably close to two-hundred participants if not more. I felt steady and pain-free pretty mcuh the whole time. I managed to work my way through different packs of runners with fair ease. In fact, I would not have been surprised if I ran negative splits.
I finished in the top ten and hit about 20:08! Man, had I felt that good, I probably could have broken 20 minutes the previous day at the flat Maryland Eastern Shore Butterball Belly Buster 5K in Grasonville. Ah well, at least I can say that with the past three running events I have run in the past three days in a row, my performances seem to have improved. I was also blessed with another age group award and just like at the Butterball Belly Buster 5K, I won another random prize (an Under Armor back pack). Yes! I'm on a roll. Maybe I better look to hittin' up some races in Vegas. YEAH!!!!!! Two successful raffles in a row. Just more incentive to merely show up and participate in these events.
All right, I'm gonna get ready to head to church and then hopefully head to the track for a nice run. A lot of these photos are courtesy of David Flynn (the gentleman in the photo with me as we hold out our age-group award plaques) and his camera. Thank you all for reading and I hope you all continue to enjoy the weekend!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Eastern Shore Butterball Belly Buster 5K at the Prospect Bay Country Club

This morning I had the pleasure of running another race in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, a county in Maryland that does not usually have very many year-around running events. In fact, it was in this very county where I ran the Race to Impact 10K back in March and as a result, I started to have thoughts about attempting to run in at least one running event in all the counties of Maryland. It was nice to come back to this area right along the chesapeake Bay. This was also cool, because as a result of completing this race, I can now say that this year I have run in a race everyday of the week. If you're like me, a runner outside of high school and college, where road races and all-comers races typically occur on the weekend as opposed to interscholastic and intercollegiate cross country and track-and-field meets that occur on weekdays as well, it's hard to do.
This year, there has hardly been a weekend that has gone by that has not involved at least one race. Monday, September 3, I ran the Labor Day Rogue Race 5K in Eldersburg (Carroll County), Maryland. I had a couple of Tuesday evening cross country races out in Washington and Allegany Counties in Maryland. I ran plenty of Wednesday evening races, especially through the Howard County Striders' Summer Series Races. I ran at least a couple of events on Thursdays. So this was the only running event I have run on a Friday so far this year, whoohoo!
It's also neat, because these races were all done in Maryland too!

Now onto details about the race. I liked the venue. Like many races on the Maryland Eastern Shore, it was flat. This went in a loop around the Prospect Bay Country Club campus in Grasonville. This has been the first race I have run in Queen Anne's County (not including the Governor's Bay Bridge Run that starts in Queen Anne's County and ends in Anne Arundel County) that did not occur on the Cross Island Trail. I figured I check this one out. This was the first year they did it and I'm glad I got to run in it, because I heard in the future they may actually hold it on Thanksgiving Day, and that may be a conflict for me, because that may interfere with the Turkey Trot 10K Prediction Run I like to run in Howard County, Maryland (and as of this year, I have run in that event for ten years in a row).

I suprised myself at the start, I was able to keep up with the lead runners, and then for the remainder of the first mile, I was able to hang with the lead runner. I crossed the one mile mark at about 6:03 (which I thought was pretty quick for me considering I have only been running for about a weke now since my off season). I knew I had gone out a lot faster than I expected, but I was feeling all right and even though the lead runner was widening the gap, I still had him in sight.
Towards the second mile, the wind really picked up and that made it challenging for us. I think I went by the two-mile mark somewhere in the 12:30's, maybe a bit slower (hey, that's right around the time I ran that Turkey Trot Two Mile Fun Run in Caroline County, Maryland last weekend, not too bad). I tried to keep strong despite the wind and it helped that the lead runner was in sight.

Then, when I reached the third mile mark in about 19:36, that's about when my legs began to cramp up and lose feeling, and I could feel my form (at least where my legs were concerned) begin to fall-apart. Fortunately, since it was 5-kilometers (approximately 3.1 miles), I was almost done. However, I really thought that the three-mile mark was misplaced, because it took me over a minute to get to the finish line from the three-mile mark, and even though I was hurtin there towards the end and I was not in as strong shape as I used to be, I still do not think it should take me over a minute to run the difference between 3 and 3.1 miles. Anyway, I finished in 20:44, about the same time I hit a few weeks back at 10-The Race 5K in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. This time, I was not cramping up as much as I was during the 10-The Race, at least not until the very end. And I think a lot of that was from the cold wind and just pushin' a relatively quick pace that I was not in that strong of shape to sustain (not yet anyways).

I am grateful that I finished second overall with an age group award as well. It was a nice post-race gathering inside the country club. I must say, this was a post-race reception with some ritz. To be honest, I don't think I've really been inside a country club before, at least not in a very long time. Aside from the occasional mini-golf games, I ain't much of a golfer.

