5K with Dad (yes, I'm 2 weeks behind in blogging)

Danny and I just got back from an awesome trip to Chicago for 5 days.  It was FANTASTIC.  I have lots of pictures to post from that; but I just realized I never put up any pictures from 2 weeks ago when Dad came up and ran a 5K with me, Danny, Ala and Morgan.  The Chicago ones will be up soon, but here are the others to tide you over! 

It was about 40 degrees, rainy and windy- so we sat in the backseat of Ala's car until they were just about to fire the starting gun.  It was cramped cozy.
Here we are after the run.  The state park that we ran in was right on the bay; which was beautiful, but I think it lowered the temp an extra 5 degrees.  Do you like my highlighter-yellow running jacket?  It's so reflective that I think it can be seen from outerspace.

I don't know if you'll be able to see these, but they are the results sheets from the race.  Dad got 3rd in his age group and I got 2nd in mine!!!  It was a total fluke that we happened to be in age groups with very few runners; but we'll still take the glory!  Danny SOLIDLY kicked both of our butts,  but his age group was very competitive.  This might be the only time I've ever gotten 2nd place in a race.  Actually, I take that back.  Sometimes Danny and I race, and I always get 2nd place in those races.

My First Black Eye: The Answer

So on Friday afternoon, I went out for a run in my neighborhood.  About one mile into it, as I'm running by a tennis court, I spy a green ball flying at my head!  My cat-like relfexes kick into high gear, and I just barely dodge the speeding projectile.  Whew!  No black eye there!!! 

A few minutes later, I see a sign for the Providence Roller Derby- but then I remember that my bedtime is 8:30pm, so there's no way I could go to an event that started at the God-awful hour of 9pm.  No black eye there, either!!

I keep going, daydreaming about how fun the Roller Derby would've been, and a tree branch suddenly falls out of nowhere.  As it's headed toward my face, I perform a leaping double handspring and gracefully glide out of its path.  No black eye for me!

As I'm nearing my house, a Black Eyed Peas song came on my iPod.  As I'm rocking out, I contemplate whether a black eye would make me fit in better with the Black Eyed Peas.  I decide that my lack of dancing/vocal talent would probably still be evident, so I don't bother with self-inflicting that badge of honor.

Finally, I'm about one block from my house, enjoying the sunny weath- SMACK!  All the sudden I am on my face.  Suddenly 3 or 4 people appear out of nowhere, and all ask "Are you ok?!", but what they really meant was "Did you really just do that?  Did I really just see you completely face-plant on the perfectly flat sidewalk?  O man... I've got tell my buddy at work about that... that was HILARIOUS!!"

As with most injuries of this type, my pride was hurt significantly more than my face.  I wiped the gravel off my hands, hopped up, and jogged home, trying to look like cool.  As I turned into my driveway, I noticed something dark covering half of my left eye.  I reached up to wipe it away, and find a big clot of blood that has been accumlating over my eyelid.  Over the next 2 days, the cut has gotten smaller, but the black eye has gotten much worse.

Here's what I learned for this experience:

• Sometimes running slow is good.  The fact that I was trotting along at 10 min/mile means that there wasn't too much momentum to transfer to my eye when it hit the ground.
• Having a black eye intimidates people.  Two days after the 'incident', I ran a 5K race.  I think the competition all knew to leave me alone, since I looked so mean.  That's probably why I got 3rd place in my age group- all the other <30 year olds were too afraid of what I'd do to them if they tried to pass me.
• It's fun to make up stories about how you got a black eye.  I like rotating between a bar fight, saving a baby from a burning building and 'if I told you, I'd have to kill you

What I've Learned About Running

• It takes a lot of time.  Especially when you're as slow as me. According to my Nike shoe chip; I've already spent over 16 hours running. That doesn't even include the time it takes to go to and from the gym, stretch or do abs. 
• I have no idea where I get the time to do it.  And yet somehow I feel like I have more free time on the days that I run than on the ones that I don't.  If you asked me to find 3 hours per week to do some new activity- I would tell you that you're crazy! But somehow there is always time to run.  Maybe my Nike shoe chip has some secret flux-capacitor capabilities?
• It's not a great way to lose weight.  Running 15 miles a week burns less than half a pound a week, and that's assuming that I don't succumb to my post-run cravings.  I have lost a little weight since starting running- but it's 99% due to watching what I eat, and 1% to the calories I burn running.
• It makes me better at EVERYTHING else I do.  I pay more attention in lectures, I have more energy and concetration during rounds, and I have more time and energy to give to my patients.  I can tell whether or not I ran the day before based on my mood at 11am the next day.
• It's not even worth trying to run after an overnight shift at the hopsital.  Waste. Of. Time