Review; Buffalo Run

Today was my first, and only, road race in Montana. I've been running of course, but at a much lower mileage than normal. I tend to follow the same couple of routes. The distances out here are so far and its so hot by the time I get finished with work, I just haven't been that adventuresome. I have done several different runs on the weekends, but when I'm doing my maintenance runs I just can't quite muster the enthusiasm.

Anyway, the race. I think this was the smallest race I've ever done. It was probably even smaller than that time M. and I did a "no charge" trail race/run thing in Delaware. There were maybe 16 people, max, in the half marathon. I didn't see the fields for the 1, 4 and 7 mile (they started an hour after the half), but the awards ceremony seemed to indicate the fields for those races weren't much bigger.

The gun went off at 7:00am. It is very cool here in the mornings - I think it was probably around 60 degrees. The course was a very straightforward rectangle. The first two legs were gravel and up-hill. They were the worst legs of all - we were running into the sun and I could barely see at times. The day got hotter as the race went on, but it didn't get much over 80 degrees, if that. Once the first two legs were done, the race seemed like it was entirely downhill. I doubt that it was, but it felt like it, which is what counts.

The management of the course was very good, considering it's a teeny tiny little race. There were several watersheds spread through the course. The scenery was great - we were running along the base of the Mission Mountains, and there were several streams and at least one river. It was very pretty and peaceful - I could hear hawks and cows in the distance. They marked the miles on the pavement parts, which I like.

As for my personal performance, I think I did well. I ran a 1:43:45. I didn't get mile splits for miles 2-5, but mile 1 and miles 6-13 were all around 8:00 minutes a mile. Finally, I didn't bolt at the start and ran a reasonable first mile (7:50). I started at sixth overall, and stayed there. I was the second woman to finish, and the first in the 21-30 category. I got passed around mile 3, but kept plodding along and caught both people and one more that went out ahead of me (some guy passed me, so I stayed sixth).

Basically, it was a very nice race. I hung out afterwards and talked to some people. There was a family from Maryland, a high schooler interested in medicine and Maggie from work (my favorite of the nurses, she's very cute). There wasn't much food afterwards, but eh. They had plenty of water, which is what really counts. Bagels would have been nice, but I am in Montana, afterall. Bagels are not big here.

Anyway, I am down to my last pair of underwear, so it's time to go to the laundry mat.

The countdown begins

I'm nearly finished, which is both a relief and a bit depressing. There are many things I miss about home, decent food, my cats, my family, my friends, a stove, my bed. On the other hand, I really do like it here. I like the land (that may be a bit of a understatement), I like the work and I like the people. I will be sad to leave, although I am very much looking forward to returning home. I could consider settling here, but I would need (a) Better living conditions (it would be really nice to have somewhere to put my clothes, a normal trash can, a freezer, I could go on) (b) Family or friends (or failing that, pets).

I think I could be happy here. I like the low population density, the scenery and possibility of having a few acres of land. The absence of shopping doesn't really bother me. Missoula is only an hour's drive away and it's a growing city. The food thing is a bother, but I'm pretty sure that if I had a proper kitchen, I could get by without any problems. Where I am now, I'm just limited to whatever I can fix in a microwave, which isn't all that much. I am really, really tired of noodles, corn and potatos.

One thing that I've enjoyed about being here is the different perspective on career paths. I was talking to my attending about it earlier today, and he was explaining the different options. I find it very exciting - I could literally live anywhere in the country and probably find good work. If I stick with peds and primary care, that is. Where there's people, there's a need for healthcare in some capacity. I kind of like the idea of traveling and working...move somewhere, work there for a year or two, then move on. I'm not sure it would really work - I'm sure that's the wrong way to do stuff like raise children and buy a house. If I'm still single when I'm looking for work, it might be a fun thing to do. I could probably get away with doing it once or twice. Multiple docs have told me that the first job never sticks - when you're starting out it's hard to know what you will value in a practice. The docs I've worked with here all worked and lived somewhere totally different before setting down in Montana.

So, it's a lot to think about. I have plenty of time to consider everything. I really do regret returning to basic sciences instead of clinical work. I would much rather work towards getting better at histories and physicals than memorize bookwork. I suppose this is a really bad attitude to have, considering the boards around the corner.

Soon, I will upload pictures and update the booklist. Soon!

Mission Mountain Lessons

I got lost in the woods today. I talked with C. about it in depth and I realize that I've really been very stupid about this. I've been trying to stay within my limits - I don't know anything about camping or outdoorsmanship, or whatever you call it, so I've been sticking to short, out and back hikes. I never really considered the idea that I could get lost.

The thing that struck me though, was the amount of knowledge C. had on the topic. There are entire possibilities that never even occurred to me...Never crossed my mind, at all. I could have been in serious trouble today, but I was lucky enough to get out of it. I feel ten times more stupid and foolish now than I did before.

But, I wonder, what topic/hobby do I know so completely? I thought about it, but nothing really springs to mind. I think I'm a dabbler - I know a little bit of knitting, a little bit of sewing, a little bit of engineering (okay, more than a little, but I doubt I could troubleshoot an engineering problem. And I know the math will fade as I don't use it.), a little bit of history, etc. etc. What are my strong interests?

It kind of bothers me. I guess the answer is medicine, but I'm not even very good at that at the moment. It seems like all my friends have some kind of hobby that they know in and out. I guess I could try to get into something, but I don't know. It would cost money, probably, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be wiser to throw any extra energy into my research and clinical medicine.

This entire situation has been very embarassing.

Alas

Today, I was a failed hiker. This appears to be a common theme in my hiking.

Last week, my attending told me about a hiking trail through the Mission Mountains. The Mission Mountains are all tribal lands, and from what I've read, they intentionally make them somewhat inaccessable. The trails are there and everything, but there's no common map to tell people where they are. Also, the trailheads aren't very well maintained, there's no parking and the roads going to the trails are terrible. These are not tourist trails.

Anyway, the first set of directions I got told me to take a right where I should take a left. I tried to find this place twice, before I learned I was going the wrong direction. You would think a mountain would be easy to find, but this is a chain of them and it's never clear which ones have trails and which ones don't. Anyway, I get there and off I go. Of course, it is very beautiful, the trail wound down through the mountain valley, then up the side of a mountain and father back in. My attending told me there was a lake at the end, and I decided to try and reach it (he never had). However, I didn't make it. An hour and a half in (and I was partly running - I meant to run the whole way, but the terrtain started getting more and more dangerous as I went into the mountains. This was not a place to risk a sprain or other injury.) I didn't seem to be getting there, and I hadn't brought any provisions for an extended hike. Plus, the trail was getting more and more overgrown the farther in I went. So, I failed.

In retrospect, I think I did the right thing. I just pulled up google's satalite images of the region, and I think I was only about halfway there. It's hard to tell, but there were some distinctive gravel/stone regions (a bitch to run on) that I made it to, and they weren't very close to what I presume is the lake. So much for that, I suppose. I could pack a lunch and try again, but a pair of nice men from my rafting trip told me about Jewel Basin, which is supposed to be very pretty as well. I'm not quite sure how to get to it through. It had a website from the federal government, but they reference access roads that don't appears on Google maps. I know it's general location, but you can drive for hours out here if you don't know exactly where you're going.

On the clinical side of things, I'm really enjoying myself. I get to see a lot of different patients, far more than I would have thought going into this. I feel like I've learned a lot. It's all tidbits of information, but I really like it.

phone!