NOT SO BAD

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

When I left for the Prostate Race the temperature was in the low 60s. Not so bad and not surprising either. I'd studied the hour by hour temperature predictions on Accuweather's web site the night before and this is what they predicted. Hey, I should be able to run fine in this kind of weather.

It was still nice and pleasant when I did my prerace warmup. When I finished I was absolutely soaked. That didn't bode well at all. Maybe it was going to be EXACTLY as bad as I had thought.

The race started and I struggled to not run too fast on the first mile. I almost always do that...struggle to not run too fast, that is. And I almost never succeed. That's why I always begin to hate racing as I spend the last few miles slowing down and vowing never to race again.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. But not by much.

But this time I did run the first mile slower. I picked it up a bit for mile 2 and stayed strong in the third. This was good. Mile 3 on this particular course is mostly uphill and usually kills me. Partly because I'd run too fast early on. Not this time. But, by mile 4, the heat and humidity did get me. Apparently, it WAS as bad as I thought it would be. I struggled to the finish and got in at 35:50.

35:50? Okay! I beat all the goal times I'd thought were doable the night before. Okay! Not so bad!

And then it was off to the softball game. I arrived after missing just a half inning and everyone was impressed by how exhausted I looked and by how well I'd done in the race. They knew I'd done well because, from our field, we could see the runners at about a quarter mile from the finish.

"Hey," said 1 of the players. "There are a lot of people still running."

"Lots," I agreed."

"And you finished 20 minutes ago?"

"About."

"You must be fast! How old are you again, Mikey?"

So now the players on my team knew that I was fast but I think it still didn't fully register with them. They kept saying I'd run a 5K and I kept telling them it was a 5 miler. Apparently they didn't understand that I wouldn't exactly be pleased with a 35:50 for 5K. And I wouldn't tell anybody about it, either!

In the third inning, I came up for my first at bat. We lead by a run and we had runners on first and second with nobody out. It was a crucial situation. One of the guys yelled to the umpire: "Don't make any bad calls on him, Blue. He just raced a 5K!"

"It was FIVE MILES," I yelled back as the pitcher threw to the plate. I swung and drove it down the left field line. A runner scored and I raced into second with a double.

No, not so bad at all!!!

NOT HAPPY RACING

Tomorrow I'm racing the Prostate Awareness 5 Miler. I'm not happy about it.

First of all, I'm already VERY aware of my prostate. Nothing like a biopsy to make a person OVERLY aware of a specific organ. My terror came last year. So more aware of the prostate I DON'T NEED TO BE!!! And, in fact, I don't think I CAN be.

On the plus side, I did run my best 5 mile race ever (just under 35 minutes) at the 2004 Prostate. I'd love to do it again but the weather conditions will probably be against me. Hot and Humid. Bad combination. It'll slow me for sure and I don't know by how much. And I don't seem very good at adjusting so, by mile 3, I could be totally exhausted and wishing I'd never even begun.

And that's the main reason I'm not happy to be running. I just don't know the best way to handle the likely weather.

I'd say anything under 7:15 (36:15) has to be acceptable. I should be happy to come in below 36 minutes (7:12). The faster the happier, of course, and to be at or under 35 (7 flat)is what I REALLY want. But, truthfully, I don't think I can tomorrow.

After the race I must race again...to the nearby softball field for our game. I'll be late but we're playing such a wretched team that it doesn't matter. Statistically, however, it does matter since my race exhaustion will certainly limit my chance of a super stat day against their poor pitcher.

There! Just another reason why I won't be happy racing tomorrow.