Everybody’s running begins somewhere. You have heard my beginning already, and now I will talk about the beginning of the marathon for me. I was in my 3rd year of residency, and 2 of my attending physicians, Dr. Brechtelsbauer (Dr. B) and Dr. Kemp, were interested in running a marathon, and talked to me about it. We decided on Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota because Dr. B had some relatives there. It would be in the middle of June, 2 weeks prior to graduating from residency. I decided to give it a go. Usually the weather there was upper 70’s, and could be even a little cool. That was not the case on this day! It got to over 90 degrees, and very humid. I had never run a marathon before, but was still running regularly. Normally a goal for a lot of people doing the marathon, which is 26.2 miles, is to try and break 4 hours. I foolishly told Sarah that I would be done by 3 hours. I had no clue what I was getting into. The longest I had run was a 17 miler, again, not having any idea what it would take to do 26.2. Needless to say, at mile 19 of the marathon, everything started falling apart. I seriously began to wonder if I was even going to finish, especially in this heat. I was running the entire way with Dr. Kemp, and we had to walk through every water station beginning at mile 20, and they were every mile now. We did make it, and came in at 3:48. Now, this was even before chip timing, so everybody started at the same time, but when there are over 8000 people in the race, it takes several minutes to even get to the start line. I had trouble walking for a week afterwards! I realized what the hand rails on the stairwells were for after that! Doing a marathon is not to be taken lightly…you need to have some kind of an idea what you are getting into, but even with how many I have done now, once I get past 20 miles, it is a new adventure every single time. Those last 6 miles are an entirely different race. Some experts say the marathon is split into 2 sections, the first 20 miles, and the last 6 miles, which feels like another 20! After that was done, I felt like I could accomplish anything. It was the ultimate challenge, and I learned a lot from this. The marathon is a lot like life…you are cruising along just fine, no worries, then things get a little tougher, and you can still fight your way through. But then life really can throw a curve ball…just like that 20 mile mark, and you have to start figuring out what you are going to do on the fly. Sometimes you literally feel like you are just winging it, and hope that everything will turn out well. Sound familiar? I think it sounds all too familiar. Everyday, there can be “marathon like” challenges, and you need to keep going, push on, and work it all through to the end. Some of the conclusions may not be what we wanted, but many are, and you can hold your head up high and feel good that you accomplished another goal/solved another problem! The pictures below show me sitting under a tree after it was done. Of course, my medal for finishing, and my results. I have one of myself with Dr. B and Dr. Kemp posing afterwards, and then a few of me running along with Dr. Kemp. Next will be other upcoming marathons, and the people who helped me through…family, and all of my training partners. How can life be dull with all of this? Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2886
