Run 2.0
October 9, 2010 at 10:34 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 CommentsToday, I am starting the Couch-to-5K running plan. I tried it once before, but my right knee is very prone to injury. To be honest, it feels a little unstable, like there may be a problem with one of the ligaments. But I’m so out of shape, I can’t reliably distinguish the problem from inflammation. Anyway, if it interferes again this time, I’m going to ask for some imaging instead of assuming it’s just the arthritis.
Last time, despite the injury, I felt great after just one week of walk/jogging. I’d always wondered why people become such fanatics about running. It looks boring and uncomfortable: hot, sweaty, altogether gross. You’d think that if there really were any euphoria involved, then walking should produce at least a similar, albeit less intense, feeling. And obviously, that isn’t the case.
But I think people must be meant to run, because it really is a self-reinforcing activity, in a way that other kinds of exercise are not.
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Awesome! I think the intensity of running has a beneficial neurochemical effect that is much greater than less intense exercise.
Comment by Comrade PhysioProf— October 10, 2010 #
I agree whole-heartedly. There is something very empowering about running. When you start, you think – I have a whole 3 miles ahead of me, or 30 minutes, or 40 gasps for air, or however long/much you run. And then you’re done (and not just like that either, it takes endurance and buckets of sweat) and the sense of accomplishment is beautiful.
I don’t know if you remember that I posted on your blog a while ago – I’m a 4th year medical student applying into Neurosurgery. I have my first interview next Friday and was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to go over (perhaps email?) the types of questions you encountered on your interviews. I would really appreciate it.
Comment by Lynn— October 21, 2010 #
Sorry, I didn’t see this till today. But there’s not much to be nervous about, and I’m sure it went well. They mainly just want to know if they can get along with you for the next seven years, or if you’re going to annoy the shit out of them. How they think they can tell that from a day-long interview where everyone is doing their best to seem normal, I don’t know. But you’ll certainly get to know your fellow applicants on the trail well enough for that. You’ll find, by the end, that you have definite preferences about who you’d like as a co-resident (and who you really hope will not be). As a 4th year, I was very surprised about who had matched where, and in some cases, who had matched at all. The second time around, it seemed much more in line with my own opinions of the people I’d met.
Then again, SF Match always struck me as a bit sketchy, and very beholden to the programs at the expense of the applicants. The programs were able to see all the other places you applied to, as well as the information for applicants who hadn’t even applied to their program. Which gives a huge advantage to the programs. In some ways it was funny: people would get rejections from places where they hadn’t even applied. And they did tell me exactly who ranked me and who didn’t, and approximately where I was on each rank list. But that was after the fact. The NRMP is much more impartial, and has much stricter rules for everyone involved, as well as more appropriate dissemination of applicant information. Also, a program’s match violation with the NRMP gets published on their website, and can potentially have consequences for the whole institution. Whereas at SF match, I’m not even sure they’re familiar with the concept.
Anyway, it’s better now, although still ridiculously expensive. But have fun. And good luck! Hopefully it will be the beginning of some life-long friendships, as well as a great career.
Comment by hurricanejill— October 30, 2010 #