You may remember from a couple of posts ago that I was also fixin' on running the Run for Hospice 5K Fun Run in Easton (Talbot County), Maryland right after this race. However, right around the time I finished this one, it was almost time for that race to start and I figured it was just plain ridiculous to expect to get in because it would probably have taken me almost a half-hour to get there (and that's if traffic was good). I knew my chances were slim of being able to do both, but this race started a little late than scheduled and when I realized that, I sorta put it outta my head to not make it an objective to run in the Run for Hospice 5K this year. I have never run in that event yet, maybe I'll do that next year. I am glad I chose this one, because it may not be that convenient for me to run in the future if it is moved to Thanksgiving Day. Also, I am glad I stuck around for the awards cermony, because not only did I earn a beautiful trophy as an age-group award, but they had raffles (and there weren't that many participants there, probably no more than fifty or sixty), and I won a gift certificate to a "natural" massage at this place in Annapolis. It sounds appealing too me. I've hardly get massages, I don't think I've ever gone out of my way to get one, so I think it would be a neat experience!

After leaving this race, I went over to the YMCA of Talbot County to pick up my packet (I figured since I pre-registered for this event before I found out about the Belly Buster 5K, I might as well get the t-shirt as well as any other freebies that come with it). I met the gentleman in charge of it and I told him about how I had recently run in a race in every county of Maryland this year, and how I use these blogs to display results of running events that typically do not have their results posted/covered. Although he said he would probably have them posted on the YMCA's website (http://www.talbotymca.org), he would be glad to have me post them as well on my website. He seemed enthusiastic about it and I was grateful that he thought the idea was cool. I hope to sometime in the near future have some race results for Talbot County, Maryland on my Talbot County running event page. (http://runintalbotcountymd.blogspot.com)

So far it's been a pretty nice day. Tonight I hope to make it out to afriend's house in Ellicott City (Howard County), Maryland for a get-together/Holiday party. Then, tomorrow, I hope to make it to Laurel (Prince George's County), Maryland for Tom's 6th Annual 5K Reindeer Run. I ran it last year and it was fun, but a little challenging. I hope to participate in it for fun and not worry about my finishing time too much (and certainly I hope not to go through the first mile in a 5K distance that fast for a while).

All right, thank you all for reading. I hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving and that you enjoy the upcoming weekend :)

Turkey Trot 10K Prediction Run

Hey there everyone. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I did, it was pretty chill. The meal was nice, I was glad I got to have it with my brother, grandma and parents. I definitely took advantage of all the food (partially because I had not really eaten much after my run earlier that morning, whihc I will get into very soon). After eating, we watched the movie "Cars" on TV and it was awesome (it was on a Starz On Demand channel, we have a free one-year digital cable trial, pretty neat stuff).
Earlier that morning I made it ot the Turkey Trot 10K Prediction Run that the Howard County Striders put on at the Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland. I did all right, I ran slower than I predicted (and usually at this one I run a little faster than predicted), but that's okay because I was within forty seconds of 11:00 A.M., the time at exactly which runners would try to finish the 10K course at without the aid of a watch or some similar timing device. This was my tenthy year-in-a-row of running in it and I really enjoy it. I chose to try and get it done in 46 minutes, so I left at 10:14 A.M. (well actually it was a couple of seconds after that, so I was actually trying to get it done in 45:58. For a good portion of it, my right knee was cramping up (and that area of my body has hurt in the past), but towards the end, like within the last couple of miles I felt better and picked it up a little bit. I finished at 11:00:39.37 thereabouts, making my 10K time about 46:37. Not too bad considering I have been back at running less than a week and this has been my longest and probably most hilly run so far during this phase. I was glad this year to be closer to the time, whereas last year I was over a minute off (although I ran the 10K course a little ways under 41 minutes, my fastest time on the course to date)! It was a nice experience. Since it was so nice out yesterday, I record number of well over two-hundred participants came out and I was the 173rd finisher and I'd say from looking at the results, I was probably the 60th closest to the winning time. I know the guy who won the prediction run from a lot of the Howard County Striders events, and I was really happy for him, he has really improved in his running and it's a great testimony to see him win something that was not based so much on strong running ability, but good judgment in pacing as well!

All right, I'll get more later on here about the Maryland Eastern Shore 5K I ran this morning (Friday, November, 2007). I hope you all have a great day!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Looks like a busy, but fun weekend ahead/prolly won't be gainin' too much weight!

