Motion Blur

This morning, I awoke at 4 am to the pleasant sounds of unexpected rain on the roof. It was sweet. I was looking forward to the day even if it was raining. At 6:00 am, I awoke again; this time to the smell of eggs and toast. Race day. John, the morning person around here, always makes eggs & toast for Edward on the day of a cross country race and this was going to be the first one of the season. It is also our tradition to have spaghetti the night before - all this in honor of the Runner's digestive system.

The big race started at 8:30 am over in East Grand Rapids. Bridget & I met John over at Manhattan Park where the race was held.


The whole Sailor reserve team, girls & boys, meets for a pre-game huddle.


187 boys & 132 girls line up.


They're off!


Edward goes by in a blur.

This course is probably one of the toughest around because of the many hills. I ran through the woods with John to mile marker one and took the blurry picture. Oy. Then, I ran up a steep hill through weeds to go to mile marker 2. I met Ed at the end of the race, 3.1 miles where he told me he had thrown up, the evidence of which was still on his face. This is also tradition, at least for the early races of the season and is not good for one's time, but he seems to outgrow it as the season goes on. I guess running up and down hills as hard as you can isn't easy on the stomach.

So then, as the excitement of the day continued, Bridget & I pulled out a whole produce department worth of weeds from our perennial garden this afternoon. I later realized I had forgotten to watch for poison ivy. Duh. So I took a shower to wash this invisible potential threat away; my eyes either itch or I'm tired. Then John told me he saw poison ivy today at the race which is why I mentioned walking through the weeds and the woods. What I'm trying to say is, stay tuned to see if I develop a rash. I will even take a picture. Oh yeah, I bet you're going to want to see that.