The Watches

The other day my son called and asked if I had a digital watch he could use. He is off at college and started running again. And like most people his age he doesn't use a watch on a regular basis, he uses his cell phone. Which can be a bit difficult on a run. I told him that I "think I may have one he could borrow." So I went to my bedroom and looked and found not one, not two, not three but four digital watches. And a dress watch. And an analog watch. I think I have my son covered. So who needs six watches? Who even needs two watches? Well, I do. Most of the time when I ref soccer I go out with two watches. One is set to count down and the other is set to count up. And there have been several times when a watch has died on me in the middle of a match. Usually when I only have one watch... And there is also when I go for a speed workout. I have one watch that records 27 laps and another that records 30. So between the two I can do 20 or so quarters with rest intervals. Someone might look at that and ask the question: "Why not get one watch that records more laps?" What! Then I would have five digital watches...

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

So the other day I decided to enter a race at midnight. No, I didn't decide at midnight to enter the race, I decided to enter a race that started at midnight. The race was in support of Special Olympics and took place on Tomahawk Creek Parkway. One of the sponsors was the Leawood Police Department. I got there early and registered for the race. Had a nice talk with the guys from KLJC, the local Christian radio station that I was listening to on the drive over. Did a nice mile and a half warm up. There were about 200 or so people that started the race. Nice flat course. It was a fun race with areas of dark and light. I ran negative splits the whole way. Passed a bunch of people. Set a PR for the 5K, running a 21:36 (6:58 per mile) Finished 2nd in my age group and 11th over all. Got a nice silver medal. Headed out for home about 1AM. I was driving south on one of the main drags when I noticed a police car behind me. I turned off and the car stayed behind me. Then I turned off again and the police car lit me up. I pulled over and waited for the officer to come and talk to me. First time stopped in over twenty years. Turns out my brake lights were flickering. There is a short in the system. The officer was really nice. I got a complimentary warning to get my lights fixed. She also thanked me for running the race. Then she asked if I was my daughter's father. I remember telling my kids often that nothing good happens after midnight. I'll have to remember that the next time I go on a midnight run...