Awk 2 bray

Awk 2 bray, that's how October sounds to me in Spanish. What an interesting start of the month for me.

Saturday morning agenda-race!

I passed on the Jacksonville marine corps and the USAT national championship half due to the distance. On top of that, the latter requires swimming; not my cup of tea. So, I did yet another sickle cell 5k. This one was in cooper city & began at an odd time-7:15. This is my required tune up race to prepare for the main event. Once the race started, I knew that tactics would be necessary to not only conserve energy but to secure the best position possible. This is what came to pass; the finishing time was irrelevant. By the grace of God, I won the top master slot & trophy, setting the tone for the next race. Not a great post race but the awards made up for that.

Saturday night agenda-inaugural wine & dine half marathon

I chose this because of the following:

1. inaugural
2. my first night half, although as a relay
3. 1st time Disney offered a relay in any of their running endurance events

The challenge was not so much the race itself but rather the turn of events leading up to it. All that I planned on my end was falling into place; praise the Lord. Unfortunately, my teammate had problems. He got a flat last night that lead to this morning. He figured it would be a simple task so he waited kinda late. He was delayed further due to complications & wasn't sure he'd make it before the expo closing (4 pm). Ironically, he was worried previously if I'd make it after doing a 5k but everything went as scheduled for me; again, praise the Lord. Luckily, he sped like a NASCAR driver & got there in a nick of time. Step 2, we both had to make the transportation deadline. Because of that, the most rest I could get between the expo & that was a half hour. Disney made everyone park at EPCOT & then be bussed to either the starting line (wide world of sports) or for relay member #2 (me), the animal kingdom. Step 3, I had to wait over an hour & half before any athletes reached the 5 mile mark where we were positioned. The relay was divided as the start being an 8k while the anchor was a 13k. Gene prefers the shorter so he ran the 8k & was the 2nd fastest one in, putting pressure on me to perform. The longer the distance, the slower I get, but I generally fair better than him despite that when it comes to distance. I held the top male position until mile 7 when someone doing a 6 minute pace blew by. I managed to keep a near 7 minute pace, great for me in regards to that distance. We finished 3rd overall amongst over 600 teams & were runner up in the male division. Post race was great but logistics were horrific. I couldn't figure out how to exit & needed help, especially since time was of the essence.

Sunday agenda-5k

Title eliminates the 13.1 in Atlanta & the diva's half at long island (women only). Still had a great selection to chose from (from furthest to closest to my home): a. Dunns' run 5k & 5 miles b. race for the kids 5k c .race judicata 2010 Considering I am coming from Orlando, the furthest from my home was actually the closest and thus my selection. I left half past midnight & arrived half past 4. I, unfortunately, had to sleep in my car for a couple of hours so I already knew my performance would suffer. On top of that, the course goes over a bridge & there were some hills to contend with. In order to have a chance, I had to employ a technique I used years back at the edison festival of lights. I stretched then did striders. Despite the aforementioned conditions & the wind, I made the top ten and was able to win my age group. Although the post race was good, the awards were not; medals.

Honorable mention

* Spencer wins the sickle cell 5k
* Anton van zyl, runners depot teammate, won the disney half
* Jonathan won the disney 5k
* Jonathan was 4th overall at disney, wins age group
* Leo wins master in my absence at race for kids 5k
* George won age group at all the 5ks I did.