13.1

Thirteen miles is a long way to run. I ran a half marathon last Sunday (Yes, I also called my father!). I ended up finishing much better than I thought, at 2:30. For some reason, I had it in my head that it would take me 3 hours to finish. I did walk about a quarter of a mile of the race because I got a bit overheated, but overall I'm pretty happy with how I did.

This particular race has only been around for about 4 years, so while there was also a full marathon and a four-person relay marathon going on, it didn't attract athletes as competitive as in the 10-mile race I did earlier this year. The fastest marathoner came in at 2:50.

I ran with another couple from work. AG was there, but he didn't get to run because of a knee injury (healing well, but too soon to test it). Our race packets got mixed up, so I ended up accidentally running with his number and chip timer. When I crossed the finish line, they read off his name, took one look at me, and then tried pronouncing his first name a different way to make it sound more feminine! He was a great asset-- doing all the driving, calming my nerves, and just being great moral support.

While running the race, I decided that I would have to be crazy to attempt a full marathon at this point in my life. The running schedule for just a half marathon pretty much sucked up the majority of my free time these past couple of months. And to be honest, I didn't even run as much as I should have. So now with multi-hour runs off my schedule, I am once again a free woman... or at least free to focus on my academic projects, and doing stuff around the house. I would like to not completely blow off running entirely and do a couple 10-mile runs a month, but we'll see how well I maintain it.

Puddle Jumping

Yesterday, I ran in a 5K race. I had participated in the same race last year, but this year I did much better, coming in over 3 minutes faster than last year's time. The first mile I ran in 8:34, which is flying for me (I am typically a 10 min+ distance runner)! For me, the highlight of the race was passing by this guy doing Beatles karaoke by himself dressed in a Sgt. Pepper-style costume, complete with mustache!


Today, I went for a 12-mile run. It was raining most of the time that I was out there. Unfortunately, I stepped in a puddle right around mile 6, so that changed my stride to step-splat-step-splat with rain dripping off the right side of the bill of my hat. The sprinkling finally stopped for the last 3 miles, and that was when the wind picked up. A rain/sweat-soaked fleece shirt does not make for good insulation. On the drive home, I was still sweating and shivering at the same time.

My legs are already telling me that tomorrow is going to be a day of rest. The good thing about getting the run done today is that was the longest run according to the training plan. The rest of the weeks before the half marathon taper off. It does make me nervous to be running 13 miles on race day when I haven't run that far in practice runs, but there seem to be two theories in training: either build up to 90% of the race distance and back off, or run 110% of the distance and back off. I guess the main thing is to not fall into my usual pattern of taking weeks off entirely and avoid injury.


I did finally pick out some new shoes, but I haven't worn them yet because I figured today was not the time to break them in.


Here's the old stand-by's:

They will probably be reserved for nasty weather until the end of softball season, when they'll make their debut in the ED. (Hospital shoes stay in the hospital, given the nasty things that can be found on our floors.)


And the new pair:

The fancy running store I went to measured me, analyzed my stride on a treadmill, and pored over the soles of my old shoes. I received a look of disapproval when I said I had been wearing my old shoes for over a year. Then an engineer-type dude sat down next to me with his 9 year-old Nikes! These ones have a lot more arch support, so we'll see if I still end up with sore feet. (Either way, I don't imagine I will stop taking advantage of Army Guy's foot massage skills.)

Slow and Steady

On Sunday, I lined up behind the starting line with a bunch of serious runners. For 10 miles we ran up and down the streets of this city... through downtown, bad neighborhoods, exclusive neighborhoods, the university campus, and past "Hospital Row". I surprised myself, and was able to do the whole thing without walking! Granted I have been building up to this run for months, but up until now, my longest run had been 8 miles continuously on a treadmill, and just shy of 7 miles on the flat trails by the lake.

One of my friends decided the run sounded like fun, and signed up at the last minute. She hadn't trained at all, so I tried to discourage her from it, but she attempted anyway. For the first 5 miles, I plodded along with her at a 12-minute pace, but ultimately ended up parting ways when she needed to stop. I think she was a bit upset at me for not stopping to walk with her. I am glad I didn't though, because the race organizers were pretty serious about only keeping the streets in town shut down for as little as possible. I finished at 1:57. As I stood at the finish line waiting for my friend, they started re-opening the streets and rolling up the finish line at 2 hours and 15 minutes. As it turned out, my friend had her husband pick her up at mile 7. I'm pretty sure if I had gone at my own pace, I would have completed the race at least 10 minutes faster.

