On the road again

On the road again, that classic country song, certainly applied this weekend.

Friday agenda-waterfront 5k

After finding out I am being temporarily reassigned to different office further north, I took a chance & signed up for this event. In previous years, it was held Saturday morning. If it were blackjack, I hit one too many times; bust! I got stuck in the rush hour traffic and arrived late. To add insult to injury, even though I was pre-registered, my bib # & packet was given away & I had to fight to reissue another number plus take a shirt way larger than I reserved. That added further to the delay. I was told to begin behind the start mat & run, in effect, the race starts when Im ready. So, I pulled a George (similar incident happened to him at the Karhu 5k). afterwards, I was told that someone turned off the mat early so I didn't get my true (net) time. After some convincing, I was at least given the medal I would've gotten had they done it right, even though the clock time recorded won't reflect I placed. When I left work, it was hot but cooled down quickly by the time I got there. The post race was lame unless you were willing to pay.

Saturday agenda-race!

I had 3 choices:
1. Savannah river bridge run
2. OUC half marathon
3. jingle bell jog 5k

#1 is out of state; strike that. The last 2, been there, done that. Therefore, the proximity rule prevailed. I went into this with low expectations. why?

1. never placed at this event, even with great times
2. race within 12 hours of a previous race
3. recent struggles to meet my personal standards

Unfortunately, the tradition continued. On top of that, my time barely broke 20. Much better post race. I had not done the race in, like 5 years and this day reminded me why I haven't.
Sunday agenda-race!
I passed on the following events to continue tradition:
a. Brandon half & 5k
b. k9 cancer walk
c. sfk 5k run for success
d. tri key west

If I were a travelling man, I missed also the Las Vegas marathon & the Jamaican marathon. Speaking of travelling, I passed on a. I dropped b. because it's a fun run. Without a swimmer, I didn't even think about d. plus on top of that, the driving; c it is!

What's the tradition? Palm beach marathon relay! I felt like Pat Riley when the big 3 got signed for the heat. Why? I was able to get Jonathan Mederos, an elite athlete & top runner for team STOL. Plus, the return of Gene, from previous teams that have won. Originally, Chris A was to run but unfortunately got injured, so like UM did with Randy Shannon, I had to get a replacement. When Dwayne Wade spoke, the heat listened; so did I when Jonathon spoke. I took his recommendation, Jose N, as a replacement, not clear of his ability because I trust his judgement. As team captain, it's my responsibility to not only acquire the resources but properly allocate them for maximum results. By the grace of God, this came to pass. Our team not only won the male relay & set the course record but beat ALL teams plus was the only team to break 3 hours. On top of that, we had the 4th fastest time overall! Jose was the starter & impressed me by having us already in the lead. The pressure was on me to continue this then pass on to the 'star' of the team. He advanced us from top 20 to top 5 before passing on to the anchor. Gene killed it, running a great time & we took the title. Post race was probably the same as Friday but I wouldn't know since Jonathan & I were stranded at the 3rd leg relay point for a couple of hours. We were all elated we won. Now, I gotta get back on the road again.