Running: not so boring after all!

I ran my first 10k! Or race of any kind, really. I thought I really didn't like running, but it turns out that if I have something to run for, like my dignity and not finishing last, then I can actually kind of get into it (and finish in a respectable 55 minutes 20 seconds! Without stopping even once!). There were I think 8 of us who ran it and then a handful more who were in town to partake of the reunion party that the weekend turned into, seeing as we had friends come from the faraway lands of Vietnam, Indonesia, and even Clear Lake, California for the big event. The race atmosphere is lot of fun-- I loved getting up at 5 and eating power bars in the hotel room and then heading to the race site to jump around and stretch and be nervous with 3,000 other people waiting for things to kick off. The setting for this one was also pretty incredible: we ran past Angkor Wat and a few other temples, through the jungley woods that surround them, through an open field with ruins scattered hither and tither, and all this as the sun was rising in the early morning sky. Not a bad way to start a day! And from there to a well-deserved mid-morning massage, a nap, some celebratory food and drink, and dancing our sore legs til the wee hours of the morning. Great weekend -- and we are already planning our next race, hopefully in March, along the coast. I could seriously get into this.

And then I open the New York Times this morning and find that the whole thing has been featured on the front page, since it's actually a big fundraiser for landmine victims and other disabled Cambodians who need prostheses and can't afford them. Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/sports/08iht-cambo.html?ref=global-home

All in all, a good way to end my fall "semester" in Cambodia. And now I'm ready for some Barney's and Croatian wine, not necessarily together, but if it works out that way I'm not complaining.