The race was a lot of fun though, and I saw several parts of the city that I had never seen before. One of the highlights was a small park with lots of small hills and twisting paths around a pond. Best of all, I beat my own distance record! There's a half-marathon (13.1 miles) that Army Guy and I are planning on running with another couple in about a month, so I think I am well on my way to being prepared for that. As for the new running shoes, I'm planning on going to a running store in a couple of days to get custom-fitted.

After the race, I felt pretty good, and worked a full shift that night. Yesterday, I just felt kind of tired, so I limited myself to walking the hills around my neighborhood. Today, my shins are kind of angry, but I am nowhere near as sore as I had expected to be. Perhaps that slow start was a good thing after all!

Downsizing

Yesterday, I cleaned out my closets. Literal closets-- don't get all excited. Things I hadn't worn in the past year or two were thrown out. Things that were of questionable fit were thrown out. Gone were any shirts picked out by old boyfriends. Pants I could slide off over my hips without unbuttoning or unzipping were thrown out (When I started medical school, I weighed 125% of what I do now.). Oddly, things that had been tight that I would have thought would look good after losing another 10 lbs were still ill-fitting. And, things that were flattering when I was heavier, still hung on me with good shape. I guess there is some truth to clothes just being well made or not. By the time that I was done, I had SIX filled garbage bags of clothes to haul off to the Salvation Army. I think I got rid of about half my clothes (not counting workout and housework stuff).

Part of the motivator is that next weekend I am getting a roommate. My dear friend Ru will be here for an extended stay. She has whittled her material possessions down to what will fit into her compact car and has been heading my way over miles and miles of asphalt trails. She is braver than I am. Rather than moving out of employment obligations, she is just picking up and relocating for a while. It will be fun to have a friend in-house. I'm hoping we'll do some local trips and have many misadventures while she's here.

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This morning I ran a 5K with one of my friends. We banged it out pretty well, but our time was actually almost a minute slower than the last one we did in May! There's another 10K coming up in a few weeks' time, so I had better up my running schedule again.

The weather has been beautiful lately. A few days of rain have been followed by perfect skies. This afternoon I finally finished the second coat of paint on the deck, so gone are the ugly boards of pinkish-tinged primer that had been exposed for the past year. Unfortunately, the whole thing now needs a third coat to hide all of the brush strokes, but just being all one color now already makes it look much better! Suddenly, there is an almost air-conditioned cold to the breeze through the leaves. It's a warning of cold days ahead. There are so many projects I had put off last year until "the weather is nicer" and I am suddenly realizing the weather's now about to worsen. Argh.

The Short of It

On Saturday I ran a 5K. This one was for breast cancer and there were about 7000 participants. No medals for me this time! This one was much fancier, with bands playing at a few intervals along the sidelines. And there was a chip for runners to tie to their shoelaces, so that they could get their times. However, the time was when the gun fired at the start to when one crossed the finish line. There were so many people ahead of us and the walkers were mixed in with the runners that it took several minutes to get away from the crowd. I came in 839th if I recall properly, with a time of 33:41 minutes. I think I probably did better and was under a 10:30 mile but the slow start messed me up.

My friends, who are much more seasoned runners, said that usually there is a starting strip and an ending strip when one runs with a chip so that the times are more accurate. The guy that came in first ran a 15:40 time. I thought they were being over ambitious when there was a starting point for people averaging a 5-minute mile, but I guess not!

After that, I took a quick nap and then joined the gang for a barbeque before working the 5pm-2am shift. I pushed it a bit too much, as I just felt feverish and out of it the whole night.

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On Sunday, a group of us met up for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. I thought I would be much better at it than last fall, given all of the running. However, it's more of a sprinting game. There was a med student there that kept smoking me, so I ended up just doggedly running after him the whole game. One of the other residents sprained her knee, but other than that there were no casualties.

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On Monday, a group of movers came and removed the playhouse from my backyard. I have been wanting to get rid of this thing because it sits right in the middle of my grass since I moved in. Fortunately, one of the other interns has a 4 year-old that wanted it desperately, so she was willing to pay a crew to come pick it up. It took 6 men over an hour to maneuver it down my driveway, and they still ended up banging into the roof over the side door!

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Today, I met up with a friend to start studying for boards. I will be taking the last part of my licensing exam in July (hopefully only once), and I am trying to make myself just do a little bit every night. Step 3 is not supposed to be as bad as the first two parts, but I have a friend who failed it, and the stupid thing costs over $600, so I am not at all interested in repeating it!

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Only 8 more days left until my vacation! I haven't had time off since September, so I can't wait! A lot of the impetus behind all of this running is for a big upcoming hike with "The Phoenix". Just the thought of not setting foot in the hospital for 9 days has me excited.

