Owie in my IT band :(

Last year on my family medicine rotation I worked with a sports medicine doc who totally understands the importance of helping people achieve their goals… even when it means a cortisone shot. This past weekend I ran the Malaika 5K and actually placed third in my age group (probably only 10 people in the group, but anyway…) and my knee started bothering me after mile 1. But it wasn’t painful until after I crossed the finish line and was walking along with a friend. Within 20 yards, my knee began to flare up and by 50 yards I was hardly able to walk!

So I spent all of Sunday worrying. Monday I was able to fit in an appointment with the sports doc and he recommended I get the shot next Tuesday. In the meanwhile, a physical therapist gave me some strengthening exercises to do so I can avoid getting IT band again. I feel totally stupid doing them and I was skeptical that they would help, but I do actually feel a burn while I do it! They said that my hip stabilizers are weak, as evidenced by my wobbling on a one-leg squat and by how short my one-leg long jump is (they had me stand on one leg and hop forward as far as I could. My injured leg only made it about half as far as the uninjured) which makes sense since my hips start to hurt after a long run.

So my 3 exercises are to do 3 sets of 25 each:

• Scissor kicks lying on my side, keeping sure my hips are perfectly straight and I’m keeping my toes facing forward
• Standing on a step and dropping, then raising the hip hanging off … this one looks the dorkiest!!
• One leg squats. These are tougher than I thought! I have to do them in front of a mirror or else I slouch and drop my other hip

Hopefully these will help on marathon day in 12 days… now I just have to keep up my cardio, which is hard! I hate swimming for longer than 20 minutes. Last night I could only stand 30 minutes. I hope tomorrow my knee will allow me to cycle at least. And I hope this shot works some kind of miracle and I survive my marathon!

Although I had a dream of maybe doing a marathon in every state, I’m contemplating resetting that goal to a half marathon in every state. I’ve already got Wisconsin and Virginia crossed off that list!

OUcH

In light of not sticking to my running schedule, I decided to run as much as I could between 13-17 miles last night. It was a perfect night run on the Chicago lakeshore trail except for that once I stopped to drink water with my ClifShot I realized how much my left lower leg was hurting. It had been such a good run up until that point that when I looked at my watch and saw I had run for nearly 2 hours I thought I was reading the time wrong!

But then I really started to feel a tightness set in and decided to stop after 13 miles with the full intention of running 20 this weekend. This morning I woke up with a really painful lateral left knee that made me limp all day long 😦 I can stand on it fine, it’s just when I bend it or take stairs that it really starts to hurt!! I’m pretty sure it’s my IT band, which has never acted up before. The weird thing is that my left ankle hurt the most during the run, seconded by my patellar tendon bilaterally.

In any case, some wonderful Ibuprofen 800 mg helped bring the swelling down while lessening the pain. Yet again I have to focus on cross training to keep up my CV fitness before the marathon. Just in case, I’ve made an appointment with a sports doctor that I’ve worked with who I hope will be on board with me for a cortisone shot should I need one.  Other than that, I’m signed up for the Malaika 5K this weekend, hope I can make it!

4:21 AM

For the past few days I’ve been working night shifts and just switched over to days… but my circadian rhythm isn’t used to it yet. So here I am updating my blog and cleaning my hotel room at 4 AM instead of sleeping! I look at it as getting an early start on my day, which allows me to go to the gym and maybe stop by a local coffee shop before going to conference all day today.

The half marathon this weekend was really great. The weather was perfect, the run was flat, and I was feeling pretty good the whole time. I had run 10 miles on Friday just because I felt really good, but was still feeling it Sunday when I was stretching out at the start line. I don’t think it hurt me too much and I’m actually kind of happy with how my run turned out! My only goal was to beat my last half marathon time, which I did. The race is also great in that they emailed me this:

Congratulations Leslie Crawford on finishing the Fleet Week Half Marathon on October 14, 2007. For your records, the weather that day was Sunny, 64 degrees F, 52% humidity, wind ENE 10 mph.

There were 73 finishers in the Female 25 to 29 age group and 874 finishers in the race.

Your overall finish place was 389, your age group finish place was 19 and your gender finish place was 86. Your time of 1:58:32.85 gave you a 9:03 pace per mile.

Your first 5 mile split time was 44:03.30 with a pace of 8:49 per mile,

your second 5 mile split time was 45:29.05 with a pace of 9:06 per mile,

your last 5K split was 29:00.50 with a pace of 9:21 per mile.

