~5 miles @ ~10 min/mi

"Hey big guy," I say, "don't hit me!" A menacing stag stands eying me from the side of the road. He's been sharpening all 8-points of his antlers and is ready to use them. I remember comrade CM's recent close encounter with a deer (who knocked her into the mud) and try not to look like competition for any doe's favors. The buck lets me pass.

At 9am today the orthopedist says my left arm, broken on 14 October, is healed enough for me to run. At 11am I'm out pounding the pavement of my local 'hood, circuit #1B: Seminary to Linden, Rock Creek to East-West Hwy, Jones Mill to Capital Crescent. I can't drive, swim, do push-ups (no naughty comments, pls!), lift anything heavier than 5 lbs., or otherwise stress the fractured humerus as it continues to mend. Jogging is fine—as long as I don't fall down.

How much fitness have I lost during since I came a cropper on the Appalachian Trail 38 days ago? Apparently not too much. A 10 minute per mile overall trot is almost comfortable in the brisk air today, with intermittent northern gusts and light snow flurries. Pushing the pace makes a measured mile on RCT go by in 8:47. Hills are a challenge, as always, but I run the whole way and finish happy. Apparently 20+ miles/week of brisk walking has more-or-less kept my pitifully-slow carcass from deteriorating too badly. Hey, when you're as close to the bottom as I am, you can't sink too much farther!

(cf. 2008-10-14 - JFK AT Familiarization, Impatient Patient, Bend Sinister, Humerus Fracture, ...) - ^z - 2008-11-22