Why the Hell Not?

That’s what I say! On Tuesday afternoon I was sitting at my desk wishing it was after 5 so I could get the hell out of the office and go home when I suddenly realized that Labor Day was this coming Monday. Already! It hadn’t even occurred to em that summer was practically over (even though September remains a warm month around here, I still measure summer’s boundaries by Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September). Nonetheless, here we are, another summer coming to a close. I have to say that this summer has been much better than last year (2006 was a lost year for me for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with running) and I am in a better frame of mind going into this Fall than I was 365 days ago.

Anyway, back to my small epiphany. So there I was, sitting there amazed at how summer is gone when I realized that Labor Day is a federal holiday during which the markets are closed. Ergo, the office will be closed on Monday as well. Long weekend! As Eric Cartman would say, “Killer.” Then I began to think about the opportunity that Labor Day had so graciously afforded me. I had an entire day with which to do something, or, should I choose, nothing. Sunday is looking to be my day of doing nothing for the week, and since Labor Day is supposed to be a holiday, I thought I’d find something to get outside and do on Monday. But what to do? Annie is more than likely working at some point during that day, so doing anything for the entire day was out. Then I got to thinking, I should look and see if there are any races going on in the area this weekend. It would be something outside, early in the morning, and would last only a few hours at most.

So I quickly found the Bay Café 5K, a race being held in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore. It’s going to be a great course because it’s a flat course, ebing right next to the harbor. I’m not sure how mnay people are expected for this thing, but tomorrow after work I have to remember to go and get my race packet so I don’t get screwed out of another T-Shirt! Pick-up starts at 5 PM, so I plan on leaving the office and getting over there by 5:45, hopefully. For those of you not from the Baltimore area, check out my training log at Running Ahead. I’m going to post the course on my log under Courses so you’ll get an idea of where this is going down.

The start and finish are in front of the Bay Café, which is a bar/live music place that’s more of a frat house than anything, in my opinion. Annie and I went to it once, for about 15 minutes and walked out. It was basically a mix of 20-something professionals from Canton and surrounding neighborhoods and 30-something men prowling for the female 20-somethings. Everyone was drinking either Corona, Corona Light, or Bud Light and the place smelled like the inside of a beer soaked gym shoe. Maybe when I was an undergrad that might have appealed to me (as a single guy, it’s always appealing to have girls drinking in a confined space where they can’t easily escape), but as a 25 year old, I expect a little more substance to my social life. While there was a live band that night, they had packed too many people in the place, something that has always kept me from giving a crap about concerts in general. Why would I want to pay money to be packed into a tiny space to listen to music that’s turned up way too loud? I might as well throw my money into the street.

Anyway, I am not a fan of the Bay Café. I get the feeling they think they’re way cooler and a better restaurant (yes, they do try to serve food there, amazingly. It looked gross.) than they really are. Like a douche bag in the form of a bar/restaurant. My apologies if you like the Bay Café. In all likelihood you’re a recent graduate of Towson University or UMBC, so really it’s unavoidable.

I’m almost certain that the Bay Café’s douchiness will not bleed through into the race on Monday. The race is being organized by the guy who owns Falls Road Running, I believe, so I have high hopes. Annie will be able to come and watch the race since it’s at 8:30 AM. She’s not crazy about getting up that early, but she won’t have to be up until 7:45 or so since I won’t have to be there super early to get my race packet. Plus we get food and drinks after the race, so she’ll feel better when I tell her that.

So yeah, I figured, why the hell not? It’s just $20 and I get a technical T-Shirt out of the deal, so it should make for an awesome Labor Day. Later in the day I have my online draft for my fantasy football team, the No Talent Ass Clowns (Google this phrase and read it’s significance to Office Space). This is the third year I’ve brought out the Ass Clowns, and I’m hoping for a better season than last year. After finishing a surprising 2nd in our first season, the team sank near to the bottom of the rankings last year after Shaun Alexander decided not to be awesome. This year, we’re hoping to just go out and play some solid games and get to the playoffs.

I will of course post a detailed race report on Monday afternoon (with pictures, hopefully) to revel in my finishing in the back of my age group. Should be worthy reading.

Killer.