running ruminations

Hello hello. A quick update and then a collection of thoughts from my run this morning.
Things here are going fine. The predicted power outages never arrived... amazing. Of course it has been off and on here and there, but overall, quite dependable. It is raining less now, and the tourism high season is gearing up.
I met up with a French couple vacationing on the island and it was so nice to speak French! I got some mental gymnastics in when I was translating directly between French and Swahili at the market when I was showing them around. I realized I've often done the switch between French and English, or Swahili and English, but never French-Swahili. I enjoyed it.
Still working on med school applications and the research project here. I've been here over a month already, and am feeling a bit stressed and disappointed that I only have a month and a half left. Of course I'm looking forward to the tail end of the Maine summer with my family and friends, but yikes, my time here is going by rapidly!

I'm running a 1/2 marathon next Saturday, so have been running more in general, especially with the weekly long runs. I did about 10 miles this morning, and here is some of what went through my head:

-I wonder if doing a long run today will help get rid of or will exacerbate this cold I have
-I wish I could keep the temperature and daylight level as it is now for the entirety of my run (I started just before 6am when the sky was ever so slightly pale, sun not yet up yet).
-why did I just dream about being in my high school locker room after swim practice?
-when people here say "mzungu" to me, is it the same as the impulse I have to say "mooooo" every time I pass a cow here?
-when I run in shorts here, are people offended? If so, does it bother them less if it's in the early morning, when perhaps they'll have some respect that I got my keister out of bed to pound the pavement? Do they even notice? Mind you, my shorts are far from being hot pants...they are legit soccer shorts that fall just above my knee.
-is it better for me to run in the early mornings when fewer people are up but I tend to run slower, or run in the afternoons just before sun down when there are more people and traffic but I tend to be able to push myself a bit more? What would make me have the same quality workouts in the morning as I do in the afternoons/evenings?
-why have all the ads that show up just above my gmail inbox are recipes featuring Spam? I've never eaten Spam. What else have I never eaten?
-how long will it take for my brain to forget the phone numbers of my childhood friends? (I still know a ton of them by heart)
-what does the organism that is causing my GI troubles look like? What food did I get it from- the fruit from the market that I didn't wash, the fresh sugar cane & lime juice, or the unripe mango soup whose meat/potato contents were placed in the broth by the hand of the vendor (who also takes the money)?
-what does my spine think of my running shoes?
-do running shoes really ever get worn out? Barring actual holes in them, is it bad to run on them past 500 miles of wear? I'm skeptical yet do notice how much it feels like gliding on cushions when I get new sneakers. What is this whole barefoot running movement? If my shoes already have 500 miles on them, and the experts say they're "worn out" how is that different than running barefoot but with some thick socks on? .... what the hell is my friend Sam Fox wearing for footwear during his trek across the Pacific Crest Trail? If he averages 40 miles/day for 60 days, he'll need new shoes about 5 times, if you believe the 500 mile thing. Does he have a shoe sponsor?
-will I ever have to have a knee replacement in the knee that has the cadaver's ACL? (replay vault at BU where I tore all those ligaments)
-remember what it's like to pole vault (correctly w/o getting injured). Wish I could do it right then and there
-what would it be like to run a 1/2 marathon in a burqa (most women here wear them during exercise, or at least long pants and shirts)
-should I run a marathon in October (with Mr. TD and Amber?!)?
-how much fluid do I lose from sweating when I run here in Zanzibar?
-how much of my hair has undoubtedly curled away from my head? Does it look like a mini halo yet?
-how many grains of gravel and sand are in my shoes?
-how big is the blister that is developing on the middle toe of my left foot? Why is it only there, and only has started developing since I got to Zanz? I never had one when I ran in Dunkerque. Did I change my running form in such a way that it only affects my middle toe on that foot? strange. What else is affected that doesn't present itself as visibly as a blister?
-is it bad to run in this heat for so long without drinking any water? should I stash a water bottle for myself somewhere along my running route? nah... someone would take it.
-what would happen if I collapsed during one of my runs? (this and other "what if I had a medical emergency" questions have been running through my head recently b/c a friend of a friend got into a motorcycle accident and smashed his head on a telephone pole... the care he received at the hospital here in Zanz was underwhelming. He has been transferred to Dar es Salaam, where they have recommended pressing charges against the hospital here in Zanz...)
-what would happen if they did press charges against the hospital? What would it take to get proper "emergency" care here on the island?
-is anyone from my family still awake right now?
-what is the Swahili word for _____(insert a variety of things that I saw on my run)___
-where did the rash/cut that has been on my right bicep for two weeks come from? It looks kind of badass, but I'd like it to go away.
-ugh, I need to finish my med school applications.... and find a job for post-August.
-are the cats that live at my flat aware of how much it annoys me that they meow incessantly when I'm getting their food ready, every morning, every evening? I wish I could put them on mute.
-why am I so annoyed by the cats? They're hungry.
-I still don't like them.
-what food do I have at home that I can eat once I'm back from this run?
-how does the kombucha tea culture really work? Who the heck figured that out?
-if I had to get 5 mosquito bites right now, where would I least mind getting them? 10 bites?
-why do pens always seem to run out even though you can still see ink in the cartridge?
-who is more annoyed: the bug that just flew into my throat or me? Would a bug prefer to die in my throat, my stomach, or my eye/tear duct?
-what are the ants communicating when they cross paths and briefly bump antennae?
-is it high tide? If so, should I go directly to the ocean after this run to swim, or should I stop by the apartment to drop off my sneakers?

I'm sure there were others that are eluding me at the moment. I'm not sure who would find this insight into my brain interesting, but there ya go. The quotidian and unformed results of proper synaptic cleft communication between my brain cells.
What do you think about during your workouts/commutes/grocery shopping/etc?
I hope all is well with you kiddos. I'll write again once I have news (or not, as was today's post!)