Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Thoughtful Question...

Anonymous said...
Since you pretty much have been dominating the 5k scene in Houston, do you ever get formal invites to regional road races or elite racing teams? Just curious, Thanks!
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Anon,

Thank you for using so generous a word such as "dominating" to describe my performances. To tell you the truth I don't think I've been dominating the 5k scene all that much. Guys like Sesar will show up and win whatever 5k he so chooses locally. That guy truly has been dominating. To tell you the truth I have a hard enough time beating my training partner Luis Armenteros, which I have never done when he's been in shape. I do think I've been pretty competitive though and I've won my share of races around town although I am definitely hungry for even more. So once again thank you for your kind remark. Now to finally answer your question! Yes I have been invited to various events (crowning event was Peachtree 2009) but I've had to turn down everything recently since my family has grown. I just can't leave my family for even a short period of time. I guess it's good to be loved. I can live with this. However, I will be working on getting a formal invite to the Houston Half next year. This is one of my low key goals for the year and I will finally make a serious go of it! Now excuse me if I don't talk about this anymore for a while. As far as elite racing teams is concerned, I have been approached a couple of times but for better or for worse I've always felt a bit of loyalty to Sean. He's basically made me who I am as a runner so I guess I'm just a loyal S.O.B. for better or worse. One team had some pretty sweet deals in my opinion which I won't get into, but I decided to stay with my boy, Sean. Thanks for such a thoughtful question that provoked me into answering in such a long-winded reply!

Regards,

Bill

3 comments:

JunieB said...

I enjoyed reading that! And I hope you get that invite! And what a nice compliment: dominating.

You are pretty awesome though; I am always very happy when you come away with a win!

Anonymous said...

Likely players for local slots this year: Sesar,Chase Rathke, J.P., Cole, Dan Kahn, yourself, Ryan Smith, Vaughn Gibbs, Colin Carroll, and some Brooks kid in Sugarland that ran 32:30 10k. When you throw out Sesar its a battle royal for the remaining slots. If 5/9 of THESE ATHLETES can call you dominating then youll have one of those slots! Good luck, Lu.

Bill Blancett said...

Thanks June that makes my day!
Lu, it will be interesting that's for sure. I do have the ability that's for sure but I will have to work my BUTT off to make sure I have the requisite strength to contend with all of those guys from the list you brought up. All of the guys on that list are more accomplished at the longer distances than myself so it will be a worthy battle for sure!