Channeling Jeff Corwin

Powerful electromagnetic forces from the couch were pulling on my butt last night. I could barely extract myself from my perfectly molded ass-groove of the sofa cushion. I felt flat, tired, sleepy. It seems that since I've made the decision to quit General Surgery, General Surgery has decided to be Douche Bag Deluxe and make the remaining 6 weeks until I leave it intolerable and hellish. On a good day, it confirms that I made the ride decision to get out. On a bad day, it continues to suck the life out of me. Yesterday, it nearly sucked all the life out of me--and I wasn't even on call!

With my last shred of energy, I put on my running clothes and stood moping at the bottom of the driveway. I set off on my run and within 100 feet a flash of brilliant blue flew in front of me and perched on the power lines. A Belted Kingfisher! I stopped and pointed it out to Kevin, "Did you see it? It's a Belted Kingfisher!!" I'd never seen one around the house or so up close before. Kevin said that I looked like I'd seen the Yeti.

A half mile down the road I swerve around a garter snake. If I leave him there, he'll surely be run over by a car. I know he's not poisonous, but I'm not sure how painful his bite may be. Unsuccessfully, I try to nudge him off the road with a twig. He's about 18 inches long and completely unwilling to be saved from his impending death by Michelin. I remember the last thing I watched on TV: Jeff Corwin in Nepal handling a cobra. He picked it up by its tail and kept his distance. Well for crying out loud, if Jeff can pick up a cobra then I can at least do the same with a garter snake!

So I did--I grabbed it's skinny tail which felt like holding a toothpick. With one gentle lift, I flung him into the safety of the tall grasses.

The rest of my run was uneventful as far as wildlife sitings and rescues go. I saw my usual avian friends on that route: tree swallows hanging out around the cows to eat flies, goldfinches diving in and out of thistle, starlings too numerous to count. I was reminded of how happy I am when I'm outside among my animal friends like Snow White or Saint Francis of Assisi.

It's corny, yes. But I'll keep this little nugget of motivation in my files when I'm feeling less than enthusiastic about getting out and training. Besides, I hear that Snow White has thrown down a sub-5 hour Half Ironman and Saint Francis has an FTP of 350 watts.