On the run...from jury duty

The physical therapist doesn't want me doing high-impact exercises for a little while yet, so this weekend I did some biking, stretching, and resistance training. That is, except for a little bit of running that involved returning a jury summons.

I served on the jury of a murder trial just 7 months ago, which means that I am exempt from further jury duty in that court for 3 years. Well, someone forgot about that last week and sent me a jury summons. So on Saturday morning I filled out the return part and went to the mailbox to mail it. I was a little annoyed to find that the mail had already come. I brought it all back up to the house and decided to drive to the post office later that day so I could mail my jury response asap.

Two hours later the mail truck drove by. I was sitting around in the house when I saw it stop at my (empty) mailbox. There was a few second delay as I processed that it must have been yesterday's mail in the box, and that if I ran fast, I might be able to catch the mail truck when it turned down a dead-end street that connects with my road.

I put my sneakers on, grabbed my jury response, and proceeded to run after the mail truck.

It wasn't really a big deal, but I did not manage to catch the mailman. I was surprised that I am kind of out of shape. The fast pace made my lungs burn after less than half a mile. I guess that's something I'll have to work on whenever I get back to my normal training.

Speaking of normal training, I took a look at my list of goals, and the only one left for 2009 is to run a 5K with a pace of 8 minutes per mile or faster. I came close this summer with 8:07 per mile at my last 5K, but my training has obviously been disrupted. I'll probably try for that at a turkey trot or the "Beach Blast" 5K in December. (That's a race in which participants are urged to run in swim suits. The temperature last year was 18 degrees with the wind chill.)

I'm getting really psyched up about running again. I can't wait to meet more of my goals, like running a half-marathon next year. I was just reading Mrs. CJ Running's blog. She just ran in the U.S. Air Force half-marathon, and it seems so exciting! The home stretch before the finish was lined on either side with planes. How cool is that?! I've been looking at potential races for myself, and I'm thinking about the half held along with the New Jersey marathon. It's held at the same spot on the beach where I ran last April when I stayed there for a convention for work. (Yes, a library convention.) I had such a great time running there that I know I would like to race there, too.

As much as I can't wait to run, I'm going to take it easy for a while longer. This weekend I did a lot of biking instead. I did 10 miles on Saturday and 6.5 with my support staff on Sunday. I really love running, but there is something really special about biking that I feel a lot when I'm out on the trail on a nice day. I can't really describe it except that most of the time, I finish the ride feeling as if I just added several days to my life. The support staff and I are going to try and go biking every weekend, if the weather permits, so we should be able to get in a lot of good autumn rides. I'm looking forward to it. :-)