Superficial Intelligence

Today I ran my first 5k since I moved to MN (and my second ever). I had done terrible my first time, arriving second to last out of around 15 runners. This time I set a personal goal of finishing in less than 30 minutes.

This race was quite bigger than the one I went to in Puerto Rico (although the one I went to was quite hidden). There were more than 300 participants this time. The path went right next to the Mississippi river, so it was really nice and relaxing. It was so nice that I had no idea that I was actually keeping quite a good pace throughout the race.

In the end, I beat my goal by more than 5 minutes, finishing the race in less than 25 minutes and in 22nd place. This was really surprising and at the same time motivating. Now I can't wait for the next one! I just hope I don't get such terrible allergies next time (it seems my nose does not enjoy running outside in the Spring as much as I do).

Posted by Fernando Torre at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

About a week and a half ago I had the opportunity to go to the national college table tennis championship, which was held less than two hours away at Rochester, MN. One of my Japanese friends was playing for the University of Minnesota, so we went to root for him. It was a really fun event. It makes me wonder why college basketball gets so much coverage, but something as cool as this is left with a crowd of spectators of about less than 200.

Our friend got us into the practice area for the competitors and we were able to show off our super slow-motion skills. At least that is how we felt while the players all around us were playing at full speed. We must have looked fairly pathetic.

A fun surprise was to find out that there was a team from my home country, Puerto Rico, participating. And they were actually quite good. It was great to be able to talk to some fellow Puerto Ricans and to root for them while they played.

That day after we came back, I played the most ping-pong I have ever played in my life. At least now I am confident that I can beat a total beginner. Unfortunately, it seems that just watching really good players is not enough. But it still gives me the motivation to go play and make a fool of myself.

Posted by Fernando Torre at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)