Rockbuster 2010

As expected, Rockbuster 2010 was a whole lotta fun. I think that the folks you meet can make a potentially good race experience a great experience. Part of the bonding experience is wow-ing over gadgets and thanks to Gene of GearWorks, I got to demo a beautiful test bike, the dual suspension Specialized Epic mountain bike. (I loved it so much that I wanted to kiss it. I insisted my rackmates try it out after the race. The consensus was that indeed it is a phenomenal bike. Oh, yeah, it costs about $2400.) What I most appreciate about off-road events is that there is not much of the usual strutting around as with regular triathlons and duathlons-- you know, that swagger that elite athletes have? People in off-road events are more, pun slightly intended, "down to earth". Sure, the elites are present, but nobody really cares-- we all will get muddy, possible road rash, perhaps a good trajectory over the handlebars (AKA a "superman") on the downhills. More likely to get a flat tire too. I was, per usual, whining about the weather to my neighboring rackmate, Serenity. ("I'm 100% Greek you know, this weather would have caused us to go extinct.") Her husband, Mike, was her designated pit crew and photographer. We three laughed so much prior to the race that there was only time for a brief warm-up (and little time to really play with the bike). The race was relaxed as both Serenity and I had "handicaps" from the get-go-- she was nursing a left achilles tendinitis and I had to put forth 70% effort on an already very very tired body due to my relentless training for the upcoming Half-Ironman. Medals were won mainly as a result of finishing the race. The medals and making a new friend with a similar interest (and a lot more, like ice climbing!!!) was icing on the cake.

Decision point

Friends,
Do you remember the early video games? PacMan, Donkey Kong? (Yes, dating myself). I loved some of the games that were absolutely chaotic but when I played Tetris, I got a sense of accomplishment b/c/o the "neatness" and symmetry since all the pieces just seemed to fall together with just a little bit of planning. As you know I am sharing quite openly in cyberspace the "trials and tribulations" of trying to keep the balance as a mom, OB and aspiring athlete and I share the times in which the pieces do NOT fall into place so neatly.

Private practice for OB/Gyns is particularly hard on family and free time because of the burden of calls (ie the frequent lack of sleep and resultant chronic fatigue) as well as the need for maintaining a high volume in the office to make a profit. I recall a local practice telling me that each OB practitioner sees 50 (FIFTY) patients in an office day, which I calculated to be one patient every 6 minutes (and that is with no break). I did not pursue the practice as I felt that patient care would be short- changed-- unless time for proper documentation to ensure there were no errors would be taken at the end of the day, after official office hours. (Delaying documentation for the end of the day hinders maintaining meticulous records -- there is recall bias, lapses in impressions, details, etc. Electronic medical records have indeed improved the quality of documentation, but practitioners whom I have informally surveyed state that the EMRs do not save time, EMRs merely allow the practitioner to document better with the use of pick lists as well as reminders for documenting family history, allergies, etc. ) Office volume and call frequency of this particular group would ensure family time would suffer. Ultimately I found a larger group practice with EMRs, but again, there was an issue of office volume and income. There was a proposal in the group for OBs to expand office hours in evenings and perhaps on weekends to increase volume. (Ummmm, as well as taking 24-36 hour calls one to two times a week? And so HOW does an obgynmom maintain the work/family/health balance?! )

So in pursuit of balance, perhaps to allow at least a few pieces fall together in some order-- I'm moving into academic medicine. Academia provides the ability to practice medicine without the stress of maintaining volume. That and the appeal of teaching and mentoring a new generation of physicians and being on the cutting edge of knowledge and technology is irresistible. A not-so-minor trade-off in joining academics is less pay and this may translate to a drop off in fitness and definitely competitiveness. We know that money helps promote health-- numerous studies show that wealthier people live longer. A study of Nobel laureates indicated that those who are wealthier live longer. A recent survey by USAT of its members indicates that the average income per triathlete is high-- well into the six-figures. These folks know what they are doing --cross -training reduces risk of injury, thus allowing one to continue to exercise, thus increasing odds of good health and longevity. As for me personally, the drop in income puts me at a second decision point --in order to gain a competitive advantage in triathlon, a significant financial investment is necessary-- the coaching, the bikes, timing and training devices are costly. With the income change, can I be satisfied with stating to myself, "Hey, keep training only for fitness, keep it noncompetitive, ride the older/slower bike (without reaping the fruits of training in terms of faster times or medals)?"

