long run

today was my last long run of this training cycle.  thank the lord. that was REALLY tiring. 20 miles in ideal weather conditions, and it was still slow and painful. i wasn't very well rested, so i don't feel too bad about running it extremely slow.

worked at capital hospital north [read: wealthy area; wonder why they built that hospital there?] yesterday, and it reminded me of why i like working in the ER. well, not exactly because of the experience there. i really love the idea that anyone that comes into the ED will get care, no matter their ability to pay. no insurance? i don't care. i don't even know if you have insurance or not. if you're my patient, you're going to get the best care, whether you're rich or poor.

i realize that this is nuanced issue. medical bankruptcy is a huge problem. people without insurance can rack up some pretty horrendous bills in the ER. if you don't have some help paying, there are very few folks that won't be hurting after paying their ED tab.

but back to saturday. without getting into any of the specifics, i saw some wealthy, entitled people that day. most of my patients were lovely, but it made me remember how much i love treating folks who are just grateful for their care and don't want to call a plastic surgeon for a scrape on their kid's elbow.

i did love working my shift this weekend. i got to see some interesting cases, learned a fair bit, and got to interact with some terrific staff and very nice patients. in fact, i love the day to day of my job pretty much all the time.

these past few weeks have been a great reminder that work is great. in moderation. my schedule this month is dreamy. normal residency schedule: sometimes very tiring.

one more thing: i just discovered playmakers rep.  i'd known about them for a while, but i'd never seen one of their shows. turns out that this season's line-up looks fantastic. i'm going to see fences this weekend with my folks, and i'm interested in just about everything else they're doing this year: angels in america, big river, the year of magical thinking, exit cuckoo, even shipwrecked! looks good.

new shoes

for my last 20-miler. what a beautiful day!

goodnight ulysses

again, not ours

but ain't she cute! meet julia skye, baby of ben and dawn. congrats folks. can't wait to meet her (maybe in two weeks when liv and i travel to philly).

progress

ran my race pace 12 miler on monday, with ok results:

1	07:17
2	07:05
3	07:13
4	07:12
5	07:16
6	07:10
7	07:10
8	07:06
9	08:02
10	07:44
11	07:10
12	07:08

mile 9 and 10 were big hills. friday is big tempo / interval day. my legs felt like bricks yesterday on my recovery run, so hopefully i'll be recovered by tomorrow.

eats with the neighbors

thanks to lara and brian who had us over last night for a lovely meal of veg chili and homemade cornbread. we all live so close to one-another; it's surprising that we can end up going such long periods without talking. it seemed like we hadn't seen each other in a long time, so it was good to catch up.

back to "work" today. it's my ultrasound month, so although there are 5 or so real ED shifts in there, it's mostly just me running around the department scanning people and learning how to do ultrasound. nice.

my training cycle for the philly marathon is starting to wrap up. one more longish run at marathon pace and one more 20 mile long run. this has been a great way to focus my training over the last few months, but it has meant that running is just a bit less fun. the running regimen has also made less room in my life for other things like yoga and cycling and spending quiet time writing in my journal.

despite having tested INFP a few years ago, i think i've shifted big-time towards ENFP. i love a good evening out on the town or hosting a large party at our house. but i also need some time by myself to recharge. sometimes this can take the form of running, but mostly it means true quiet time, ie being still.

pumpkin carving

pumpkin carving on saturday night at jonas's place. aided by elecric jigsaw.

in other news, ben and dawn's baby was born. yeah! we get to see little bendawn in about 4 weeks when we got to philly for the marathon.

the month that was

even during a month off, i had a terrible time sticking to my daily training schedule. so i'm adopting the "run less, run faster" strategy: each week one long run, one recovery / form run, one speed workout. i think it'll be easier to actually accomplish this even with a crazy schedule.

i'm also sort of glad that boston closed out early this year. so i won't be running in that race come april. just as well, as i'm going to have to learn how to be a triathlete now. DWARP is going to be doing the VA beach marathon in march, so i might have to run too. one thing is for sure: i won't be doing any special training for that one.

this month has been a blessed relief. i had no idea that i was going to feel so tired after just 3 months of residency. i guess that it WAS internship all over again, which is supposed to be hard. i'll also concede that i might have been trying to do too much with the marathon and all. but i keep thinking to myself: well, people have kids during residency- my situation wasn't all that bad.

either way, i'm grateful for this past month. hell, i got to see lots of old friends, hang out in hawaii, go back to LEAF, and have a great fall vacation with liv in the mountains. and yup, i've got another one of these months coming up in march.

 perhaps most significant about this month was the way that it has cemented how i feel about the idea of work. but more about that after i eat some breakfast.

up in the air

taking off

true love

this is not our infant

but she's pretty cute, huh?

up on the roof

just got fitted for my flight suit for my aircare shift tomorrow. now off to see if i can squeeze in 20 miles before dinner.

more fun with powertools

fun with powertools

my LEAF crew

LEAF trail runners

eden valley sunset

eve and buzz

LEAF bound!

