In case you were wondering, there are a number of memories that I keep repressed. As with most traumatizing experiences, these are things best kept in the deepest and darkest recesses of one's mind. Occasionally these carefully suppressed un-pleasantries sneak their way out into the conscious realm. But most of the time, someone dredges up the topic from its murky depths and will not shut up about it. Episiotomies, for example have come up a number of times recently. Usually one of my female colleagues will start talking about the birthing process, and I just want to take a sledgehammer and put it through the other side of my head. If you do not know what an episiotomy is, do not Google it and do not look it up on Wikipedia. The other freak factoid that I have repressed that has come up again today, involves the glandular functions of kitty cats. Now I remember why I have not bought a cat yet. My hypothetic cat, would also probably find a way to kill me in my sleep. I would name my cat, Schrodinger.

A cool new link that I would like to suggest to my friends is the Map My Run site. It is a useful tool built on Google map technology for plotting out excursions outside of the confines of a car. God forbid, the average North American might decide not to drive everywhere. This tool is as the mighty power-drill is to the hand held screw driver. Yes, the screwdriver, like diarrhea, builds character. Butt like diarrhea, why go through it? On the site, you can create custom routes on Google maps that are not on roads. Then it gives you the distance you travel, you can save it to a profile, and even share it with other people. My current running route takes me 9km. I just need to add on a little distance to do a daily 10km run. Turns out last year, when I was in the full stride of things, I was running 10km and 18km several times a week.

Are you having difficulties with staying physically active? I admit that I often have that issue. A very helpful someone suggested to me the 1km a day challenge. Run 1km everyday, rain or shine, good day or bad day, just make sure you run at least 1km. You will like what happens.

I need to take more pictures.

The past four months was a murky stew of experiences and memories. The consistency of the summer broth is turbid because the four month cooking time involved big greasy chunks of sleep deprivation. Now that colors of fall are in full flight everywhere, I feel like I can boil a new pot of water and start fresh and clear.

My friend the sandman made a good effort to hang out with me, but I was always too busy in the hospital, writing papers, or traveling around the country for various reasons.

In an attempt to prevent myself from further slipping down the greasy path to becoming a corpulent lard-ball, I did two half marathons this summer. I was planning to train heavily for the excursions in self-flagellation, so that I would at least be able enter the races with a thick skin and take on a good beating. However, work was so consuming that training time was really limited. It was essentially like going into the races without any preparation. Last year, I had managed to run and bike like it was a basic necessity. This year, it was an expensive luxury that I could not afford with my current job. Despite that, I somehow managed to finish both races without needing chest compressions and defibrillation. I actually finished both races faster than the most of the overall pack as well people in my own demographic group.

I saw my first real live Kenyan marathon runner at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I did the HALF marathon in 1:53:23. The Kenyan who won the FULL marathon did it in 2:09:29. The guy pretty much killed me twice over, yikes. I am going to go for a half marathon time of 1:40:00 next year. Once I pull that off, I am going to gun for a full marathon to finish but without a target time.

Overall, the drudgery at work was worth it. The rotations were inherently more labor intensive but it gave me a warm glow of self-satisfaction. I started rheumatology this week, and as a more laid-back rotation, I have a lot more free time. After taking a beating over the past four months, I have a much stronger appreciation for free time and trying to have an actual life.

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