I went to New Orleans yesterday morning. I felt good, ran the 10K, and finished in 48:11. There were millions of people this year! When I was ready to come back to Hattiesburg, I walked by the 5-mile marker (2 hours after the race started!) and there were still a lot of people entering City Park to complete the 10K journey.
In the afternoon I went with my family to downtown Jackson and participated in the Run from the Sun. There were more than 800 participants in the event. I changed my mind at the last moment and competed in the 5K Walk instead of the 5K run. Wow! I have forgotten how hard is to "walk" in a race. The last time I did was in last year's edition of the Run for the Roses in Prentiss (and got shin splints after it). Yesterday I finished second overall and got the Masters title.
We had a very scary moment during the event because my 10-year old son, who was running in the 1-m fun run, almost was hit by a car. He was sprinting to the end when suddenly the police officer in charge of controlling the traffic let a car cross the street

. Some people screamed and the driver hit the brakes and stopped very close to him. As you can imagine, I was not very happy with the cop. I just went away and cooled down a little bit to avoid telling him some nice words and getting in trouble with the law!
Anyway, everything was fine after it. I forgot... a very good thing about this event is that they have a free melanoma skin cancer screening. I got it and asked about a particular spot I have on my arm. It was OK; however, the doctor found a "funny looking mole" on my back that he recommended be removed and analyzed. I am glad I took the screening.
This morning I ran 6.5m at the Trace under wonderful weather conditions: sunny, cool and windy. Everything looks fine. Should I run during the week days too? Maybe!
