Closure

Today would have been Michael Jackson's 51 birthday but sadly he died (homicide suspected) early with as many years as the stars on the American flag. A moment of silence for our pop star.
Believe it or not, there's still no closure because he has not been buried yet.

Saturday agenda-king of the hill 5k

Although the 3rd annual, it was my 1st. Also, for them, the first time have a separate elite 5k. This event was especially challenging because it was held in a landfill park, the only way, besides bridges, to get hills here in south Florida. On top of that, it was a bit hot and very humid. I had many contenders for the master title. I got 2nd master to Mike T but both the 3rd place winner & I were ripped off by getting a medal instead of a trophy like the overall in our division. We got a lame excuse but the race ap mentioned 3 deep, not only the top. However, I am thankful the Lord allowed me to beat out 2 great contenders & break 19 again, a total surprise to me considering the conditions. I got positive & negative closure this day; the former was welcome to me because of an injury I sustained over a month ago. After the race, I had to attend a mandatory meeting regarding my job.

Sunday agenda-multirace du/tri

I opted out (rare) because:
1. I am not in any series.
2. did not get a relay partner.
3. don't like the exorbitant fee & would rather divert it to a half marathon.

Plus, I have to travel up there. Instead, I remained at home & did a training bike ride which went well. After that, home maintenance.

Honorable mention

* George wins division on both days (he is in series)
* Mike Korir got 3rd overall in elite division
* Ronnie Hollassie won overall in elite division (still friend despite being on a rival team)
* Surprise visit from Linda, who finished well

Weekend for redemption

Today marks another anniversary for hurricane Andrew, the worst of the last millennium. However, for me, this was the weekend for redemption. Since the back injury, I've had some lack luster moments, went on a 6 week slump (losing streak), failing to break 19 in a 5k & even a loss.

Saturday agenda-5k

There were no local races scheduled this day but leave it to Jon to find one elsewhere. Since a walk division is rare, I already predetermined to use the JT for that purpose. He found 2 and chose to head down south for the conch pride 5k; this was a welcome invite. Although I struggled with both internal (due to injury) and external (heat & humidity) conditions, by the grace of God, I won my age division. Even though I got smoked by the master winner, I was elated that I finally broke 19 after a long drought; redemption. The post race party was average. This was my 2nd time ever winning a wood, not a medal.

Sunday agenda-back to school 5k

As stated previously, I elected to racewalk because just last week, I put all my eggs in one basket, tripped & broke them all; I left the race the same way I came-with nothing! I was way off my predicted time and this race was my chance to avenge the loss. Linda was involved in more ways than one, but at the very least, served an inspiration to move fast. In fact, because she did so well, I took me nearly 2 & a half miles to catch her; she made me work! Praise the Lord, I was able to redeem myself & win the overall title as a racewalker. By the way, the time was only 9 seconds off my predicted time of last week. This was a bang up job for an inaugural race, with a better than average post race party & trophies to all category winners. He even had a kiddie run. It was a pleasure to meet Jeffrey Tait's family, and as a child, he did well as a first time race director. Sure, some things needed to be worked out, but overall, well done.

Honorable mention

Congrats to Jon on winning the conch pride 5k & George his age group at the JT but I really applaud Linda, who volunteered her time to secure the awesome goody bags & toothpaste for some (I was unfortunate) that were distributed in the race. In fact, she was the only sponsor to have an entire line on the race Tshirt; way to go. She contributed as much if not more than those who were actually related to Jeffrey; kudos to my girl! Oh, on top of that, she had a great performance in the race. I still cant believe I couldn't catch her much sooner.

Mid month crisis (Aug)

Another Mid month crisis, this time in August.

Saturday agenda-ING kick off 5k

Since my slump still plagues me after the back injury, I was lucky this was a fun run. However, I still took it somewhat serious because the top 30 men (& women) would receive finisher's medals. I picked Jeffrey to pace with, also recovering from injury. We went out at a sub 6 minute pace, way faster than I had planned. I dropped pace but a little too much (30 secs). Although I accomplished my mission, I was disappointed with how I felt upon completion. Granted the weather wasn't great, the tightness & fatigue was bad.

Sunday agenda- trilogy #3

I still laugh at multirace for have a trilogy series with 4 events. However, due to bad circumstances, I am grateful. Our normal swimmer advised me in advance she would not be in town this month, so I was aware we'd have to operate on the minimum 3 with her. I was hoping to do one today as an insurance policy for the team's victory. Unfortunately for me, none of my reserve swimmers would come through. The one I understood the most had to entertain family coming from my home state. Another, like our runner, also were out of town. Even if I got a swimmer, most runners and cyclist had other plans. On short notice, the fee was exorbitant anyway, enough to even discourage me.

