BLADE: Space Coast Classic

[This entry is ATF.]

I should have run. I could have run. Frick, but I had a good Sunday run (ATF), so s'okay nonetheless.

I woke up all unhappy again because of it was the second night of not-so-good sleep. Plus it was 6:15am, and it wasn't even counting towards my mileage this week.

Anyways, I got to Windover Farms around 7am, 1/2 hour before the race. I couldn't find the RD, so I just got back in the car and followed the course to the first water station. The Gatorade was mixed and the cups and extra jugs of water were there by its lonesome. I kept the car radio going and proceeded to fill the cups - half of them with mix, half of them with water. Circa 7:20, the baton-twirlers (3) and a couple parents showed up. Being in their mid-teens, they weren't as enthusiastic to help as the little kids. Being early in the morning at a race that I really wanted to run in, seeing that there were enough help there was hard to swallow. There were four people in my age group running in the race, so I'll be at most 5th in the standing after this race... and that makes me not smile so much.

Anyways, I took some photos of the runners as they passed by -- didn't so much pass out water. I did make a quick walk-through to pick up the discarded cups, which was met with a lot of thank-you's, so yay's and you're-welcome's to the runners... they are so nice. After 30-minutes (gun-time), we all cleaned-up/packed-up and headed to the finish line. I helped with the timing, and while there, took some pictures of people I knew as they finished... got some good ones. And I'm glad to have gotten a picture of Steve since Kelly had missed it.

Yeah, there were a lot of "Did you run?" and "Why didn't you run?", which I guess was fine. This was a known sacrifice... and it was my own hope of possibly running that bummed me out. It would've been a PR, but there'll be opportunities in the future for finishing my first 15K.

It was cool to see Dave and Robin back at the pavilion and to see Rebecca and her baby girl; and it was nice cleaning up the area with Sue. I managed to finish up the 256MB CF card. This time, I'm not rushing to send out photos/links-to-photos - I just can't handle it... hopefully it won't turn into one of those things that bugs me ALL FRIGGIN' WEEK.

Anyways, I did manage a number of really good photos from the experience. Here are a few:

Steve making the turn at mile 2:

The Hawaiian girls:

Air Force Guy presiding over the finish chute:

Little Girl waiting for the kid's race to start:

Doina finishing:

Dave and Robin. (Hey Dave, are you flirting with me?! jk)

Me and my oranges:

After everyone left, I took my blades for a 40-minute-ish ride around the neighborhood - guessing 5 1/2 miles. I was tired, hungry, and fidgety. I didn't have the same confidence I had at Gay Skate since I was on real asphalt sans wrist-guards plus my knees wouldn't've been able to handle anything resembling a fall. So it was a mixed-bag experience. I spotted three cranes in a person's front lawn; one of the birds had an arrow sticking out from its hind quarters... and my opinion about the general population falls.

And the rest of the day didn't do much to make up for it.

Needing to use up a $5 Best Buy coupon, I headed down Wickham, but decided to stop by the Asian grocery store off on Sarno. I ended up buying a few things that I pretty much immediately regretted buying:a lychee drink that didn't live up to the kitsch-factor I had put on it, homemade-puto that I knew I wouldn't've liked, and coconut-filled buns that smelled worse than ass (once I got home, I warmed up a couple and all that did was spread and imbed the odor into the house... yay).

Next was Best Buy. I get to the parking lot and it's packed. In driving up and down the one-way lanes, I end up flicking off a guy for going the wrong way and having the nerve to give me the "what's up" gesture... yeah, so I flicked him off. He tried to confront me when I walked into the store, but I told him to look at the friggin' arrows on the ground next time: the parking lot lanes were one-way, asshole. My flicking off the bastard was justified. I was right, and I really wanted someone tell me that I was right (because I was).

Once I got home, I was through. Spent. Dead. I watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls as I transferred race photos onto my computer, then showered and got into bed. It was 7pm. I cried a bit at the idea of loving someone who is situationally-unavailable, then I fell asleep - I needed an emotional release since I have a habit of refraining from sinning when I have a romatic prospect. And that was probably Tmi but that's fair game for this blog... the nugget of ooooh and aaaah that is rightly-deserved for actually reading these lengthy self-indulgent musings.

So "yay" and "good-for-you" for getting this far. And in hindsight (since this entry is ATF), it just set me up for a better Sunday. I really needed the sleep.