Happy mom's day

To all the ladies out there, happy mother's day.

Saturday agenda-Lou Gehrig's disease

I had to make a dreaded decision of choosing between 2 races. I normally don't do that & race them both, but that was literally impossible today. A race I normally do, run for the roses 5k, was held at Markham park in Broward county. Judging by the results, if I ran the same time, I would've won the master division & picked up a unique mystery award. Instead, I chose the ALS Lou Gehrig's disease event based on proximity & the fact it supports a good cause; price wise, it was expensive. This event offered a 10k run & a 5k run or walk. I declined on the 5k racewalk for 2 reasons: 1. strength of schedule (weak=lone race of weekend) & 2. lack of walk enforcement (too many joggers allowed to win as walkers). I passed on the 10k, also for 2 reasons: 1. was injured 2 weeks prior & need to recover both physically (already) & mentally, and 2. odds not in my favor because it is not my usual distance. After reviewing the results, if I ran as well as I did last time at lakes of the meadow, I would've placed 2nd.

Since I knew this was the only day of racing this weekend, I felt I had to bring it. Other incentives included: 1. saw trophies to be awarded after race, 2. someone came up to me & said he wanted to beat even though he wasn't in his age group, 3. restore my form (whenever I get injured, I must recuperate both the mind & body). The 10k started first, at 7:30 am. When the race began 5-10 minutes later, I was barely in the top 15, with a couple of boys & a girl in front. I had to remind myself to run my race, not theirs. After a mile, I cut it down to top ten, & then had to contend with the slow 10 k'ers. As I was weaving in and out of foot traffic, I managed to advance to top 5, with the master runner who warned me, al lado (next to me). He had a friend on a bicycle coaching him (in spanish) & encouraging him to beat me. Unbeknownst to them, I heard & understood the conversation, due to my previous studies. I heard him call out the pace (was inaccurate) & as he spoke, he told him not to respond, so as not to lose his breath. I used this to assist me in his defeat by #1. being cognizant of his position by audible exchange & #2. not picking up my pace until halfway through the final mile. With him out the way, my last challenge was to take out the next runner. I caught up to him by mile 3 but did not realize the following: #1. he was third overall, #2. he is 16 years old. He outkicked me in the .1 sprint to the finish by utilizing his youth to maintain his position; I can just image he was embarrassed that, after leading all that time, he almost lost to an old man! If the master title were offered, I would've won that, but instead, I had to settle for top in my age group. Wanna hear another twist? On site, I lost 3rd overall by 5 seconds, with an 18:34, but online, I lost by a much larger margin. However, it has me setting a PB by breaking 18! I ran well, but not that good. It does make me look good & eventually, I will earn that! I was surprised that this had decent amenities & qualified as a 2 or 3 star flash race. Best of all, I met up with lots of friends, many I haven't seen for a while. The biggest surprise was a teacher I had way back in high school, who remarkably, remembered me. Sadly, I needed some help to bring back my memory; must be gettin' old.

Sunday agenda-mother's day

I already spent time with mom today, along with sis. I shall train on this day. I recommend the same for all of you, even if you are a mother.

Honorable mention

Jonathan ran well enough to place top of his age group.
Louis N placed 3rd, despite online results & what he thought.
Lisa Dorfman topped her group.
Jon Williams won the 5k over 2 16 year old kids.
Rosa did the 5k & hubby ran the 10k.
many friends, whose names slipped my mind at the time of this blog, participated as well.