Just skimming through my splits, you can see I slowed down a bit by the end but I’m ok with that. I wasn’t expecting to receive that info, but it’s really helpful! I’m supposed to run a 20 mile this weekend but I think I’m going to make it a 17 or 18 mile, the next week a 20 mile, then taper. As I haven’t been sticking to a good running schedule I’m expecting to be hurting on marathon day! By hurting I mean struggling, not injury. PLEASE no more injuries!! Here are some links to the Fleet Week Half Marathon photos:

By the ships of Norfolk Naval Base

Near mile marker 12

All finished with my medal and water!

The Great Dismal Swamp

Now I’m across the country in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Great Dismal Swamp is one of the best things ever out here! It’s an old highway that was converted into a running/biking/horseback riding trail next to this huge swamp preserve. When I initially flew in last Monday, I figured out pretty fast that the hospital seems to be about all there is to see in Portsmouth. I also didn’t know where to run (at this point, I still haven’t explored Norfolk or Virginia Beach) but then I got some advice to run at this Dismal Swamp place. Though it’s kind of a drive, it’s worth it!

I have to admit that my running schedule suffers from a serious lack of consistency on my part. I’m being lazy!! Also, any time I run more than 10 miles my left calf starts to tighten up. I’m halfway between allowing it to rest and giving in to my procrastinatoriness. But I just signed up to run the Fleet Week 1/2 Marathon this weekend so I know I have to run that at least. Not fast, but it will be nice to run with refreshments along the way!! (the dismal swamp has noooo water fountains…the only downside)

At the hospital, I’m working in the emergency room which is awesome!! I’ve worked a few evening shifts so far and have seen some cool stuff, worked with awesome residents and attendings. I have to say, it is very different than working in a westside Chicago ER… no walk in gunshot wounds yet 🙂 The pressure’s getting a little more heated with additional interviews and letters of recommendation and the selection process getting started. I’ll be matched in 2 months! TWO MONTHS AND I KNOW MY DESTINY! Well, 2 months and 3-5 days… I’m not nervous or anything…. of course not….!!!!

I had a few days off and drove up to Bethesda and saw some friends up there, which was wayyy cool. We had lunch at Fogo de Chao and then went to the Spy Museum. We had some drinks while watching the Yankees lose, and as everyone had to work the next day I just walked around downtown D.C. on my own until Nilsa got done with work and we went over to Georgetown for dinner. But I had to drive back for conferences and lectures today, plus I’m starting night shifts tomorrow. Gotta go stock up on Red Bull…

p.s. download the new radiohead album. it is awesome!!

Little nigglepoo

When I set out to run my 17 mile this week (which I pushed back for time constraints and also for having to skip some weekday runs) I had a tightness set in again in my left calf around mile 4. I was sooooooo mad!!! This run was out on Coronado, following the path up north that runs around the peninsula. I tried slowing down and stretching, which allowed me to run back to base and finish 9 miles. Then I ended up not running at all for 4 days because things got so busy as I was leaving San Diego. But today I ran an easy 3 mile and didn’t feel that nigglepoo whatsoever so I’m feeling optimistic about doing a long run tomorrow. My goal is to do 13 miles, then continue on if my calf is up to it.

Otherwise, I’m now in Chicago and missing San Diego!! Last night I was at a house party in Wrigleyville and with the Cubs winning something or other, fireworks were going off and everyone was blaring their horns. It definitely reminded me that I am now back here and conversations revolve around the Bears versus the Chargers, Cubs or White Sox versus Padres, getting to the Lake versus the beach. Also, I don’t know how I forgot how bad traffic in Chicago is, but I managed to and that made me love San Diego “rush hour” even more!! Plus, parking is just terrible here compared to San Diego… in suburbs, downtown, and Wrigleyville alike!

I’m flying out again to Virginia Beach on Monday for my emergency rotation at the the Navy hospital in Portsmouth. So, this weekend for me is just trying to fill out reimbursement paperwork, opening a month’s worth of mail, and walking around town while my car is in the shop. Fun fun fun 🙂

See, we can have fun in the hospital too! I had to wear that khaki uniform every day. And this is my resident, who graduated from Loyola too! That was a super fun rotation… Go Red Team!!

This is a few of us at an italian restaurant in the Gaslamp district. It was called Acqua 2 or something. It was yummy!  And sitting across from me is my girl Nilsa, who’s Puerto Rican and a kick ass salsa dancer

This was taken while driving over the Coronado bridge at dawn, looking out over to the 32nd street base. The USS Mercy is one of the ships to the back (although you can’t really see it with this lighting!)

weekend off

i got to go hiking with some friends i visited out in the middle of the california desert for some cross training on saturday.  other than that, i still haven’t run my 17 mile but i hope to tomorrow!  my team was on late call today so i missed out on all available sunshine.  friday is my last day here in san diego… i’m going to miss it!!  but i made the most of my one weekend off with visiting ridgecrest (4 hours away!!) stopping in temecula on the way back, tapas and sangria in the gaslamp district, brazilian food for lunch, plus laying out on the beach and getting a little window shopping in.

on a side note, i must say it is a LOT easier to meet people in san diego than in chicago.  or, it could be my wingwoman Nilsa who’s getting all the attention 🙂  but the med student love life curse doesn’t seem to be so bad here!

