November Is Here

Mike Bickford, Wood Frog, and James at the conclusion of the St. Michaels 5K which benefits the St. Michaels Sports Boosters. Photo by Noah Wood @ 2008

As much as I have been trying to simplfy life, time still flies by too quickly. It is November already and I have catch-up to do for October. On the 25th I ran the St. Michaels 5K in wet conditions. The course takes us through the back streets of historic town, and is guided by local high school athletes, for whom the race benefits. James (aka Woody) met me at the St. Michaels Perk for fruit and cider before we drove together to the race. In the pre-race crowd we met up with Noah Wood, who was completing his ambitious goal at this 5K of running in every county of Maryland within a six month period. We've seen Noah at other races in Talbot and truly appreciate his enthusiasm for our sport. He has great speed and won this year's St. Michaels 5K in just over 18 minutes, including the time he made a wrong turn on the course. He often wins his age group in races and was the Oxford Day 10K winner last year. There is a feature article on Noah in Thursday's "Eastern Shore Today" section of the Star Democrat.

Early in the race Mike Bickford and I started pacing each other. Though we'd never met before, I asked him to help me try to break 20 minutes for the 5K. That was his goal, as well, and he proceeded to pace us through town. It was difficult to stay with Mike, but he definitely helped me maintain a faster pace. At the 2nd to last turn of the race, about 1/2 mile from the finish, Mike picked up to a pace faster than I could maintain, and I let him slip away from me. He finished first in our age-group at 20:05 with me 2nd at 20:28. That is my best 5K time. Later we figured out that Mike ran with the Rise Up Runners once on the Trans Tred Avon Challenge this past spring.

With Noah, Mike, and me finished, we applauded as James came across the finish line fourth overall and first in his age-group. There were many stories at this 5K: Noah's was announced to the crowd at the start and we all congratulated him. An 80ish year old woman ran the course. And, a friend of mine, who easily weighed close to 300 pounds a few years ago, completed the course in under 30 minutes. Nancy Toby, our local triathlete guru, ran a great race at a respectable pace. My only disappointment was that there were not more Rise Up Runners at this benefit. There is next year.

On Sunday I met up with Landy, Dan, and Cory Duncan and joined them on part of their 60 mile bike ride through the Bay Hundred. I cut out after 30 miles to meet Joel, Kat, and James for a run. I appreciate them waiting 15 minutes for me to show. We had a great run back Railroad Avenue and the Mt. Misery area. The highlight was a comment made by Kat concerning our group's name, Rise Up Runners. Some how she always thought it came from this group's sense of outrage, not what time we started running. What followed was various outbursts and contortions. I guess you had to be there with a runner's high in gear.

Tuesday saw James join Kat and me at the track for a 5:30 start. With the time change and enough cloud cover the track was lit so we could see our footing. We all did six 800's at sprint pace with a 400 or 600 between each 800 at long distance race pace. Woody and I maintained 3:18's through 800 number five. On the sixth one Woody kicked it in and ran a 2:57. Kat and I egged him on to do a seventh, with us pacing him in the straight-a-ways. Woody ran his seventh 800 at 2:52. We celebrated his accomplishment and declared that the Bay Hundred Rise Up Runners were awesome!

Seven Rise Up Runners will venture to the Rehobeth Beach Marathon on the 22nd. Valliant, Dominic, and Lori will each run the whole marathon. Kat and Woody pair up to be the RUR Coed Relay Team, and Joel and I will pair up to be the All Male RUR Relay Team. There should be plenty of material for the blogs after that trip.

On the 15th I will participate in my first Master's Swim Meet in Salisbury. I will likely enter the 200 Breaststroke, 50 Free, and 50 Fly as my events. I am really excited and nervous about the competition.

I am overjoyed with Obama's success as our next president. To me the world just got a big shot of HOPE. Yes, we can!...

Phin asleep while I am composing this posting. He is 11 weeks old.

Phinn, aka Spaz, is coming into his own. His personality is developing well. He has boundless energy (when awake) and now follows me happily everywhere. I no longer need to coax him on our walks out the the 2nd telephone pole. He loves his family, food, sleep, and his platypus.

Love, swim, bike, and run...