Revenge of the Airlines

Maybe I didn't praise the airlines enough in getting me to where I was going back in 2006 and 2007 when I was traveling at least once a month mainly to run races. Back then I just booked flights, usually under $200 roundtrip, and was good to go. I never had to speak to any individuals regarding any flights; it was all done on the internet without a problem.
My upcoming trip to run the 1/2 in Parkersburg, WV was initially booked last November. I was able to use miles through Continental to book Delta flights to Columbus, Ohio connecting through Cincinnati. Finding a Continental reward flight for 25,000 miles is pretty rare these days (they seem to pimpin Delta and Northwest out for their mileage rewards) so I figured I'd take a shot at it.
With the Delta/NW merger, my flight numbers 6654, 6124, 6119, and 6423 became numbers 4951, 6039, and 4990 sometime this spring. After waiting a couple of weeks with just the 3 flights showing up, I contacted Continental (as that's where the flights were booked) and got put on 6032 for the 3rd leg. Delta just bumped me from me Columbus to Cincinnati leg on the return home..... I guess I got lost with all the flight numbers changing. This morning I happened to check my flight status and discovered that Delta added Atlanta legs to both segments of my trip. Upon further investigation, on my flight to Columbus, I was scheduled to leave Cincinnati for Columbus before my Atlanta flight even departed for Cincinnati. This time when I called Continental, I got some initial pushback and a suggestion that I contact Delta as they were the ones that changed the schedule. Continental eventually came around and rebooked my flights to where I'm now flying Delta through Atlanta to Columbus going up and coming back on a Delta flight to Atlanta then Continental back to Houston. I'm holding off making any rental car changes until it get closer to trip time.
Two weeks after running WV, I 'll be headed to Seattle to run a 1/2 on Labor Day. I booked my nonstop flight to Seattle mid April. At the time my departure time on the flight home was at 5:47 PM....giving me plenty of time to get cleaned up post race, eat, check out yada yada. By the end of April my departure time was changed to 3:50 PM still not a problem. By mid June the departure time was moved up yet again to 1:15 PM.... actually my flight was merged into an earlier flight and deleted. As my 1/2 doesn't start until 9 AM Labor Day, my options are to get faster and finish early enough to get showered/checked out and to the airport (after returning the rental car) on time or find a later flight. So I'm now on an 11:45 PM flight getting back to Houston Tuesday morning. Once again, rental car times are screwed up again but I'm going to hold off changing until I'm convinced flights won't change again.
I used to think training was the toughest part running the 50 states but the real challenge is appearing more and more to be flying.