Still in love!

I love San Diego.

I love being in the Navy.

I love being a sub intern.

So yes, my life is totally awesome right now!!  It’s crazy to think that this might actually be my future.  After 3 years of being around people who I have to explain my career decisions to, I am now surrounded by people who not only understand it, but support it and can give me invaluable advice.  The people I’ve met here are awesome.  The stories I’ve heard are awesome.  How many people in your field have gotten to practice all over the world?  Fly with the Blue Angels? Treat Navy SEALS?  It’s sooo cool!!  Oh, and the SEALS are staying at my base on Coronado and just got done with Hell Week.  Apparently that movie G.I. Jane is the closest to accurate!

Plus I’ve been having fun with the other med students, getting around San Diego and Coronado and going to restaurants, clubs, beaches, chilling out on the patio with a beer, etc.  One downside is that I’m staying in a dorm-style room with just a microwave to cook with.  And having to wear my khaki uniform everyday.  Today I had to park far away from the hospital and had to return salutes all over the place.  It’s kind of an inner groan to see a uniform walk towards you, since you have to squint at their rank from a distance and figure out if you salute first or if they’re supposed to salute you.  Since I’m an officer, and a majority of the Navy is enlisted, most of them salute me.  But when I was walking along and a huge group of Marines was getting out of a van right as I walked past…that was interesting.

As for internship interviews, I’ve had 3 so far and they were awesome.  I had to wear the Navy summer whites, the uniform you’ve probably seen in Top Gun.  They’re still stressful in that you need to have a CV and personal statement ready and you’re looking to impress.  But I think they went well!!!  The only downside is that the selection process in the Navy is undergoing a big change and everything is in transition and although it used to be like the NFL draft, the new system is so complicated I’m just crossing my fingers and praying.

As for my marathon training, I’ve done the long runs of a 15 last week and an 11 this past Tuesday, which was actually harder than the 15!  During the week I really only have 1 or 2 days to do an additional day.  Plus I’m keeping my social life a bit more active than my running life at the moment 🙂  I’m heading up to Ridgeland this weekend and will probably do some hiking, and I’m scheduled for a 17 miler on Sunday.  Though I was nervous about the 15 and did fine, I’m still a little nervous about the 17!  Not sure why, I guess I’m just not as familiar with all the routes and am constantly worried about getting water along the way, which is what makes the Mission Bay trail a great place to run.  And I’m hoping I’m getting the mileage right, I’m just running the mileage x10 minutes and assume that’s the full distance.  I probably should get a GPS thing…I should look into that.

This is a photo I stole that shows the bay, the bridge is going over to Coronado Island where I’m staying (to the right) and San Diego is to the left, with all those ships being privately owned.  But I thought it was pretty 🙂

LOVE San Diego. L-O-V-E.

So I flew into San Diego last Monday just in time to spend a couple hours on Mission beach/Pacific beach amidst the bikini-clad tan body crowd of college students and get a little bit of time in the waves before starting my rotation at the Navy Medical Center Balboa.  I’m doing a medicine rotation, basically acting as a sub-intern and taking care of active duty Navy people and their families.  It’s sooo nice to finally be working in this hospital!!  I’ve been wanting to work here as I’d heard great things and want to do my internship here but hadn’t actually seen the place.  The days can get long but my team is super cool and the nurses are friendly.  Everyone here is so polite and helpful!!  The only weird thing is I have to wear my uniform and do the saluting thing when I’m outside.  Thankfully you don’t have to do that indoors.

I’ve had the chance to do a couple things in San Diego like visit Coronado island and go out with other medical students for dinner and such.  Last night I went to the Gaslamp district for sushi (excellent!) although parking was a nightmare (much like Chicago).  Then we went over to a jazz bar in Pacific Beach called Turquoise which was really cool.  We walked along the beach at night and ran into some bums so that was fun!

But I’m here to work and hopefully make a good impression.  My running has kept up pretty well, I’m running on the boardwalk alongside the beach, which is incredible.  Last night I watched the instant the sun dipped below the horizon over the ocean while on mile 5 and the people lined up to watch the sunset applauded all in that moment.  I’m on call today so can’t do my cross training, which I think will consist mainly of jumping in the waves or surfing if I get the chance.  Tomorrow is my long 15-miler which I plan to run around Mission Bay after watching the Bears game.  If I survive I’ll let you know!

And by the way, I LOVE SAN DIEGO.

here’s a photo from my half last weekend!

