Thursday, April 3, 2014

This moment brought to you by running.


Well, so it was back to reality this week. Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth going on vacation, because the landing back to the real world is not always a soft one. The bad weather we are currently having is one thing, but after relaxing, running, and generally doing nothing for 9 days, going back to work and juggling responsibility is tough. On Monday, I hit the ground running and saw 26 patients. That night my son had a football game (indoor 7 on 7 league). I also hit the side of the garage with my car and broke my mirror. Ugh. Hello, life, I'm back!

Anyways, today is my day off, and I woke up with a migraine. I had planned a 6 miler today but when I looked outside it was pouring rain. Lightning was flashing, and the wind was howling. I sat on the couch with a cup of coffee and contemplated life and going back to bed. I struggled mentally with the idea of running on the treadmill. I took some ibuprofen and got the boys off to school. Then I made my way to the 'mill. I decided to go easy and run for an hour.



The first mile was tough, but it usually is, and after that my legs lightened up. I began to count down the minutes. I divided the hour into fractions. At 15 minutes, I'm 1/4 of the way through. At 20 minutes, I'm 1/3 of the way. At 30 minutes, my mind was begging me to stop. I got off to use the bathroom and got back on, telling my brain to hush. After that I started counting down songs. Less than 10 songs to go. Finally, I got to 60 minutes. But the mileage meter read 6:44. OMG...my OCD kicked in! Decision time: do I stop at one hour or go to 6.5 miles?  Of course, I pushed for another 30 seconds to get to 6.5 miles. I AM PATHETIC. But I got it done.

Kind of like my treadmill this morning! 
But wait? Pathetic? Am I? Really?

This drive, this perseverance, this desire to never give up translates over to my life so well. Several times this week, I saw examples of how running makes me perform so well in my job. Earlier this week, I saw one of my patient's moms in a room. The older child was seeing one of my partners. I stopped to say hi, and the mom told me she asked the partner to see the baby too, because she was sick, but was told no. I told her I'd see the baby, to tell the front desk to add her to my (already full) schedule. A sick visit is usually a quick visit, and it didn't seem right to make the mom come back later or the following day, since she was already there. No big deal, right? To me, it wasn't. To the mom it was, and she let everyone know it.

Today, I received a letter from the president of our medical group. The mother of a patient I saw last month contacted him because she was pleased with the care given to her by one of my partners and me. When I saw her son, I made a plan, but felt like I was missing something, and discussed it my partner. My partner suggested adding one other test, which turned out to be the right test for the diagnosis. Because of this, I was able to properly treat the patient and he is doing great. I was happy to get it right and do the best for my patient. But this letter was the icing on the cake.

That's what I'm talking about. Drive, perseverance, endure, resolve, never giving up. Brought to you and your life by running.




14 comments :

  1. I think I need to find me a running doctor!

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  2. Aww! You rock! I love how you helped the mom and her child.

    And duh! The only way is to go to 6.5! ;)

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  3. With running....All things become possible.... Great perspective and great post!
    I 100% agree - Although some days are tougher than others to dig deep and find *it* but as with running we always know it's there...somewhere....

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  4. Such a great post! I'm totally OCD about my mileage, ha ha. I have to be having a REALLY crappy run to stop before my required distance.

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  5. I love this! Running does so much more for us than we think!

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  6. hhahaaa yes on the treadmill I often find myself running until I have a half mile or mile exactly, it just makes me feel better!

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  7. Way to stick with your run! Those mentally tough runs are the worst. I would have gone on to 6.5 miles as well. :)

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