Still going

5 miles yesterday, with my new running friends. We started early at 7, in honor of the NYC half marathon, which started at the same time. (Actually, for the winners, we also finished around the same time!) Caught a few minutes of rain at the end, but otherwise it was pretty good timing for a day full of pretty lousy weather.



I've definitely been running slower with my friends, but then again, it could just be that I'm not in the same shape I was before. It's nice to have people to run with. Not so much for the conversation; I'm perfectly happy listening to music (or Steve Runner), esecially for these relatively short runs. But the commitment is key. I think that all three times I've run with my friends, had it not been for them I probably would have just stayed in bed. But I can't do that knowing that they woke up at 6:30 to run with me! In any case, I'm enjoying the new camaraderie.

Today, I got in a little tennis. Another come from behind 6-4 win in the set. (At 5-4 I was really motivated to finish him off - knowing that at 5-5 the game would have to go to 7.) It wasn't pretty, but it was a nice workout. I can tell, because my left leg was hurting. I felt it a little during the last mile yesterday, and today it was acting up again. I'm going to have to take it easy this week.

Finally, just in case I've been the only one watching the sitemeter "odometer", I want to point out that a couple of days ago it went over 10,000 visits. (And that doesn't include my own visits!) I don't think I could have even imagined that number a year ago. Thank you all very much for the attention.

Weekday running

I thought I might get to the track today, but I didn't get home from the hospital last night until almost midnight. But I did run this morning. I met up with a friend for a relatively slower 3.25 miles. It was a good thing, since the last run was somewhat disappointing with all the stops I needed to take. This morning things went smoothly without having to stop. In fact, I didn't even have to break stride to pick up or drop off my friend on the way! It felt good....

Tomorrow I have an early start at work, and a pretty busy day.But perhaps in the evening I can get out there. I don't want to push myself too hard, but I do want to jump on the enthusiasm before it dissipates again.

In other news, I saw Little Miss Sunshine tonight. The person I saw it with thought it was horrible, but I liked it. Kind of a dark comedy, but funny. (I think it's for people who liked Rushmore.)

Blogiversary

Anybody remember this post?

I started this out exactly one year ago, without any real clue what to expect. It's hard to believe that since then I've developed something akin to another family. I feel like I've developed a relationship with many of my regular readers. (Even if I've been slacking in the commenting department, I'm still reading your blogs!) I've even met a whole bunch, and they've all been exactly the same in real life as they are in their blog: a great group of nice people.

So thank you very much. I doubt I ever would have made it through the marathon if I didn't have you guys keeping me honest. Even now, the only reason I don't totally give up on running, is so that I can come back here and post. (I know it's pathetic, but whatever works to get me to exercise!)

4 tough miles

I've become a "weekend warrior". I don't run all week, and then I try and get out there for the "long" run on Sunday. In this case the "long" run was all of 4 miles, but it was really tough today.

I met a couple of friends at 8:30 for the run. And it was already pretty freaking hot! I had on a sleeveless tech shirt, but it was just really hot out there. Also, there's the talking thing. I usually run alone. I know you're supposed to run at a speed at which you feel comfortable talking. Maybe I don't normally do that - since I never really talk to myself. But the running and talking was kind of tough.

I did finish out for the 4 miles, but I had to stop a lot. I've been toying with the idea with going up to New Haven for the 5K on Labor Day (though my call schedule isn't set yet), but I'm not sure I can finish a 5k!! We'll see...

Tomorrow's another long day at work, but I'm hoping Tuesday is better. Maybe I'll get out there for a short run sometime.

I'm still here

I finally got back out there again on Sunday. 4 miles, with a brief stretching break halfway through.

I followed that up with two sets of tennis. After being down 4-0 in the first set, I came back for a tremendous 7-6, 6-2 win. The problem with tennis is that your play affects the length of the game. In that first set I was pretty tired and upset with myself. A couple of times I found myself actually getting mad when my partner didn't finish me off. Although I won the set in the end, at the time it felt like I was just prolonging the agony.

Another thing about tennis is that whenever I do something wrong, I feel like it's a character flaw in my personality. Double faulted on the serve? It's because I'm being too lazy to stretch up high enough. Didn't win the game I was winning 40-0? It's because I don't have the focus to finish the job. It's partly true, and partly ridiculous. However, when I was losing 5 of the first 6 games I was really getting annoyed. I was thinking how running is so pure and simple, without all these aggrevating mind games. (Usually.)

In any case, I'm still having difficulty finding the time to post. It's not all work, but my life feels petty busy. Right after tennis on Sunday, I showered and headed over to a small reception for a friend who finally got engaged to the girl he's been dating for years. Yesterday, one of the residents had her car towed from the hospital. I drove her to the pound after work to pick up her car, and we then went to dinner with another member of our surgical team. It was actually quite nice.

