During college I took a course called "behavioral medicine." It talked about the positive and negative ways that our choices impact our health. And no, it wasn't simply "exercise, eat well, don't smoke" type advice; rather, it was an examination of what goes on behind the scenes and surprising ways in which our behavior impacts our well-being and vice-versa. (So yeah, I get how some people can eat whatever they like and not gain an ounce, and how an otherwise perfectly fit person can drop dead of a heart attack one day - but I also understand how for some people they can change their destiny through their decisions. Some things you can change, others you cannot - and those limits are different for each person.)
It was during that course that I became very interested in surgery (since we learned various surgical techniques so we could observe changes in rats' brains) and neuroscience (ditto.) Yes, some of you are thinking wait, doesn't she faint when she even contemplates surgery? (Surgery on others is way different than surgery on you.)
Hoping that we were amongst those who could become skinny and fit by exercise (and knowing that we'd best not tempt fate if we weren't one of those people who could sit around and live forever) several of my friends and I decided to really ramp up our workout routines. (Or start working out, as the case may be.)
I played ice-hockey intramurally and frequently went to free-skate to exercise, but did nothing else in terms of "working out." Of course walking around campus all the time was great exercise.
My friends and I went to the gym a couple times to play on exercise bikes. Then we decided maybe we should run. I didn't have any running shoes, so just wore some sneakers that I had purchased while on assignment doing safety audits in an aluminum plant that summer. The catch: they were steel-toed.
We ran down a beautiful tree-lined path. It would have been a gorgeous place to enjoy a jog, but of course my feet were ripped to shreds by the end.
Flash-forward thirteen (!) years, and I was back in Providence over the weekend.
My grand plan was to go out to that same path to run with my real running shoes and enjoy the view. I figured it would be a much more enjoyable experience now that I am a pseudo-runner.
But, on Saturday morning I couldn't rise from my hotel-room bed. I felt sick and exhausted. I ended up sleeping in. The next morning, I probably could have gone for a run, but I end up so worried about getting to airports on time that I arrive super-early, and this time was no exception. (Indeed, I ended up delayed by a wrong turn going to the rental car return, and then had an odd situation where the airline didn't have a record of my reservation. Still, I probably would have had enough time to go for a run and shower before going to the airport.)
It is okay - because I got in a run this morning back on my usual trail, but I hope that next time I'm in Providence, I can conquer that particular stretch without steel-toed shoes.
