Hey there everyone, happy George Washington's Birthday to all of you :) I hope everyone's doing well! Today it snowed and the roads are apparently icy so public schools here in Howard County, Maryland have been cancelled ( a day off, yay)! Monday was a day off for President''s Day, so I've been blessed with a three-day work week. And it has certainly been eventful!
First, on Tuesday evening (February 19, 2008), I went to the Stained Glass Pub in Glenmont/Silver Spring (Montgomery County), MD for the Fifty-Plus Races-Per-Year Club's 11th Annual Awards Banquet. It was great, discounted pizza night so we had a lotta pizza as well as some cake to celerate a club member's birthday. I really enjoyed it. Nice company and conversation (mainly about running, no surprise there). I met some nice people from Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia there as well. The top two photos are of the banquet. Awards for various reasons and accomplishments were given out, and I was grateful to have earned one (probably because I ran over fifty races last year). It was awesome to hear recognition about running a race in every county of Maryland last year, such a blessing :) It's a great group, a lot of supportive people of different backgrounds and characteristics, and it's neat how we all share a common joy of running.
Then, on Wednesday afternoon (February 20, 2008) I was driving home from work and I stopped at an intersection to turn into the Harper's Choice Shopping Center to shop at the Safeway there where I used to work, when I was rear-ended!
I heard a loud BUMP and before I new it I was drifting into the intersection. Forutnately God helped em gain control of the car and my faculties within a second or two (although I spilled my mini back of chips that I was munchin' on after I had cleaned out the car the weekend before, but it could have been a lot worse).
Yes it could have been a lot worse. The other driver was not injured (or so he said) and my head/neck felt a bit sore in the back and I felt pretty drowsy afterwards, but now I'm doing all right. The left rear on my bumper was pretty much all that got whacked (as pictured above). No police got involved. Fortunately the gentleman was cooperative and offered a lotta necessary information to get things squared away for insurance. I was even able to go shopping afterwards at Safeway (hey I was that close anyway, might as well finish what I started since I was healthy enough to move around). I was hobbling about for a few minutes after getting out of the car, but it could very well have been from the shock of it. Afterwards, I made it to my Introduction to Reading course at Howard Community College and got through the class all right, and then did a nice jog on the treadmill at the on-campus gym as well as some lifting on the incline bench and the dumbbells. I felt better as I worked out (and I didn't push it much either). I ran into a buddy of mine from the Howard County Striders at the gym (he had just come back from a fairly long training run) and we lifted together, so that was cool.
Afterwards, I had heard about the lunar eclipse taking place that night, and they were going to have a free public viewing of it from atop the Howard Community College parking garage. I decided to go check it out. I drove to a fairly high spot in the garage, parked the car, and then ran/jogged up the rest of the way. There was hardly anyone at the top of the garage, and I could understand because it was around 8:45-8:50ish, and I don't think it was going to be quite a big thing until around 10ish. But I wanted to head back home, get showed, have dinner and try to get some decent sleep! I managed to get a couple of photos of the moon (pictured above on the bottom. The moon is on the left, and a garage light is on the right). I know it's probably not that good of a photo, but I decided to post it anyway, as there probably won't be another lunar eclipse until around the December of 2010 (so I've heard)!
Well I'm doing all right. Been runing a couple of days since the accident and been feeling all right. I'm glad that the "Maryland Mobile" (as my friend David called my car after I told him about my endeavors last year to run in a running event in every county in Maryland in 2007) did not get hit like that last year, or I would have been ticked because I would have most likely needed it to get around Maryland to do races and such in every Maryland county. I know I'm doing that again this year (in addition to trying to run races in every county of Delaware within a week and the two on Virginia's Eastern Shore in the Delmarva Peninsula). At least last year I was blessed to have been able to run in all of the Maryland and Delaware Counties in a year, so if this incident prevents me from doing it, I hopefully won't be too upset and I hope to still try for it anyway and make the best of it. As I said, it could have been worse.
I still plan on running in the Road Runners Club of America Club Challenge Ten-Mile Run this coming Sunday in Howard County. Fortunately the venue is within running distance of my house, so if my car is still in the shop or if I can't get a ride, I could do a longer warm up and cool down by running to and from the race. While that is not the most preferable for me, as I don't want to warm up too long before the race or cool down too long after an already relatively lengthy race for me, I'll gladly take it over not going at all. My running goal for that event is still the same and I hope to run strongly and recover all right! As for races in the near future after that ten-miler (which are probably going to be on the Maryland Eastern Shore for me), I hope that the car will be repaired around that time. If not though, I am confident that God has a plan for me in getting those counties in and there's still a good portion of 2008 ahead. Gotta keep an eye on some of those Maryland Eastern Shore counties, they don't have very many year-around running events, and my chances of making one in those counties are not as high as in some others.
Well anyway, thank you all for reading and the encouragements as well!! Glad to be doing all right and in good condition to justify running a ten-miler this weekend (which I hope won't be canceled as a result of the weather or something like that). Enjoy George Washington's Birthday and the upcoming weekend :)
Running Events I have done this year as of Friday, February 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
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
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
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
Washington County
Wicomico County
Worcester County
Events outside of Maryland
Delaware
Kent County
New Castle County
Sussex County
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