registered for the kona half ironman today.  hopefully the folks will be able to join me for the race.

as scheduled, i did my 20-miler yesterday. ouch! my legs are sore today. i think those two weeks pretty much totally off from running set me back a bit. after watching the ironman, i feel a little less pressure for philly and more excitement to get my endurance up for triathalons. i still would be pumped to qualify for boston, but i don't feel like anything really depends on it at this point.

i'm just headed out the door to go to LEAF. will post some pics soon.

home

back home in NC feeling totally refreshed and ready to dive back into residency (and my training schedule. whew! i slacked off while i was in hawaii).

had a leisurely day yesterday including a visit to the farmers' market in some lovely fall weather:

 

ran a tempo 6 yesterday. i'll plan on a 20-miler today if the rain ever stops.

one more video from the ironman last weekend. this is what happened each time someone finished the race later on in the evening.

before actually seeing it in person, it was hard to imagine why people got so excited about ironman races. now i think i get it.

oh, and i bought some goggles so i can learn how to properly swim. yesterday, before my flight, i drove down to the beach around noon and spent the two hours swimming around the ocean. it felt nice to get out of the salt water, pull on my jeans and go straight to the airport. i was the picture of relaxation all the way back to the mainland.

ready for more

after a pretty grueling hike up mauna kea with buzz 2 days ago (complete with 4:15 AM alpine start) that didn't end until 10 pm, i was feeling pretty low energy when i arrived at ironman bright and early. i couldn't have slept in because there was a medical staff meeting early in the morning that i needed to attend, and i arrived especially early because parking and traffic, usually a huge drag in kona, weren't expected to be easy.

i spent most of the day watching the athletes at the transition areas and just enjoying the energy of the crowd there. people were eager to share their stories while i waited for my 4 pm -9 pm medical tent shift to start. just before i reported for duty, i got to see both the men's and women's first place finishers. the men's race was chris mccormack (AUT) and andreas raelert (GER) battling it out over the last 3 miles.

as expected, we saw plenty of folks in the medical tent. lots of hyponatremia, GI complaints, some syncope and altered mental status.

after my shift, (it was around 10 pm), i wandered over to the finish area. at first, i had thought that i'd just stay for a few moments and then head home, but the excitement was infectious. ended up staying through the end of the night when the last finisher crossed the line at midnight. it reminded me how i feel at the end of a well-run marathon: totally broken but triumphant.

i don't swim, but i'm going to have to work up to an ironman. i'll plan for the kona half this june. i'll throw my name into the hat for the big ironman in kona next year. if i complete the half and if i'm drawn in the lottery, i'll have a lot of training to do over the next year. if not, i'll be working the medical tent again.

here's a great video of gordon haller, the very first winner of ironman (1978), crossing the finish line this year.  i'm guessing he's in his mid to late 60s now.

 

i started this post the day after the race. now, i've just gotten back home today and am still feeling great after my week in hawaii.  will write more tomorrow, but i wanted to get this draft post published before too much time elapsed.

a hui ho

took this last night sitting in the meadow with buzz and eve.

said goodbye to buzz, eve and michelle this morning. driving between the kohala mountains and mauna kea, i'm headed to the kona coast for a swim with the fishes. [a hui ho: until we meet again]

midnight at the ironman

leading the women

julie dibons of the uk, feet already out of her shoes, gets ready to run.

in the lead

chris lieto, last year's runner-up, finishing the bike leg.

a hot day in kona

at 9:30 am, it's already 80 degrees with some brutal tropical sun. i think we're going to have some customers at the medical tent today.

ironman championships

seen passing while i was standing at the swim-bike transition: a guy riding a bmx bicycle, two heart transplant recipients and countless septuagenarians. remarkable!

View from mauna kea summit

maui over the clouds

light first starting to break after 4:15 am alpine start.

beach day

a moment of gratitude.

this is a first

Picking up a few odds and ends for eve on my way to the beach. No running today; just lounging in the sun. Buzzy and I will start for the mauna kea tonight and camp at 9000 ft before attempting the 14,000 ft summit early tomorrow morning.

Livvie at lookout

This was a great way to cap a perfect vacation with mi amor.

island time

it's so peaceful here. arrived in kona after an epic day of air travel RDU/ATL/LAX/KOA. michelle was there to greet me at the airport; we had a nice time catching up on the drive back to their house on the other side of the island.  dinner with michelle, buzz and eve. then, some after supper star-gazing on thermarests just outside their dark house. going shopping today to supply our asssault on mauna kea tonight. will post pics later.

time expands

as I write this, I'm 30k ft above the pacific. What I thought was going to be a few quiet days in the mountains expanded to make room for healing in my soul. Spending the next week in Hawaii: visiting dear friends, the ironman championships and climbing high on mauna kea will nicely cap these two weeks of slowing down.

oh, yeah, and brian did some acupuncture on me while we were in asheville:

my time in wnc with liv rocked. I could feel the tensions melting off my shoulders being outside together on the river, on the bikes and sitting on high overlooks.