Juice. Running.

One quiet weekday afternoon found me working at my desk and drinking my fresh apple juice. As an aside, my love of juice has now become an addiction. It's available everywhere, it's cheap, and it's fresh! Literally juiced right in front of you. How can I resist? I can't. Really, I'm addicted. My standard is straight green apple, but I often mix it up with apple-orange, apple-pineapple, etc. I actually have an apple-orange juice beside me right now to go along with my pad thai.

So where was I? I was working at my desk and drinking my fresh apple juice. I get a visit from from a friendly colleague. Several minutes later, I somehow have become the "lead" runner for the business school's relay running team. Huh? How did that happen? My thoughts exactly. When was the last time I went for a run? Maybe a year ago in DC with Sam or EJE -- the running maniacs. Before I know it, I'm "training" with the captain -- a really sweet middle-aged Singaporean man named Sonny. Apparently, there is a schoolwide relay running that incorporates student, faculty, and alumni teams. It's casual for some, competitive for others. All in all, it's a great way to connect all the different demographics of the school together.

However, once your captain starts bragging to the other faculty members in the locker room about the business school's "foreign talent" (a.k.a. me), feelings of pressure start to creep in. Granted, I am significantly younger than the members on the team, but that doesn't mean I'm an all-star runner! Despite the somewhat awkward situation of being touted as a running talent, it was refreshing to revamp my implicitly competitive spirits.

At the end of the day, the race was terrific. The cohesion of students, faculty, and alumni was something I hadn't seen since high school. It was refreshing to see. Also, our team did very well! We even got trophies! Honestly, I really impressed myself (and apparently my teammates as well) with my run. I never knew I could run (relatively) well... maybe this whole running thing ain't so bad after all.

Our team! My boy Sonny to the left of me.

The director of my department finishing the race!

Our staff team with the business students' team (1st place)!
Note the trophies :)