Yay! My first official half marathon!

I ran the Lake Country Half Marathon this morning, it was really fun!!  It was up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, which is about 2 hours north of Chicago.  The course was really nice and it was a gorgeous day.  There were about 600 runners for the half, I’m not sure how many were there for the 5K.  It was at the YMCA at Pabst Farms and we ran around the country lanes, up and down hills, along cornfields, and crossed under I-94 once or twice.  They had a good volunteer and spectator turnout, so that was cool.

Starting the race, my quads were already tired.  As if I had a long run yesterday or already logged 5 miles!  But hey, what can I do.  I figure it has to do with not being used to running in the morning (even though I had an energy bar 2 hours prior….)  My legs didn’t start to feel like they got into the swing of things until around mile 4.  I know I’ve groaned a bit in these blogs about the lack of hills in Chicago, but the hills on the course today were actually fun!  It used to be that I liked hills and today I remembered why.

I had chalked myself up to not being a good hill runner anymore, but after mile 6 I found myself increasing my pace uphill.  Downhill was a problem when I had patellar tendonitis a few years ago, but today I was able to use the momentum.  Still, I haven’t been training on hills so I had to get used to them again, but overall I was happy the course had a few challenges!

I came in 399 overall, 165 in my division.  My time was 2:06:18, a 9:39 mile pace.  I’m okay with that.. I had hoped to be closer to a 9 minute pace, but my legs felt like jelly most of the race.  Maybe I need to eat more protein??  Why were my legs sore??  I was able to pick up my pace after mile 12 to finish strong, but not up to my usual sprint at the end of a run.  I’m not sure when pics will be ready, but I’ll post one when they’re up.

At least I felt pretty good for the rest of today.  A bit tired, but I also got only 4 hours of sleep last night.  Today was spent in preparation for flying to San Diego tomorrow (WAHOOOO!) and I’m still in the midst of packing.  Hopefully the airline is forgiving about the weight of my luggage!!  Hey, I’ll be gone for an entire month!  Plus I’m packing a bunch of medical texts (that’s probably 40lb right there…) and my computer plus clothes, plus my Navy uniforms (2 khaki, dress blues, and my whites, plus shoes and covers)  OK, I know you’re not interested in the contents of my luggage.  Next time I write will be from Pacific Beach, California 🙂

USMLE Step 2 and good old Ames, IA

Yesterday I took Step 2 of my medical licensing exam, and I am soooo glad that’s over with. Step 1 was last year, where I took 4 entire weeks to study for an 8-hour test. That was ten times more stressful and sapped a big chunk of my lifetime allowance for study hours. This time around, I had only this past week for exclusive studying and the studying I did for my emergency medicine exam helped too. Again, this was an 8 hour test and so it’s more of an exercise in endurance than knowledge!! Well, you gotta know your stuff for this test too, but the topics are so broad, from dermatology to pediatric fluid resuscitation to treating congestive heart failure… Really, if anyone who’s a med student reads this, here is my advice: Pay attention on your clerkships. You’ll be fine. Review what you know, and drink lots of coffee during lunch. (p.s. I took it early since the Navy requires it by military match day in December, but I think anytime during 4th year works)

I just got in from running a 5K race here in town, the Captain Midnight’s Run for Cystic Fibrosis. It was a fun race, about half the runners were some fraternity and the other half were homegrown Ames citizens. I was supposed to run 7 miles yesterday, but instead I ran 4 today plus this 5K today. I think my time was 21:54. Something like that. Not bad for having done 4 miles, plus some hills on the race! 🙂 I’m planning on running the Lake Country Half Marathon in Oconomowoc, WI this Sunday so I’m looking forward to that. I had hoped to be able to do a half closer to home, but with this being Labor Day weekend, most of the races are on Monday, the day I leave for San Diego!

Being back in my hometown is always funny. Last night at Best Buy, a bunch of Ames High football players walked in wearing their jerseys. That brought back soo many memories of the politics behind girlfriends wearing those jerseys, going to football games on Friday nights, marching band. Then today while out shopping, I saw two girls wearing Ames High Marching Band shirts. I was kinda jealous, I never got a shirt!! I wasn’t the band though, I was a flag twirler. We called ourselves the flaggots. It was awesome. The head-to-toe sequins were a bit much, but at least it wasn’t spandex.

The only downside is that Iowa State flashes from the bumper of every car, the chest of any college student, from inside store windows… I wore my Iowa Hawkeyes shirt on campus yesterday to my test, that was an experience. But the Hawks are gonna kick the Cyclones this year anyway, so who’ll be laughing then???? 😉

HAWKEYE SEASON OPENER TOMORROW! THEY’RE PLAYING AT SOLDIER FIELD!!