Study Break......

This song is beautiful in so many ways. I forgot the name and I couldn't find it for months!! Well thank God I finally found it!!!

I Won't Give Up

Yours,

Happy Thanksgiving!! : -)

My First 5K

I ran my first 5K in 30 minutes today! No big deal! ; -) Except for the fact that it is!

This summer I decided to run my first 5K in February. The Sigma 5K. A friend had been talking to me about it and her experiences. I played with the idea in my head and decided to do it. This was July, so I figured by February I could be ready to run 3.1 miles. At the time that seemed like a ridiculous distance that no one on earth could run with impunity (except for marathon runners of course....but they're super human). Running this 5K event today was literally a split second decision, riddled with fear and trepidation, that I expected nothing from except unhappiness and achy muscles and bones. Needless to say that today I was proven wrong! I could do it! And in 30 minutes no less!

My thoughts exactly

Now, you may already know by now that I am in medical school. If you didn't know, then you learned something new about me today : -) The work load seems unreal, and impossible, even though I have done it in the previous year and I am doing it again. Does that make sense? In any case, the point is that I was up until 2.30 am studying the clinical aspects of cardiac arrythmias and I had to wake up at 5.30 to prepare for the 5K. With that being said, you can imagine how tired I was.

No excuses

I am not usually a morning person. If I have to get up before eleven (and in the life of medicine that's all I seem to be doing) i'm miserable and unhappy. However for some reason this morning I was in a really good mood. I think it was excitement for the race. I got to the track having the race route in my head, scaring me to bits wondering if I was ever going to get through it alive and unscathed. I had told a friend who was running with me today that my goal this race was to make it out alive. I really didn't think I could do it!

Liar, liar pants on fire....

I just told myself, just run as much as you can. I wanted this race to give me an idea of how much more work I had to do for the Sigma 5K. So I pretty much went into today with a "progress not perfection" frame of mind. It seemed appropriate. I started the race trying to keep up with a friend of mine. Then I gave myself a little talk and decided to just pull back. They were running at a much faster pace than I was used to and I didn't want to burn myself out. I did want to try to run the whole way, but like I said, I didn't believe I could do it. I slowed down to a pace I was comfortable at and as I got into my stride it became surprisingly easier with each step (though the sun was not my friend today). 

As I passed each kilometer, I clapped a little and talked my way through each successive one. I said to myself "Look you made it this far, keep running. Just put one foot in front of the other." I had some tummy cramping along the way because the cold water that were handing out (note cold water and running don't agree, at least not for me....) but I was surprisingly fine until a little ways into the final kilometer my muscles felt odd. it wasn't a feeling I was used to and I was very uncomfortable so I stopped after awhile (ugh!). I walked for about a minute or two; it didn't feel as if anything was going to pop so I started running again. I wasn't sure what was going on so I suppose stopping was alright but I am annoyed that I did because I made it that far!! 

Truth

Nevertheless, even with my two minute break, I still made it to the finish line in 30 minutes. For that I am proud. I thought it was going to take me like ten hours!! So I think it's a good estimate to say that I ran a little over 4.5K right?! Sigma 5K had better watch out because I will be running the ENTIRE route and I am aiming for 25 mins. Between now and February that's reasonable right? I'm new to this running thing so let me know if i'm way off.

My mantra from now on

 A friend said to me recently that once you run a 5K you will realise that the others aren't so bad and you will want to try it. I pretty much looked at her like she was crazy. A marathon? An ultra marathon (btw just found out about those and that's crazy, no hopes for that one)? I think I understand what she means though, because now I know I can run a 5K I want to try a 10K. No time soon of course, I like to take my own sweet time with things. However it's on the horizon......

Yours,

So proud of myself.... ; -)

Oh Sandy......

I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that Jamaica survived Hurricane Sandy so well. Well in comparison to the rest of the world I believe. And let me tell you we have had our fair share of hurricanes and devastation. Last I heard, we had only one fatal casualty and the majority of the damage was limited to flooding (destruction of homes and such) and a LOT of caved in roads!!!

This is something to be thankful for. My little pot of sunshine really can't handle any sort of damage whatsoever on the wide scale. There is so much that Jamaica has to be thankful for I only hope that we as a nation realise our blessings! It has been sung on many occasions how blessed we are as a nation, now if only we could live it!

My heart goes out to Haiti, not only could they not handle any more devastation, but apparently the majority of the Caribbean fatalities rose from there. I hope that the US, the Bahamas and Cuba are on their way to recovery, from all angles it looks as if that is the case. What still boggles the mind is that Sandy for the most part danced between a category 1 and category 2 hurricane, however it seemed as if more damage was more devastating in one area as opposed to widespread category 5 hurricane so to speak. If that makes any sense to you at all, of course : -). IT is still a little odd to me that there was a hurricane this late in the year. Yes we are still in the hurricane season, so Sandy technically still has reasonable grounds for appearing, but in my limited 20 and a little bit year existence on this earth I can't recall ever getting anything past September.

This whole hurricane period was a little crazy. On the bright side the season ends at the end of November (insert moment to jump for joy here). Always look on the bright side! If you have been hit by the hurricane, I hope that the damage was not too terrible. If you were not hit by the hurricane, help someone who was if you can!

Yours,

Thankful... ; -)