I can think of three elements facilitating this transition of making peace with the last two and a half years. 1) Change of environment -- ten weeks of clinical work over the summer, with a different instructor and in a different building, to pull our minds out from our dungeonesque basement department. 2) Good timing -- second year ended just as our minds gave up but before actually numbing us into a legitimate psychological stated (i.e. ending at delerium instead of progressing to true dementia). 3) Taking on the annual 3rd year duty of roasting the faculty at the upcoming Thanksgiving/Holiday Party.
For those unfamiliar, a roast is when a person (or in our case, a group) is "celebrated" through comedy -- mocking, imitation, storytelling. The point is bring humor to events that have transpired, not to be mean. The audacity of the jokes depends on the personality of the roaster. I am rather proud of what our class has come up with. I won't give away details, particularly since you need to know a few things about our professors in order to get the jokes, but it was ridiculously easy to turn the staff into Alice in Wonderland. And, half the lines used are direct quotes from professors throughout the years.
Since the inception of our "presentation," this semester holds only two meaningful events in my mind: the marathon (two weeks from yesterday!) and the roast. Nice priorities, right?? *wink*
Yesterday's run was the last true long run before the marathon. Eighteen and a half miles at whatever pace comes out easily, with intention to shorten the run if anything doesn't feel good. (The training is in the bank at this point. There's no reason to kill yourself with only two weeks left). The full run felt good, and I make it a little bit farther along the Pallisades road than I have before.
It was a dress rehearsal for clothing intended for the marathon, and with a high of low 60s with overcast skies for the first half of the run I didn't sweat enough to warrant wringing out my shirt. Meaning, everything worked perfectly. Hoping for this case two weekends from now. We have to be in our corrals some 50+ minutes before the start. The latrines, however, are all back in the common area, and once you are in the corral you don't leave. Meaning, I might be running with my knees together for the first three miles across the Verizano Bridge and into Brooklyn before the first pit stop is available. Not pinning my bib to my shorts means a pit stop will go twice as quickly (don't want to rip/tear/harm it, especially because the timing chip is attached to its back), and this requires the bib to instead be pinned to my shirt. If it is hot and I anticipate multiple wring-outs, I'll need to concoct a thin waist strap separate from both the shorts and shirt. Don't you love these forays into my thoughts? So intriguing to you all, I'm sure....
Anyways, back to yesterday's run. I saw three times as many runners on the Pallisades road as usual, meaning something like two dozen in total. But! Since everyone is either in coasting pre-marathon mode or on their usual Sunday fun-run, all but one runner exchanged genuine pleasantries of "hello" or "good morning" with a smile and/or a wave. I passed in opposite directions of one man twice, 20 minutes before and then 20 minutes after I hit my turnaround. On the second pass he said "Good luck!" After all these years of wanting to run these types of races, it felt amazingly good to know that his assumption of my marathon participation is correct and that I am physically able to do it. Take me back three years ago and I wouldn't have believed you. Education and backing off to find answers makes a world of difference.
Those nicely painted toenails from Sam & Kristin's wedding? Nathan was smart to recommend waiting to paint them until after our run the morning of the wedding. One run two days later and they already looked like this:
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| Bye bye, right fourth toe, for the upteenth time. |
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