When I got home, I ended up seeing a friend of mine at my house for a medical "emergency". I'd tell you what happened, but I have to keep some of my "criminal activity" ambiguous. In either case he (and his wife) left my place after 1 in the morning. I finally got to sleep around 2, and by 3:30 I was awakened by my beeper. I was on call, and a patient needed emergency surgery. It took an hour and a half to get the patient ready for surgery, and by that time there were a few more emergencies waiting. Yikes.

So now I'm finally home. I took a quick nap at the hospital prior to leaving. It's not late, but I'm exhausted. And I've got a busy day tomorrow.

(I thought this would explain why my post was so short - but somehow that seemed to take a long time. Well at least you know why there's no pictures!)

Joy Danielle

This baby was named after me:



I took care of her mother during her pregnancy. I never operated on her, but I did see her every day, and she called me many times. All her other doctors seemed to rotate in and out, but I was always constant.

I suppose it's possible she didn't really name her after me, but she says she did, and I choose to believe her. It's kind of cool.

(BTW, I told the mother I was putting this on the Internet. I'm not sure she believed me, but she didn't object. There are many things at work I'd love to blog about, but I don't because of privacy and legal concerns. It's too bad there's not much else interesting in my life...)

Look what I found!

Ok, I didn't wake up early yesterday. Or today. But I did go play tennis yesterday. I had seen these courts that were being renovated last summer when I was running. It took me a while to find out how to drive there last night, but I made it. There's a whole bunch of new courts there. Unfortunately I got paged pretty quickly after I started, and had to go back to the hospital. But I did get a little tennis in, and it always takes a few sessions to get back into it anyway.

While I was there I found this gorgeous running track.



I'd seen this track last summer too, but there was a sign there about needing a permit. I'd gone online at the time, and couldn't figure out how to get one. Then I kind of just forgot about it. Last night, at about 7pm, it was packed. I'm pretty sure not everybody there had a permit. In fact, I'd be surprised if there was even one person there who actually had one!

So I'm looking forward to going back and giving the track a whirl. (Mostly so I can sound all cool, and put things like "4 x 400" in my posts!)

On the road again...

(I'm not sure how many of my old readers still check out this blog. I know I have 20 subscribers on bloglines, so I was counting on 19 other people reading my last post. However, I've realized over the last few days that there are still a few people who have been intermittently checking this blog. I peronally would have given up on anybody who didn't post for a week. So if you're one of those people that "stuck with me", thanks!)



Almost every night for six weeks I've been pretending that I was going to get up early and run the next morning. For one reason or another (all relating to laziness) it just hasn't happened.

At one point I almost gave up. I always hated those blogs that just disappeared into thin air. I appreciated the few comments and emails I got asking me what was going on. I even contemplated writing some sort of "goodbye" post. The only reason I didn't was because I knew that would be the end of my running. And I wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet. So I told myself I'll run tomorrow. Ok maybe the next day. Ok fine, the day after that. And so on, and so on...

I wasn't on call this Sunday, so it was a good time to get out there. I screwed around the apartment procastinating for a while, waiting for the residents to finish rounding at the hospital, so I could round with them on the phone. After waiting for a few hours I finally just got out there - afraid that I was going to blow it again.

As I walked to my usual running path, I really felt excited to be "out there" again. I couldn't belive I'd been pushing it off for so long. What was I thinking?!



The run itself went well. I felt pretty good out there, although I did feel it after 2 miles. (Of course my residents finally did call me while I was running for those 20 minutes, and so I had to round on the phone while running!) Now that I'm writing this a couple of days later, I can tell you that my quads have been sore for the last 60 hours or so - but at least it's kind of a good feeling of soreness.

Work has definitely gotten busier.

I also designed and made myself a webpage for work. I definitely don't have as much time as I used to have, but I certainly have enough time to go running. Carrying a pager and a cellphone is annoying, but I can do it. I have many of the weekends off, and so I can fit in some long runs without the pager then.

Part of the problem has also been the heat.

This was in my apartment last week! I have air conditioning in my room, and so it was bearable there. But the kitchen (and outdoors) was ridiculous.

I just have to do it. I'm not happy with how my body feels these days. I don't think the scale shows it so much, and neither does the picture above, but I just don't feel good. I've got to get serious about running and eating healthy. To be honest, I'm not so excited about the whole concept, but it has to be done.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have to post, but I'll try to stick to it. (A lot of the time goes into the picture taking, uploading, and editing. That may have to go.) I really appreciate having you guys out there, and helping me stick to my running. (Usually.)

By the way, I'm not always working. I did make out to the beach later in the day.


Anyway, it's good to be back. Thanks for waiting.

(Oh, and I'm going to get up early to go running tomorrow!)

I'm alive!

I ran 2 miles today. It's the first time I've run in 6 weeks.

I have more to say, but I don't have the time. I'll post something substantial when I get the chance. (That might not be until Tuesday.)