Board Exams and Winter Training

Again been longer than planned since the last post--again, largely because the training hasn't been what I've wanted it to be.  Secondly, I have taken it easy with the training up until last week as I finished my 3rd board exams!!!  You might think that after 22 years of school and a couple extra years of training beyond that you wouldn’t have tests anymore.  You might also think that after this time I might feel confident in the knowledge I do have.  Sadly you would be wrong on both accounts if you thought either of those to be true.  Again, another exam completed, another humbling experience.  To be a licensed physician you have to take 3 steps of the USMLE exam as well as your specialty board exams (which comes at the end of residency—next year for me).  The USMLE Step 3 exam is a 2-day exam that consists of about 8 hours the first day and 6 hours the 2^nd.  It seems somewhat like a marathon each day although for a slower reader like myself I felt like I was sprinting to stay on pace to finish each section on time.  Everyone has strengths in life and these standardized exams are certainly not one of mine.  Now I just have to wait 3 weeks to find out if I pass. The good side of being on the other side of the exam is that I don't have to feel quite as guilty with spending the time working out.

I have been running intermittently but each time I try, I can tell my hip isn't quite ready to go yet, and it does me nothing to be in top shape in March or April.  So I've been relinquished to rehab, swimming, and the indoor bike trainer.  I'm am up to date on the latest news in the sports world via Mike & Mike, as well as all of the Office and How I Met Your Mother episodes thanks to the hours with the trainer.

The difficult part in this is that I don't feel like I'm truly training unless I can get in regular 12-18 mile runs which I'm nowhere close to right now.  I really do get a sense of satisfaction of coming in from a cold weather run where there is either new snow or the conditions leave the trails desolate.  I haven’t had any of that this winter and it is starting to wear on me.  At this point and after much debate about starting to run vs not, I guess my challenge is that I continue with my training by increasing intensity of my bike rides and swimming and continue to play it smart with not running. 

Fortunately I have access to a great pool where I can get my laps in (Big thanks to Marc Lopez—part of Team Lingor at Madison Wisconsin).  Swimming is one of the things you just have to learn how to do for the Ironman.  The cliché with the Ironman swim is that "you can't win the race on the swim, but you can certainly lose it."  The primary objective in an Ironman race is to be efficient as possible throughout the day.  That means my goal to conserve energy as much as possible on the swim but also be somewhat fast.  I would say I’m a fairly average swimmer, but for the Kona race, I’d like to take off about 4 minutes from my previous swim times.  Unfortunately, the Hawaiian Ironman doesn’t allow wetsuits to be worn and this is a disadvantage to someone like me that doesn’t have the most efficient swim stroke as the wetsuit provides a good degree of buoyancy and allows the hips to come up to make a more streamlined position.  Right now my swim pace is about 1:30 for 100 yards.  I’m hoping by Kona I can bring this pace to 1:24 / 100yds. The 6 seconds doesn’t sound like much of a difference but it is an important one that would mean over 4 minutes off the overall time. 

Time off

Admittedly it's been a while since I've written.  My plan was to write weekly with updates.  It's been about 5 weeks since my last post...largely this has been due to some unexpected, and unwanted time off from training.  I've been nursing a hip flexor strain and have only been able to run a handful of times in the past month.  Every time I run, my hip pain just comes back.  It is certainly something I can run through but it only gets worse with more activity and I don't get anything out of being in great shape in February.  I need to be able to train throughout the spring and summer and be strong into the fall.  Overtraining now will only get me time off when I really need to train.  So here I am in the midst of a 3 week break (at least for now).  Since I haven't been running and regularly training, I've decided to give myself some mental reprieve as well.  I don't have the same love for swimming or biking (nor the easy access) as I do with running so I'm taking it easy on those two disciplines as well for now.  To train at high volumes with biking or swimming requires a little too much mental energy than I can muster at the moment.  I have been still working out daily, but certainly modified from what I am used to.  Have been getting a little stir crazy with that.

The day before Christmas I did move from my beloved Lakeview apt to the UIC area.  This means my bike to work is now 5 or 8 miles one-way versus the 1/2mile to 3 miles.  I've actually really enjoy the bike ride.  Since I haven't been running, it gives me a little time to clear my mind, but certainly has been made much easier by the recent string of beautiful weather.  I've gotten my mountain bike in shape for a commuting bike and enjoy he scenery of the city (at least when the weather cooperates.  When I started the farther commute I never thought my biggest problem would be having to avoid spitters.  Today was the best commuting day...that is until a lady was looking into the wind, turned her head to the side and spit without looking.  I could do nothing to avoid the spray.

