Old Habits in a New Area.

As was discussed in my previous post, I have moved back to New Jersey from Columbus, OH after my times at Ohio State and subsequent employment in the great Buckeye State came to an end. On Sunday, July 31, 2011 I began my career as a medical student; receiving my first white coat. After years and years of hard work and late nights, my official education as a future physician has begun!

With this exciting transition has come a new challenge to maintaining my training. It's not finding the time to still run, but in fact finding actual areas in which to run! When I moved up to my new neighborhood, one of the thoughts that came to mind was that this is a relatively sustainable area, but it is no where near being considered eye candy.

So after the hustle and bustle of moving in, white coat ceremony, and figuring out what exactly my schedule for this first week entails, I laced up my running shoes for my first run yesterday morning. Not quite sure where to head, I went for a run along the roads which I have driven since I've been here. The first mile was alright. Plenty of low-income housing around to remind me that I am by no means living in a white collar, affluent society. A few more miles pass and I find myself in an area that I'm assuming has been described by some of the locals as an area which I should avoid if at all possible. After another mile of this, I decided it was going to be an out-n-back run. I waited for my GPS to beep 4 miles and then turn around.

So, yes, I got an easy 8 miles in, but I did not exactly find the run relaxing and enjoyable (as I usually do). I have my work cut out for me to find a good area to get in some longer runs around here!

The search continues...