Settling into Calvert County, Maryland

Hello everyone!

I moved to Calvert County almost two weeks ago; living by myself at the moment. I moved here mainly to be closer to Kay, my excellent fiancee, who I plan to marry tomorrow (Saturday, November 20, 2010) at our church.


This is has just got me all... WOW!!!!!

At any rate, I have been tired and relatively sleep deprived pretty much all week, and God has been good. In fact, last Saturday (November 13, 2010), I ran the 10th Annual St. Anne's School of Annapolis 5K in Anne Arundel County, MD, and I finished in 17:52. The course was obviously a bit on the shorter side (and the race coordinators admitted that this year they had accidentaly cut it shorter). The real neat thing was that I got to the half-way turn-around point a little ways into Quiet Waters Park (a really well-shaded and scenic park in Annapolis, MD), I was at around 8:57, so therefore, God must have helped me pick it up to about 8:55 the second half of the race if my finishing time was about 17:52, or at least stay very even with my pace. They said I ran 17:55, but I saw at the clock I was about 17:52. No worries, though. I did so much better at that race than I expected due to not runnign that much due to a relatively stressful and busy work situation with teaching right now, not to mention that my sleep and eating were a bit thrown off. I felt pretty solid the whole race, and that was proof yet once again that despite how weak or even pathetic I feel, God can lift me (and anyone) up to acheive great things for Him.



All right, I wanted to blog on that. I am also letting you know that I plan to stop blogging on this after I marry Kay. It has nothing to do with Kay; I just feel that I have gotten to a point where I should conclude this blog... Or at least have it on a very extended hiatus. I feel that in getting married, I am not just turning another page in my life, I'm reading a whole chapter at least!! Therefore, I feel it is an excellen point in which to bring closure to this blog. After Kay and I get married, I plan to put a blog entry about the wedding, and close it off there.I will still post results/details of races and some neat runs that I do, and even mention any other running goals that may come my way, however, I think I will leave this more narrative material out unless God leads me to do otherwise.

I think running-wise, southern Maryland can be a lot of fun (and fun in other ways too). I am hoping to explore more of Calvert County, Charles County (especially that southwestern area some more, and Saint Mary's County). I can probably get to do that through runs, or even races, God-willing. Either way, I hope to take Kay to a lot of these scenic places (or her take me since she is a native to this region of Maryland :)

All right, I should be going. I wanted to thank all of you who have suppported this blog and myself. You are a blessing from God and an excellent encouragement to me. Thank you very much and have a blessed day :)

Races I Have Done This Year as of Friday, November 19, 2010

1). Friday, January 1, 2010 – 3rd Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution Run 5K – Prince Frederick (Calvert County), MD – 9th overall (2nd in male 20-29 age-group division) – 20:38 (clock time), 20:34 (watch time)

2). Sunday, January 10, 2010 – Mighty Medford Freeway 5K – Medford/Westminster (Carroll County), MD – 8th overall (20-29 male age-group division winner) – 20:25

3). Sunday, March 7, 2010 – Howard County Striders “Operation Iceberg” Winter Series #6: Oakland Mills Middle School 6-Mile Race – 17th overall – 43:55 (ran at an even pace, and ran negative splits )too

4). Saturday, March 13, 2010 – 3rd Annual Pi-Mile (3.14-mile) Run – Patuxent High School, Lusby (Calvert County), MD – 7th overall (20-29 male age group division winner) – 23:29.0

5). Saturday, March 20, 2010 (9:00 A.M.) – Inaugural Francie’s Family 5K – Middletown Park, Middletown (Frederick County), MD – 10th overall (20-29 male age-group division winner) – 2!:07.25

6). Saturday, March 20, 2010 (11:00 A.M.) – 2nd Annual Matt Boles 5K Fun Run – East Middle School, Westminster (Carroll County), MD – 23:54

7). Saturday, March 20, 2010 (1:00 P.M.) – 28th Annual “Forest of Needwood”/”Jennifer Schafer Odom Memorial” 5 Mile Road Race – Knoxville/Petersville/Brunswick (Frederick County), MD – 35th overall (20-29 male age-group division winner) - 44:57 (clock time), 44:55 (watch time)

8). Saturday, April 3, 2010 – 2nd Annual Race for Joe 5K – Borough of Franklin Park/McCandless Township (Allegheny County), Pennsylvania – 13th overall (2nd in male 20-29 age-group division) – 21:01 (clock time), 20:57/20:58 (watch time)

