Four second differential

In each race this weekend, four measly seconds made a big difference in placement.

Saturday agenda-riverwalk 5k

Since I forfeited the 3 for the road series by failing to do the St Paddy 4 miler, I decided to opt for the 5k, instead of the 5 miler, & at the very least, increase my odds for victory. I set out to capture a master title. I had previously decided to make this one my main event & prepared well for it. Despite the bridge (twice) & the wind, I was able to place in the mid 18's & help my team, Premier racing, win the 5k title; this team was 2nd in the 5 mile team division. Gary was wondering why he didn't see my name under the master category, even though I beat my teammate, who won that category. I quickly informed him that only one person was able to beat me in the entire race! I am still on a high, as this is my 2nd 2nd overall win this year, but the 1st recognized as such. Incidentally, the 3rd place finisher was 4 seconds behind me! This was still the flash race I expected, with pancake breakfast & various giveaways. The award was a limited edition color print, 11 x 14, 16 x 20 matted.

Sunday agenda-celebrity 5k

I was amazed with the turnout for this one. Despite 2 other events, this one sold out with over 2,500 entrants! I had to fore go the multirace triathlon season opener to be a part of this event. For a non-Hispanic like me, we recognized less than 25 % of the so-called celebrities, but nevertheless, this event was for a good cause-partnership for the homeless. Since channel 7 was involved, among others, portions of the race were recorded. The wind was stronger on this day, and because it follows the tropical 5k course, I knew that about 2.5 miles would be directly against the wind. Unfortunately for me, I was too exhausted to execute my patented Miami Heat comeback surge & lost the 1st place age group slot by 4 seconds! Since my time was almost a minute slower from the previous day, I consider myself lucky to get on the podium. This also concluded my flash race weekend. This is the one to bring your non-running friend to try to complete because all finishers got a spinning sneaker medal & a back pack. On top of that, all entrants, finish or not, got a technical shirt & cap. Overall & age group winners got one of the most unique trophies I have received- one with a spinning emblem, mimicking the spinning medal idea they (PR racing) created. Lots of food & drink, including a delectable lemon marangue dessert. Massage was available if you were willing to wait in a long line;I gotta stretch. Can you believe they have started early registration already?

Honorable mention

At riverwalk 5k, Chris wins again!
Nicky paced with me & won the female overall title.
Mike Nunez tackled his first triathlon & dominated the first timer category. He is now forced to move in with big boys at the next tri & perhaps place in the series by the end of the year.

Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's day! Most assume the luck of the Irish is good but this is not always the case.

Saturday agenda-Miramar 5k

This event actually featured a 10k as well and seemed more popular than the one I chose. Since I am still within 30 days of my last marathon, I chose the lesser distance;no long runs till next month. Race was timed by split second timing. The race director of this one seemed lost & SST's timing director, Rick, offered his experience to help the crew get the show rolling. The course was designed for the 10k, evidenced by the 10k instructions given at our (5k) start & the cone layout. When the gun went off, I immediately fell behind 2 masters & by a mile & a half, I got passed by another. After 2 miles, I was in the master pack! Now comes the luck of the irish. The bad luck was that the master leader followed the cones & I followed him while passing the master who passed me, only to hear a volunteer finally wake up & say, "where are you going? that's the wrong way". This occured halfway through the final mile. I believe the master leader didn't hear him & continued into yonder. I lost 2 positions but by the grace of God, referred to as the (good) luck of the Irish in Ireland, I managed to pass both of them & capture the ever elusive master title. This one had good amenities, enough to consider as a small scale flash race. Overall submaster & master winners got a plaque. Age groups offered trophies to 1st & 2nd, while 3rd got a medal. If overall went 3 deep, I would have been the last top guy.

Sunday agenda-Niketown 5k

Since most of my email to niketown was ignored & all staff that I spoke to were ignorant to the details of their (niketown enterprise) own race, I opted out to avoid squandering my hard earned money on another fun run. The question was simple, "are they giving awards to age groups & if so, what are they & how deep"? I did receive one response, but it only stated that the race is designed to help kids & there will be 4,000 runners. So I ran this one as a training run, slow for my standards. Now, the (bad) luck of the Irish. They gave out generic plaques (no date or division listed on it) for normal age groups but no overall or master title. Finisher's medals & bags were only given to kids, even though without the adults, no race could be held. Had I been registered, I would've placed, despite the poor time. The (good) luck of the Irish was for those who got awards by taking that chance. Well, you live & you learn;I'll sign up next year. Average imenities & course.

Honorable mention

Team mate Chris placed amongst a group of champions at the Nike 5k: the overall winner-Ronnie Hollasie & Jon Williams, RRCA male runner of the year. Good job.

Spring forward!

As I heard while listening to gospel on the car radio, the radio personalities questioned, "who gave them the right to play God"? They were referring to the creation of daylight savings time, & worse, the decision to move the time sooner, without our, the voters, input. For the first time ever, the clocks 'spring' forward before the vernal equinox! However, without the power to resist, I shall do as Jorge Mas Canosa said, "adelante, adelante, adelante"!