I woke up early prepared to race but that didn't happen. I decided to volunteer, and thus, give back to the community; many fellow athletes thanked me for doing that. Although, I have done this before, it was my first time volunteering from start to finish at a sprint tri.

Naturally, the Bell code does not permit me to escape without any exercise. As punishment for over a month of poor performance & failure to race today, I chose to do a long run during the worst period of the day (between 10-4). I began across from MAST academy around 11 am, ran through Bill Baggs state park & returned. The unknown distance & pace lasted nearly 2 hours. Due to the extreme heat & humidity, I was beat, much like running a marathon but I estimate it was only about 10 miles, if I ran at a 9 min pace. Sometime in the future, I'll have to measure it.

Honorable mention

* Top triathlete Eliot Mason & top duathlete Blain Reeves formed a du team that devastated the field.
* George wins again.

Aw gust oh!

Aw gust oh! That's how you pronounce Augusto, Spanish for August.

I did a rare weekday race, the Dreher park 5k on Thursday. I was moved to this strange date due to the cancellation of the original day of Saturday night due to extreme lightning. This posed a serious problem for me because I could not get time off. Worse, I had to stay overtime to help eliminate the rest of customer still in my office. I had to bend & break rules driving & by the grace of God, I made it there but only had 5 minutes to pick up my number, chip & get to the starting line. Thanks Laurie for holding my Tshirt. Since I was unable to prepare as usual, coupled with the extreme heat & humidity of the evening race, I struggled just to survive. With the Lord's help, I managed to place 3rd despite a dismal time. I was happy for that but disappointed that generic medals were distributed. Post race was 5 star for all who were not vegetarian; I deduct 2 stars.

Saturday agenda 5k

Actually, there were no local races but Jon W found one for us, allowing us to keep up our normal weekend schedule. I've never been to cape coral before so I was interested. Although a bit cooler, the poor training (due to the back injury), overwork (at the job) and lack of sleep (busy schedule) was reflected in an even worse performance. By the grace of God & the low attendance, I was able to win my age group and add another generic medal. I was worse than the aforementioned because it didn't say anything (no mention of race name or date) but running. Post race was similiar to Niketown, very basic.

Sunday agenda 5k

I decided to do a prediction run. Sadly, like the slump I'm in, I made a poor decision by putting all my eggs in one basket. Rather than run, I decided to racewalk. Under normal circumstances, I can better determine my pace doing that but did not calculate that I would have a bad day (heat, humidity & hills). I did not realize that the top ten would get trophies. If I had run (hind sight is 20/20), i would have placed. Since my time was off, I left the same way I came-with nothing. I shall not repeat the error again.

Key

The title is key because both multisport events occurred in a key.

Saturday agenda-publix series

George & I are in the duathlon series, while others are in the tri. The events were held at John Pennecamp park in key Largo. Although not my first time here (I did a 5k that was really 4 miles a few years back), it was my first time competing in a du. First, my condolences to the family & friends of Daniel, Linda's bro in law. She has been lamenting for weeks over it. He passed away at this location so I recommended that Linda do a relay with me & name the team after him. I could not guarantee I'd be in position when she returns (I am competing solo first) so she opted to go solo as well. Unbeknownst to me, she arranged to have some sort of ceremony to honor Danny; nice touch.

Meanwhile, George & I were on our quest to defend our titles. I was 2nd overall (I held back to conserve some strength) on the opening run, held top ten (slipped some positions) on the bike with some wind issues & won the final run split. I won my division & finished like I started. What was amazing is that George was already finished when I came through the finish line, despite the fact that he never passed me. Turns out he missed a loop on the final run & was DQ'd. The course was poorly laid out & this was an easy error to make. Hopefully, his series hopes were not dashed.

Sunday-Huntington tri

The event was named after the cause it supports-Huntington's disease. It was held in key Biscayne. Due to construction, it was moved to the MIT site of marine stadium. Like a blind date, I was matched with a pair of teammates I never met via Miami pace. Last time, I got very nice people but not fast. This time, they were also fast. I got to run the dreaded cross country course, 2 loops because they wanted to do the olympic distance, in the heat & humidity. I got to witness someone from the winning all male relay outrun Eliot Mason, something I had never seen happen. We got 2nd to that pro team but I was pleased we made it to make to the podium.