Its been a long week, one that had me questioning being able to do the Komen NC Triangle Race For The Cure. On Wednesday I went out for a run and about five minutes in my back spasmed/cramped/something. It was a sharp searing pain that locked up my whole back. Its hard to describe but the closest thing would be to imagine your back turning into steel, unbending and unmoving, and then trying to move around. I tried to walk it off but it only got worse, making me bend over several times just to breathe then struggle to get back up. The five minute distance turned into 15 minutes back as I walked home then laid on the bed. The bed was good and bad because I couldnt get a deep breath but it felt good to lay down, the worse part was that I couldnt get up for a while. I ended up emptying the hot water heater in the shower which loosened things up some. The next day the whole back was sore and the day after it had dwindled to one area under my left shoulder which still hurts today. My guess is that I pulled that muscle somehow and the running irritated it to the point that the whole back spasmed to protect it.

So going into the race Saturday morning I was a bit apprehensive but it turned out I needn’t have worried. The race was well organized even though it was extremely crowded. Considering the numbers of people to deal with everything flowed smoothly. For all the events that day there were over 20K participants and almost 2,000 of those were in our 5K. Once the 5K started it took almost three minutes just to cross the start line. The course was just a mass of people so thick you couldn’t see the road in front of you. It was an impressive site but after the novelty wore off I wanted to get moving. To get up to speed I moved onto the sidewalk which ended up being the passing lane for all the faster runners. On the street it was stop and go but the sidewalk was a constant good speed till after the first mile and a half when the crowd thinned and you could use the street without issues. Even though the race was early it was still warm and there were people in their lawns pointing sprinklers onto the course for the runners. There was even one house with a group of kids and Supersoakers who sprayed anyone that raised their hands. At about the two and a half mark my back started feeling sore but it never locked up which was a good thing. I ended up posting a good chip time of 24:49 which I was happy with considering the crowd and my back issues. Zack, Laura, Caroline, and Charlie also ran good times and had fun. Caroline finished her first 5K without walking and is now game to do some more races with Charlie, Zack, and I.

I liked the event and wish I had done it before this weekend, I will definitely do it again next year. The best advice for this race is to go and have fun. Don’t even attempt or worry about getting a PR or a good race time. With races this big its all about finishing and enjoying the ride.

I spent the rest of the day walking the TPC at Wakefield golf course with Charlie and Craig to watch the Nationwide Rex hospital Open.  Considering I have no talent for golf, at least the times I tried, it’s always impressive to see someone who does have the talent. Afterwards I volunteered at the Carolina Rollergirls Derby match against the Dominion Derby Girls doing stats for Jammer Take Downs and Knock Outs. Anyone who hasn’t been to a roller derby match should check one out, Ive been to a bunch and they’re always a blast. The night finished out at the derby after party which meant I was up for 22 hours Saturday from race morning at five to club closing after two.

This weekend I’ll finally be back into racing with the Triangle Race for the Cure 5K.  Its been slow as far as organized races because with the heat and humidity there aren’t many going on.  This one will be at 7:15 in the morning which really blows.  I cant remember the last time I was up that early, let alone feeling up for running a race.  This is usually a huge race/walk so I’m not expecting a good time or anything.  Im thinking the race is so early to try to offset the walkers being in the way and vice versa.  Ill be doing this one with Zack and Charlie.  In the end it will be good to get a timed run in.  It feels kind of odd after the busy spring to have had so much time off between races.

Also as for training cycle I did 1250 yards swimming yesterday and 12.5 miles on the cycling trainer.

Following in the tradition of the past few charity poker tournaments, May’s was held this past weekend in June.  I had forgotten that last weekend was Memorial Day which was when I had originally planned to have it.  I sent out an email to gauge the interest in Memorial Day weekend versus this past weekend and June won out.  Unfortunately this put me into conflict with another friends poker game but thankfully everyone still stepped up for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and we only lost two regulars to the other game.

This month $144 was raised because in the end I won the tournament of seven players with two rebuys.  As always when I place in the money I donate all my winnings to my Livestrong Challenge ride.  It wasn’t so much my skills that won out but blind luck.  To give an example, the last two hands of the night were pocket jacks to knock out Craig in third place followed immediately by pocket jacks again to knock out Charlie.  That was pretty much how the night went with me just getting luck with the cards.  I had pocket pairs at least eight times, flopped a straight once, full house once, etc.  I felt like Jamie Gold in last years WSOP, not a great player but having the cards constantly falling into my lap.

So far this years poker series is tracking to raise more money for my Livestrong Challenge than last year.  I still need to find more ways to raise money to hit my fundraising mark for this year though.