9). Saturday, April 10, 2010 – 1st Annual Hills of Milltown 5K Challenge (it was closer to 3.45 miles according to someone’s GPS) – Historic Ellicott City (Howard County), MD – 10th overall (3rd in male 19-19 age-group division) – 24:21

10). Saturday, May 15, 2010 – 1st Annual Queen Anne’s Police K-9 Chase 5K (it was around 2.9 miles) – Terrapin Nature Center area, Stevensville/Kent Island – Queen Anne’s County, MD – 10th overall (4th in male 21-30 age-group division) - 21:58.9 (as of completing this race, I can say I have done a race on all general areas of the Cross-Island Trail on Kent Island )

11). Sunday, May 30, 2010 – Patapsco Trail Run – Avalon Area, Patapsco State Park, Catonsville (Baltimore County-into-Howard County-and-back-to-Baltimore County), MD – Dropped out a little after a mile into the race because I lost my glasses after a river crossing. I am grateful to )God I got back and out of the woods all right

12). Saturday, June 5, 2010 – Katie’s Run 5K - New Germany State Park, Grantsville (Garrett County), MD – 21st overall – 22:55 (clock), 22:53ish (watch)… This was the day Kay and I got engaged!!!!! 

13). Saturday, June 12, 2010 - Running Brook Elementary School 3K Fun Run – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 4th overall – 13:00 (it may have been slightly longer than 3 kilometers)

14). Tuesday, June 22, 2010 – Centennial 1-Mile Fun Run – Ellicott City (Howard County), MD – 10th overall (I think) – 6:14

15). Saturday, July 3, 2010 – Arbutus Firecracker 10K Run – Arbutus/Relay (Baltimore County), MD – 156th overall – 51:29 (clock), 50:52ish (watch time, I think)

16). Friday, July 9, 2010 – Howard County Striders Cross Country #2: Reservoir High School – Fulton (Howard County), MD – 96th overall – 24:16

17). Saturday, July 17, 2010 – Inaugural Trailfight 5K (a little longer than a 5K I think) – Trolley Trail #9,Oella/Catonsville (Baltimore County), MD – 16th overall – 21:55 (clock), 21:49 (watch)

18). Wednesday, July 21, 2010 – Howard County Striders Meet of Miles – 1-Mile Track Run at Oakland Mills High School’s outdoor track – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 50th overall – 6:18

19). Saturday, August 28, 2010 – 3rd Annual Expect a Miracle 5K – Berlin (Worcester County) – 4th overall (male 21-30 age group division winner) – 22:14 (course was a little longer than a 5K plus I made a wrong turn)

20). Saturday, September 11, 2010 – Inaugural Race to the Creek 5K – Lusby (Calvert County) – 13th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 20:48 (clock), 20:47 (watch)


21). Saturday, September 25, 2010 – 15th Annual North Beach 5K – North Beach (Calvert County), MD – 7th overall – 21:01

22). Saturday, October 2, 2010 – Inaugural Run and Rumble in the City for Autism 5K/10K Run (I ran the 5K) – Greensboro (Caroline County), MD – Winner – 18:45 (reported time), 18:20 (clock time)(the course was more like 2.91 miles long according to MapMyRun.Com)

23). Saturday, October 2, 2010 – 9th/10th Annual VP Shoes The Athlete 5K – Salisbury (Wicomico County), MD – 24th – 21:24 (3rd in male 20-29 age group division )

24). Saturday, October 16, 2010 – Inaugural End Hunger in Calvert County 5K – Trinity United Methodist Church, Prince Frederick (Calvert County), MD – 5th overall (2nd in male 20-29 age group division) – 20:53

25). Sunday, October 24, 2010 – Howard County Striders’ “Legends of the Fall” Series #4: Atholton High School 5K – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 8th overall
- 19:57.05 (first time in over a year running a sub-20-minute 5K )


26). Saturday, November 13, 2010 – 10th Annual St. Anne’s School of Annapolis 5K Run – Annapolis (Anne Arundel County), MD – Winner – 17:55 (clock), 17:52 (watch) – First half was 8:57ish, so I was blessed to have kept an even pace 



Please check out the events I did in 2009:

http://ranineverymdcounty.blogspot.com/2009/12/reflection-on-2009.html



Please check out the events I did in 2008:

http://ranineverymdcounty.blogspot.com/2008/12/
not-much-longer-until-2009.html



Please check out the events I did in 2007:

http://runineverymdcounty.blogspot.com/2007/09/
i-ran-in-running-event-in-all-of.html