It has been a while since I participated in a road race.  The last one was the Las Vegas Marathon, back in December.  But we are now at the point where I will run in my first event in 2007.  First off, is the New Jersey Marathon Relay in Long Branch NJ tomorrow.  I will be on a 4-person relay team with 3 friends from Cool Running.  I'll be doing an 8.1 mile leg. 

 

Next Sunday (May 6) will be my fourth marathon, at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnatti.  My current best time is the 4:04:56 that I did in Vegas, and I am confident that I can beat that time and break four hours. 

 

And then three weeks after that, on Memorial Day weekend, I will run the Vermont City Marathon on May 27 in Burlington VT.  I don't know what to expect here, since I have never run two marathons that close together.  I'm sure I won't be in top form that soon after Cincy, so my goal there is just to finish.  I want to see how well my body can handle two that close together, and time will not be an issue for me.  If this turns out to be my slowest marathon, I can live with that.  We shall see.

 

I will try to update this site with pics from these various races as I get them...

It's been a while since I've mentioned anything about the baby and Maggie's pregnancy. Well, we went for another ultrasound this week and another visit with the obstetrician. So far, everything is "normal". And normal sounds good to me.

Well, the Gators did it again!  I'm certainly not nearly as surprised as I was last year, but it's still sweet nonetheless.  Last year's championship came from out of the blue.  This year, with all five starters back, it couldn't have come as a shock to anyone.

The Gators' tournament games were a bit closer this year than last year.  But none of them were THAT close.  The last 5 Gator games were decided by between 7 and 10 points.  The UCLA game was never in doubt, and it was only a few late buckets that even got it as close as it was.

In the championship game, however, Ohio St did remain in the game almost until the end.  But the Gators did what they had to do.  Every time OSU made a little run, the Gators answered.  It was really a fun game to watch.

I do have to say that Oden was mighty darn impressive.  I
hadn't been all that impressed by him up unti this point in the tournament.  He seemed to get in foul trouble at the drop of a hat.  The refs were obviously letting him play last night, and he certainly made the most of it.  He pretty much single-handedly kept them in the game, since nobody else on OSU did anything.  If their guards had been able to hit a few 3s, that might have been a different game.  But as I said, the Gators were always able to find someone to step up when it was needed.  It's been said a lot lately, but it's true: They really are about as close to the perfect "team" as you can get.  Greater than the sum of the parts, blah blah blah.

So now, the top six players are all leaving the team (two as seniors, four more entering the NBA draft a year early).  I certainly can't blame them.  They've won two National Championships, so there's nothing left to prove.  And all that money awaits. 

But at least the coach is staying.  I was never all that worried about Billy Donovan going to Kentucky, but there had to be a small shred of doubt until he made it official.  A good recruiting class and a great coach means the team might not be terrible next year.  But a third straight national title looks quite doubtful.  And you know what?  I'm okay with that.  There have been three straight championships (basketball, football, basketball) and I don't think any fan can ask for more than that.  No matter what happens next year, I am still going to be enjoying this year for a long time to come.

    Heh.  I think one of the best things about this repeat is that we will FINALLY now stop hearing about Duke every year.  It was always that such-and-such team (i.e. the defending champ) is trying to become the first team to repeat since 91-92 Duke.  Now for the foreseeable future, they will have to say they are trying to become the first team to repeat since the 06-07 Gators.  I like the ring of that.  :)