Bringing Home the Gold

So yesterday was race day. I was not off to the best of starts. Fortunately, my ability to breathe through my nose was back to normal, but there were still phlegmy remnants of my cold. The location ended up being pretty obscure and over an hour's drive away. I only went for a run once this past week and quit after 4 miles, so I wasn't sure what kind of day I was in for.

There were about 130 people registered, but the majority of them did the 5K. My friends and I took off at a snail's pace. There were times when I wanted to walk, but we just kept plodding along. There were several hills along the route, but just when I wanted to stop, we would start to descend and I would be able to build my energy back up. By the halfway point, we had all split off at our own paces.

I didn't bring my iPod, so it was just me and the countryside. Just the sounds of my own rhythmic breathing. Mile 4 was by a cow pasture. That was an incentive to speed it up a bit! That was also the point when I decided I could do this thing, without walking. The only breaks I took were to grab a dixie cup at the water stands and the 15 seconds or so it took of walking for me to gulp the cool liquid down.

The plan was to speed it up for the last quarter mile, but by the time I got there, there wasn't enough reserve left. I ended up running out the last 100 meters or so. My last steps were woozy, but I made it!

I ran my bib number: 1:07, which means I averaged a 10:45 minute mile. That's pretty darn slow!

We stuck around for the door prize drawings at the end and were surprised to find that we all took home medals. The majority of the 10K runners were 40+ and they smoked us! The best time of the day was 47 minutes. I ended up with first place for women 20-29 years. There were only two of us in the bracket, and my friend got the silver. My other friends took gold and silver for the 30-39 year brackets. The guy that won for the 70+ bracket was amazing-- he looked like he was in his 50's! There was this older guy in a yellow shirt that I wanted to catch up to the whole race, but he stayed about a quarter-mile ahead the whole way!

Overall, I am pretty pleased with myself. I have never run even 5 miles continuously. If I keep at it, I am sure I will get faster, but I surprised myself by not having to stop for any breaks!


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The night before the race, I went out with a couple of friends to a new sushi restaurant in town. It was pretty cool because it was remodeled inside to look like a diner. At the counter, there was a long conveyer belt, and the cooks (Are they still called cooks when the fish is raw?) just kept putting out dishes and you picked up whatever looked good as it went by. The plates were color-coded by price. Pretty trendy for not being in the Big City!

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P.S. Call yo' mama today!

Seven!

I just ran 7.15 miles! Woohoo! I think I'll go collapse now.

Performance Anxiety

Tonight I go back to the department. I am extremely anxious about it. I have finally finished all of my off-service rotations and now will be in either the Adult or Pediatric Emergency Department for the rest of the year. I really like our attendings and our residents, so it will be good to be around some familiar faces. However, at the same time, now I will be around long enough for them to figure out just how dumb I am. What if I hate it? So far this year, I have been flying under the radar. I have had good evaluations and no incidents with administration. In many ways, I kind of feel like the invisible intern. While my colleagues have been having confrontations with the staff, most of them don't even know who I am! I guess I will just have to step it up a notch. Maybe the desire to not look like a complete idiot will be a better motivator to keep up with my reading.

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In other news, my younger brother was in a car accident over the weekend. He has about 6 months left in Kenya as part of his Peace Corps mission. Apparently two jeeps were passing each other on a mountain curve and his got knocked hard enough to roll it over twice. Luckily he was on the inside part, so they didn't roll down the side of the mountain. He ended up needing some x-rays and stitches and now has to take HIV prophylaxis meds for the next month as they weren't sure that all of the blood on his face was his. Between this and losing 40 pounds that he didn't have to spare from bacterial dysentery, he has had quite an adventure over there. He's done some good things too, like constructing a subterranean dam, solar-powered water heaters, and is trying to get a windmill project off the ground before he leaves. I am sure it is an environmental engineer's paradise, but I can't wait to see him. At least now he probably won't be such a picky eater.

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As for running, I did 6 miles on Saturday, and rewarded myself with ice cream on Sunday.

New Mileage

Yesterday, during my long run I did 5.25 miles! I am still going with the run-walk method, but I haven't been at it regularly enough to see if I am making better progress. Otherwise, the weekend was pretty uneventful. I watched a movie at a friend's house, and did catch-up housework here. It turned out that I didn't get a single page on Friday night! Today I was supposed to attempt cross-country skiing or snowshoeing with some friends, but the weather did not cooperative. There is still quite a bit of snow lying around, but water is running steadily down the streets.