Back in the Game

Ok, I know it's been nearly a month. Sorry. I got back to Dublin and was sent out to Kilkenny for a 6 week Med/Surg rotation. But I like Kilkenny. St Luke's Hospital is great, the people down there are wonderful, and the town is a cute little medieval place. I just wish I had internet and tv down there. Living out of a suitcase gets old very quickly though. It's almost over though, and I'll be back in Dublin full time (at least until Christmas)

I have 2 cool things to talk about that have happened since I got back to Dublin.

1) I managed to pull off the Todd event. Rob Maschio came to RCSI and gave a one hour chat to a packed lecture theater, we took him out to dinner, then out for a night on the town. And, in spite of the fact that it was a Wednesday, we were out until 3am. I was asked, and conducted, an interview over a late breakfast and coffee... I'll post the article when I get done writing it. And then we did a group dinner on Saturday night. It was great week. It worked out surprisingly well.

Yeah... that's me and Rob, probably at the Swan (I know this because I don't look entirely intoxicated).

2) I just finished the Dublin marathon. I'm ridiculously sore (mostly because I didn't train as hard as last time, and I'm carrying around a little extra weight that I didn't have last time), but I finished in 5 hours. Finished being the operative word. It wasn't pretty, but I finished. I'm quite proud of myself :)

That little red blob is the victor of "Survivor: Gummy Bear." I had 27 gummy bears in a bag, and ate one for every mile. So, if you guessed "red," you won.

I spent about an hour last night putting together a playlist for the marathon. I ended up with like 8 hours of music (and obviously didn't need that much), but I have a few highlights from the race.
* Mile 0 (at the starting line): Erasure - Respect. It was a great start song, and... the start of a marathon is ridiculously anti-climactic. The gun goes off and you stand there for a few minutes before you move. Then you start trotting for about a mile before the crowd thins enough to actually pick up to the normal pace.
* Mile 8: Kanye West - Stronger. This is one of those songs that's brilliant to run to. And at mile 8-ish there are a series of hills that are quite rough. But it's an amped up song that helped me get through the hills.
* Mile 10 (I think): MIA - Paper Planes. Enda, this is what I was rocking out to when I nearly missed you.
* Mile 18: Kansas - Carry on My Wayward Son. I was suffering around mile 16, so 18 was just getting worse. And I really wanted to walk. But this came on and helped me keep going for a bit longer.
* Mile 20: Simon & Garfunkle - Cecilia. This song is impossible to stand still to. It was a nice little kick at the time, that and Knut and Hana waving.
* Mile 24: Pretenders - 500 Miles. I know this song is pure cheese. But seriously, I was dying. The irony is too much and I started to laugh. Now, laughing is a little painful at 24 miles, but smiling when you run helps your running posture and relaxes you.
* Mile 26.2 (Finish Line): Journey - Any Way You Want It. I only remember this because it took me a while to turn off the ipod... mostly because I couldn't find the buttons, then I couldn't get my headphones off. *sigh*

Other interesting intrusions: The Doors - Riders on the Storm, Offspring - Pretty Fly for a White Guy, and Dr. Evil and Mini-Me - Hard Knock Life (hilarious).

Anyway, that's my run down on that... Now I'm going to lie flat for the rest of the day :)