I passed him on the sidewalk going in the opposite direction. He was bundled up and from deep within his hood I could see in his eyes a combination of worry and judgement. I kept my pace up and a moment later we had passed. Was I as crazy as he judged me to be to attempt running in such cold temperatures? The lack of circulation in my toes when I finally returned home could be used as evidence of the affirmative, but that still won't stop me from going again tomorrow.
A couple months ago, around the time of my birthday, I had gotten my average pace up to a 7.5/7.6 mph. A pace I was happy to see, and attributed to the cooler autumn temperatures. After running in 90+ degrees all year (Togo, summer in MidWest, Honduras). Being able to run without my body working to keep itself from overheating was a relief of sorts, and I could direct that energy into pumping of the arms and churning of the legs instead. The bitter cold now hits and that energy is spent trying to keep blood flowing to the tips of the extremities... unsuccessfully so. Needless to say, I'm not making that 7.5/7.6 mph pace anymore. (cue the sad trombone)
My schedule changes daily. Could even say that I don't have a daily schedule. I like the change as it keeps the weeks interesting and helps avoid monotony. There are commonalities between the weeks, such as clinic most Wednesday mornings and call most Tuesdays and Thursdays. But sometimes not, and even when I do the patients that roll in are never the same. You'd think I'd be used to the random plot twist with the general lack of sameness, but sometimes, I still get caught unawares. I was seeing a patient in the ED for a diagnosis of acute cholecystitis. She had pegged a charcuterie board as the offending culprit. She followed along as I discussed her pathophysiology and described the recommended surgery. She allowed my long-winded explanation to conclude and then very politely asked, "but, is there another option?" I was surprised. You see, in my experience, someone who is suffering from acute cholecystitis to the point that it has prompted a visit to their local ED, is thinking of only one thing by the time I see them. They want the gallbladder gone. A very quick pivot on my part and all options were subsequently discussed as is appropriate. Always good to have those random plot twists thrown in there to keep things honest and interesting.
11 more days!
Much Love.