Saturday agenda-Ocean drive 5k

Last year, I skipped this one in lieu of another due to its exorbitant fee but a good friend of mine, Steve, was able to get me & 2 other friends in at his company's more reasonable rate. Due to its late start (8:30), I contemplated doing another race up in Broward that started at 7, then try & rush down to do this one. However, I recalled that I failed to make it in time last year I did that, plus gasoline jumped up almost a quarter a gallon since the end of last month. Due to a greedy attendant, I had to move my car about 20 minutes prior to the start. By the grace of God, I made in time for the start. The course had many turns, plus a sharp 180 turn around in the first 2 miles, in addition to the fact that heat was nearly unbearable. I knew I had to pace myself until the straightaway, then I could pick up the pace if I still had some gas in my tank (energy). Before I began the race, I told everyone I'd be lucky to break 19 & I might not even place. When the dust cleared, the blessings were visible! Although barely, I broke my personal requirement, and despite the fact that time was not sufficient to take any master title, it was good enough to win my age group! The top prize (overall, master & age group)was a curved glass plaque (very beautiful), while 2nd & 3rd yielded medals. This one qualified as a flash race, having great amenities & a raffle. After I got home, I got some kind of stomach virus & was out the rest of the day with also a horrible headache.

Sunday agenda-Jim Richardson 5k

Although content with victory, I was not happy with my time. Unfortunately, I had been sick for about half a day & through the night & that disrupted my preparation for this race. I had nothing but a protein drink & snack since about 1-2 pm & did not get to carbo load. On top of that, I lost an hour due to the time change! Since God can grant miracles, this situation was overridden. I woke up feeling as though I had done my normal routine & felt loose & ready to run. This race was a normal start (7:30) & for some reason, was much cooler than yesterday;y'all know that works to my advantage. By mile 1, I was already out of contention for a master title, even though they went 3 deep! I had to be patient & rely on my now 16 years of experience, plus my co-pilot, God. By mile two, the battle was for the last slot & I had some ground to catch up. I had to remember my usual thought in the final mile, "I own this mile"! I managed to get past him (a master) & his submaster teammate to capture a title & shatter last year's time by a large margin. This also qualified as a flash race with its amenities. I enjoyed today's better than yesterday. They had 3 different types of drink besides sports; my favorite was OJ. They had the usual bagels, oranges & bananas, plus various granola bars & donuts. They didn't have a raffle. Best of all, all divisions had trophies. Top 3 overall & masters got a unique plaque/trophy. Although attendance was less than half of yesterday's race, the competition was much faster, forcing me to perform better. I praise the Lord for allowing me to spring forward from adversity (all that occurred previously).

Honorable mention

The Nunez family ran. Michael got 2nd, wife & son finished.

March madness

I kicked off March with the madness of doing three races, each tackling a different discipline.

Friday agenda-carnival Miami (calle 8) event

This event features an 8k run and a 5k walk. Due to the strength of my schedule, I chose the latter. Unfortunately, many register for the 8k, but due to poor training, cut at the walk turnaround. Worse, some intentionally jog or run even though they signed up to walk, in an attempt to steal or cheat their way to victory. I had to squeal on somebody who did that to me & the true overall female winner. I worked to hard to earn my victory, just to let it slip away by a cheater. Despite high humidity & hot weather, I had one of my best times ever racewalking, even passing the legendary Rod Vargas! I took 2nd overall, losing only to the umpteen time champion, Juan Yanes. This was a flash race that had less flash (amenities) than in the past but still good. All finishers got a medal, a nice touch.

Saturday agenda-woman's wellness 5k

In this race, I was a representative of the Premier racing team. Although I had a slow start, I was able to recover enough to get under 19. At the start, 3 male teammates were in front & I was beside a female teammate, who also is part owner of the store in which I was representing. She took the female overall title but did not finish in front of me. By mile 2, I passed 2 teammate but made no major effort to pass the leader. Deep down, I believe I would've tried harder had he been on a rival team because I did run faster to get somebody else from a different team to place where I did. I lost the top master position by 10 seconds;2nd is not shabby. I was surprised with the amenities. it was good for a small event (2nd annual). My run, along with those teammate, helped the Premier running, soccer & tri win the male team title & the store got a really nice sized trophy. All the teammates who made this happen got medals in their respective age groups, if fast enough to place.

Sunday agenda-S. Fl. duathlon

Hosted by Multirace, this race, known as the battle of the sexes, featured the equalizer. This means that all women got a 6 minute head start. In an interesting twist, the former pro cyclist wanted to run, relegating me to the bike position. He ran well & I cycled as fast as I could against medium wind conditions. I was doing well until some jerk decided to drive his car on the race bike path. It forced me off the course, around both him & a cop car, into a major roadway. By the grace of God, I didn't get hurt. As I attempted to return to the path, that same jerk was finally merging off the bike path by instruction of the police officer, but interfered with me again, nearly hitting me. All that caused me to squander valuable time & energy but I was fortunate to still average of 20 mph, which was my goal. Our team placed first & the runner past the runner of the other team even though her team had a head start. Amazingly, the overall man overcame that head start, as well, on his way to victory. 'bout time we men get the edge over the women. Proof positive of my famous fact that the best man (in the world) will always beat the beat woman!

Disciplines covered: walk, run, & bike. I need to skate tomorrow in training to complete my normal specialties.

Honorable mention

On Friday, teammates Chris, Jonathan & Terry ran.
On Saturday, teammates, David, Craig, Adrienne, Jay ran.
On Sunday, Kevin ran for relay, while Michael & his wife did the whole duathlon
Pardon me if I missed anyone;this is not intentional.