I believe that many folks who are suffering in this "job-less recovery" -- the unemployed, underemployed, are experiencing something similar-- a decision point in which loss of time and/or money dictates a change in direction for obtaining or maintaining health (and in some cases a sacrifice in competitive advantage). Will the sacrifices of the employee in a mature economy translate into better health for the developing world worker (or, taken cynically, will the CEOs of the companies who "outsource" be the sole beneficiaries)? Can the "health pie" be big enough?

Personal Event Schedule

Friends,
This will not be a thoughtful post, instead I thought I'd put out my event schedule for this year in cyberspace so that I remain committed to it. Problem with going into a second year of athletics (and this coming May will mark my first year of being coached to race, not just showing up at a starting line) is that I now have some events with a "personal best" to look back on... and compare... and try not to set up unrealistic expectations!

So... here it goes:

2010 Event (Dare -I -say -"Race") Schedule:

Sunday 2/28/10: Hyannis Half- Marathon (My first 1/2 M-- and looks like it will snow!)

April: Two "C Races" (Defined as: No peak, No taper, 70% effort during race & then No recovery-- just keep on training!): Wrentham Duathlon and Rockbuster Off-Road Duathlon (the latter of which is really really really fun)

May: One "C Race": US Coast Guard Duathlon; Possible Half Century Bike Ride

June: Patriot Half-Ironman Triathlon (Anchoring event of the season as it requires a huge commitment in training thus, "A Race" b/c of taper and peak, effort is just get through this endurance event and then a loooong recovery- phew!)

July ??? Olympic Distance triathlon and/or a sprint distance tri w/ ocean swim

August: Lowell Olympic Distance Triathlon (A Race)

September: TDD Triathlon (B/C Race) and? Hale Off-Road Duathlon

October: Tufts 10K (women's- only) Road Race, Boston and
MSG Off-Road Duathlon

45th Bday, First Oly Tri 8/9/09 (Medaled!)

Overliving

I found a perfect descriptive term for my life as a (full-time, working) obgynmom attempting to train for triathlons, per Joe Friel's Training Bible, under the chapter dealing with the spectrum of over training: "Overliving". It describes the attempt to balance parenthood, full time employment and triathlon training. In particular for OBs, summertime is the time when we are very likely overliving as we try to balance these parts of life. The peak season for babies being born (just look 9 months back to see the reason), as well as vacations for colleagues AND the season for triathlons all converge into 3 months. For me, June and July flew by with 24+ -hr calls every three nights (no Mem Day, no July 4th holidays) yielding 100- hour work- weeks. In this period, I had the simultaneous joy and exhaustion of parenthood, delivering 3-4 babies every call night (typically between 1 and 5am) and training for-- and participating in-- sprint triathlons. I am sure there are similar situations with lawyers who travel, businessmen and the like (although less likley to be seasonally- based). I had a sense (not clearly until I read Friels book) of this sort of thing as I formally started training for triathlons on May 1st of this year. I decided to minimize this sort of thing by signing up with a terrific triathlon coaching service on that date. Somehow I still manged to "overlive".

On the one hand, "overliving" is appealing-- what a full life! But I am acutely aware that it is unsustainable in the long run. I have a colleague who believes it impacts the immune system and eventually may be a hit that leads to cancer. She may be right. I am familiar with fellow triathletes who get more frequent head colds or other viral infections during this season. We all know the interaction between lifestyle and the immune system is so far from being understood.

The rewards from what we do in this phase of living make it all the more difficult to bring it back to normalcy: The slightly less than normal amount of sleep is adapted by the body, the workouts completed are rewarded physiologically as the body achieves perceptible fitness, a seasoned specialist is able to rely on experience and knowledge throughout this short period at work and children and spouse accept that that it is part what makes up the worker-parent-athlete.

This past week, (finally!) having a reprieve from hospital call, on a training taper week (meaning short workouts) and glycogen (carbo-) loading in preparation for my A race, it took as much discipline to cut back on the frenetic pace as it has been to keep it going. On Sunday August 9th, in celebration of my upcoming 45th birthday, I participated in my very first International ("Olympic") Distance triathlon (1 mile swim followed by 22 mile bike followed by a 6 mile run). I was surprisingly awarded a medal as I came in third for my age group. How cool was that??!! Yes, this absolutely rewards the "overliving" I have done in the past few months, but fortunately due to my supportive family, spouse and friends I am gently reminded of the life "outside". So, shortly I will happily end this phase and move on to the "off-season".