Watching the Wheels

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round, I really love to watch them roll. No longer riding on the merry-go-round, I just had to let it go. "Watching the Wheels" John Lennon

Sometimes you have to stop trying to force the square peg into the round hole. Stop trying so hard and things fall into place. The events leading up to this weekend are a case in point.

I’ve had the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run in Washington DC on my radar screen for several years. It is a race in that takes you around the sights in DC during the Cherry Blossom bloom period. It attracts world class runners and is supposed to be good race to run. It has always been a hard race to get into. This year, I vowed to run it. I got online at the earliest possible time and scored registrations for both me and my wife, Salome. I figured it would fit in with my younger son, Alex’s spring break and I could visit my friends, Kate and Jim, who live in the area. Then, life got in the way. Salome’s injured right ankle was not getting better soon enough for her to run a 10 mile run. The thought of paying to fly 3 of us up to DC and then have her foot be too sore to walk around the museums kept me from booking the flights. We got busy at work. My older son wanted to tag along, but his spring break didn’t match up with Alex’s. I kept looking at air fares after getting the come-ons from the airlines e-mail pitches, but never found cheap flights. I don't know if it has to do with being from a Spring break location, but we never seem to get those cheap air fares you keep reading about here in Ft. Lauderdale. As we got closer, the fares climbed. Finally, I threw in the towel. The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler would have to wait another year.

Similarly, buddy Wayne in Anchorage was somewhat lamenting his not being in Paris this weekend to run the Paris Marathon. After coming back from bypass surgery, he is just getting back to running the 5K distance. Hang in there Wayne. You will “get back to where you once belonged” and run the streets of Paris next year. Besides, you would be missing the “volcano watch” if you were away in Europe. Reality TV isn’t this good.

I just don't think these races were meant to happen for us this year. Once I stopped trying to force the trip that wasn't meant to happen, other options opened up. I went on to run a local event: the Kids in Distress 5K. A 22:30 effort. Not a PR, but the first 5K I've done in a while and good for 2nd in my age group. It wasn't a big race, but the weather was nice, the after race celebration had good food, and you can't knock any race in which you place. A fun time at a fraction of the cost. On Sunday, we had a great group ride of 45 miles. All in all, a great weekend.

Oh, well, maybe next year in Paris...or Washington, DC for the cherry blossom bloom.