My favorite mode of transportation, with lights, fenders, and tire kit (wish I had that last

week when I got a flat on the way to clinic).  My next bike will be the light bike on the motorola? commercial. 

Last week I was riding home from work, was yelled at by two 18 year old-ish kids smoking pot while driving their mom's mini-van.  At the stop light after catching up to them, one rolled down the window (a hand-crank I presume) and looked back at me and spit out the side saying "Oops, my bad."  Fortunately I stopped short because I didn't know what to expect with them.  My only reply was how tough I thought they looked in their mom's blue minivan, then drove off to enjoy the rest of my ride home.

Unfamiliar Territory - Turkey Trot Race Report

So excited for a few people this past week…last Saturday competed in the Grant Park Turkey Trot, a 5K race of about 6oo people.  I signed up months ago thinking the race wouldn’t cause much anxiety & recruited a decent-sized group or friends who joined in the race as well.  Most of the group have run a 5K at least once before.  Gina Ciaccia, one of my (and many others) favorite people, had never really run before.  Gina & I sat down together and planned out a six-week plan prior to the race.  That first day she was concerned about being able to run longer than 3 minutes without stopping.  After 4 weeks, she was running a full 3+ miles without walking and gaining more confidence that she would be able to complete the race.  Come race day she was all smiles as she achieved every single goal she set for herself. 

Some of my friends ran just to run, some ran for new PRs, and everyone had a great time.  Was a very well-organized event, especially considering it was an inaugural race.  The day was cold and windy but they had hot apple cider for racers and spectators alike. 

As I mentioned, the race was intended to be low-stress, and in comparison to any triathlon I’ve competed in, it really was.  My primary strategy was to go out hard, get a rhythm, and finish hard (each segment seemed like seconds in my head and seconds during the race itself).  My girlfriend Melissa reminded me that my last 2 races were more along the lines of 3 hours and 10 hours.  It seemed in high school, running these races involved so much more strategy, more places for things to go wrong which gave more places to make a move.  Here it seemed I had to simply go out hard and hang on.  This was not familiar territory anymore.  Not entirely sure of what to expect I thought there would be a couple college kids home for Thanksgiving or high school kids fresh off a cross country season who would push the pace.

As the gun went off, there was a quick funnel into a narrow space and I found 3 others in front of me, 2 who were gone before I could latch on and one who I would pass about 2 minutes in.  From there on out, I found myself alone – clinging to a much faster pace than I am normally accustomed to.  I didn’t get my first check until 2 miles in (10:30).  This was a little faster than I anticipated and now I just had one mile to go so.  My body felt fine but my breathing was much too quick.  I had to settle in a little and focus on my form.  Normally at any other race when I have to think about maintaining form my body is so tired I don’t usually get much of a response—here, I could feel that the better my form, the faster my pace.  I tried to hold that against a fairly strong head wind for most of the last mile and thought about my friends who stepped up to run this race so I could dig a little deeper.  I came around the corner of the Lake Shore Drive bike path and sprinted to a 16:23 finish in 3^rd place.  This was about 20 seconds faster than I expected and was even happier that it was just 8 seconds slower than my PR which came about 13 years ago! 

After the finish I went back to cheer on my friends and say that 2 others also came in under their goal time!  Everyone had a great day.  Special congrats to Chris Boisselle and Dr. Plonka who met new PRs; Gina Ciaccia for her first 5K; Emily France, Marianne Kwiatkowski, & Charlie Player for helping Gina to the finish…it was awesome to see you guys come through.  I’ll post pics above when I get my camera back.

Official race results are here:
http://itsracetime.com/Results.aspx?ID=330

Special thanks to Melissa, who’s always there for me.  I know she enjoyed the shorter race as it was only about 2 minutes time that she didn’t see runners.  Also thanks to Dr. Scheunemann, Dr. Ciaccia, Dr. Player, and Dr. Chua for your mad OMT skills in helping me stretch and reset my legs and spine.  Anytime you need a practice pig, I’d be happy to lend my body. 

Final thanks to Isabel Lopez, Melissa’s niece who celebrated her 1^st birthday on race day, for finally getting over her stranger anxiety and allowing me to play with her.