E nare oh

E nare oh, the approximate pronunciation for Enero, Spanish for January. My struggles continue but I will never quit!

Saturday agenda-5k

I chose a traditional 5k on the east coast rather than one on the west or the stair climb. This was my first time doing the Boca Christian 5k, but it was not an inaugural. The weather was comfortable & the sky overcast. Unfortunately, my internal conditions weren't up to par. I was still tight (too many distance races & long hours at work this week) & felt sluggish. The finishing time reflected this. This was a low quantity, high quality event, meaning the competition was fierce despite an average to low turnout. Some of the best masters showed up, including the likes of Harrie Olsthoorn, Jon Williams, Jeff Powers, Ralph Guijarro, all vying for a master title that didnot exist. That bumped me to second in my age group. Fortunately, my pathetic performance did not affect my age group position & was just enough to beat the overall female. The award was disappointing- a drinking glass with race info but only says age group winner. However, they made up by giving out a publix dolphin bag, long sleeve tshirt & 5 star healthy post race breakfast. I was disappointed that I couldnt eat any sweet snacks (no cookies or muffins) but was impressed with the hot meal, which included scrambled eggs, potatoes & sausage.

Sunday agenda-5k

With a sour taste in mouth from the previous day & aware that there is a master title in this race, i vowed to do best to capture it. Although I felt better, my performance was affected by poor training, in part due to adjustment to my heavy running schedule. Weather was comfortable & overcast like yesterday but slight drizzle before start. Today was the debut of Jeffrey Tait this year but unfortunately, he was not a registered runner. He remembered that I was the overall winner of the inaugural I care, I cure, I run 5k. This year, there was also a 10k. Normally, most go for that but not on this day. The 5k drew over 1500 preregistered! Both the 10k & 5k started at the same time but at different locations. Unfortunately, us 5kers got caught up with the back end of the 10k (mostly walkers & bouncers), whose slow pace served as speed bumps to us speedsters. Luckily, through many a triathlon relay, I have learned how to bob and weave with minimal reduction of pace. After 3 miles, I saw someone in front who could possibly be a master. I had to dig in deep to sprint uphill past him to the finish. Praise the Lord, that despite my struggles to break 19 (I still failed to do that), my competitive desire has not wained & proved to be the difference to win the master title; he & one other were just mere seconds from such victory. Despite not having a hot meal, I will rate the post race refreshments as 5 star because of the enormous spread. I had a lot of good stuff, various drinks, in addition to water, fruits, nutrition bars & my favorite, sweets! They encourage everyone to take as much as the want, so many of us went 'grocery shopping'. They had a raffle & plenty of activities for kids-wall climb, bounce house/slide, some rope bounce thing & a popcorn/puffed candy stand; a true family festival. Even though I got ripped off of the gift card promised to the winners, I did have a good time. Disappointing was that medals were given, even to overall & master.

Honorable mention

* George placed in both events, won age on sun.
* Jon placed in both events, won the 5k sun.
* Runner's depot takes 2 & 3 overall in 10k.
* Louis won age & gave me a run for my money.
* Rachelle won the 10k female overall
* Kirsh family placed in both events, Chuck 5k, wife the other.