Photo of an Eastern Wild Turkey, courtesy of: http://www.reflectiveimages.com/WildTurkey.htm

My running has been goin' all right, thank you very much, and for that I am thankful! Although I have not been back at consistent running for a full week, I'm feelin' all right. Yesterday I ran on a course that goes by Atholton Elementary School in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland, where I went to elementary school, and on my bike it measures out to be about 4.52 miles (although sometimes I suspect it's a bit short). I ran it in 31:25, and my first mile was around 7:28. I could feel myself start to pick it up a bit towards the end and I think it help me out. I felt better towards the end of the run than I idd going into it, which I thought was great. Aside from running in the Turkey Trot Two Mile Fun Run in Denton (Caroline County), Maryland and the Symphony of Lights Dazzle Dash in Columbia on Saturday, yesterday's run was the first time I've been running off of the track since I started to get back into running shape.
Tomorrow, there's a Howard County Striders event in Columbia that I have been running in every Thanksgiving since I was a freshman at Hammond High School (and that goes all the way back to the fall of 1998). The event is the Turkey Trot Prediction Run 10K that starts and ends at the Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center. It runs mainly on not to hilly bike paths all the way out near Howard High School in Ellicott City. There is also a fairly long, but not too steep hill at the end, so good pacing is encouraged. This is not really a race, the object is to finish as close to 11 A.M. as possible without any watches or other forms of "timing assistance". Basically it's a contest of how well you can guage your pace throughout a 10K distance. It's not uncommon for winners to be within milli-seconds of the other runners. It's really fun; a friendly crowd, running atmosphere, and there are doughnuts and warm beverages afterwards in the neighborhood center. They also have a trivia contest as well as awards for the person who finished the closest to 11 A.M. (and sometimes for those who finished close around them). Based on how I ran yesterday (Tuesday, November 20, 2007), I think I could comfortably make it through in about 45-46 minutes if I take it easy, and that's what I wanna be doin' at this point with my running, nothing too hard. If I make it to this tomorrow, this will probably my tenth year-in-a-row running in it.
Registration is the day-of and if you are interested in comin' out, check out info at: http://www.striders.net (the Howard County Striders' internet website).

In addition to this event, I hope to make it out to a few other 5K's for fun this weekend outside of Howard County.

- Friday, November 23, 2007 - Inaugural Butterball Belly Buster 5K - 9:30 A.M., Prospect Bay Country Club, Grasonville (Queen Anne's County), Maryland - This sounds interesting. I've enjoyed past events in Queen Anne's County, and it'll be unique in my experience to run a race in the Kent Island area that's not on the Cross Island Trail. Also, I heard that if they do this next year, they would try to have it on Thanksgiving Day, which may conflict with the Prediction Run I like to run in Columbia, so maybe it's best to run this while it doesn't conflict with it this year! If anyone is interested, please check out: http://www.butterballbellybuster5K.Com

- Friday, November 23, 2007 - Run for Hospice 10K/5K Run - 10:00 A.M. (10K), 10:05 (5K), Talbot County YMCA, Easton (Talbot County), Maryland - I've heard about this throughout the year while I was trying to run in a running event in all of Maryland's counties this year, and I figured that since I'm available, I might as well try to revisit Talbot County for another race there. I plan on running in the 5K fun run, although I may be RUNNING late since I'll probably be comin' from the Butter Ball Belly Buster 5K in Queen Anne's County. YIKES!!!! I heard that I could probably still hop in it if I came late, and I think that the 5K sounds more low-key/informal than the 10K. If any of you are interested, please check out the YMCA of Talbot County's website at: http://www.TalbotYMCA.org

* Hey, if I make it to at least one of these Friday mornin' races, I can also say that this year I have run a race every day of the week. How about that!

- Saturday, November 24, 2007 - Tom's 6th Annual 5K Reindeer Run - 9:00 A.M., West Laurel Community Building, Laurel (Prince George's County), Maryland - A memorial race for Tom Linsenmeyer, and it helps benefit Sarah's House. Very well put on race (and a bit hilly too, especially with a pretty short, but steep hill towards the end on Bond Mill Road). There are some solid downhills towards the beginning, but then it goes on to rolling hills throughout most of the course. As you can probably tell, I have run this before, once last year and I hope to make it back again (of course I probably am not in shape to come close to the 18:06 I ran last year). If any one is interested, please check out: http://www.Tomsreindeerrun.org It's a pretty nice and thorough website!

Maybe I'll see some of you out running this weekend or something. Either way, I hope you all are well and that you have a blessed Thanksgiving. One thing I am thankful for is you, your attention, enthusiasm, interest, and support. Running a race in every county of Maryland (and Delaware) this year would not have been as fun and enriching if not for encouraging people like you!

I hope to get some details about how I fare in all these upcoming running events that I hope to make this weekend, hopefully by sometime next week. We'll see. Happy Holidays to you all :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Wednesday, November 21, 2007