Twenty six point two

I love running. I love the endorphins. I love the simplicity. I love the time to get lost in my thoughts. I love distance. I love the prestige. I love the art of perfecting my stride. I love the companionship of fellow runners, the camaraderie that comes from a shared passion. I love racing. I love picking up my race packet, securing my timing device, and psyching myself up for a good run. I love seeing the mile markers go by one by one, seeing my split times and challenging myself a little more. I love settling in, putting myself on autopilot and enjoying the ride. I love scenery, from trails to busy streets, I love that my feet can take me where I may otherwise never have gone. I love the feeling that comes from finishing a run. The positive vibe, the pride. I love it all. I love to run.

This love is what inspired me to run the Richmond marathon, my second 26.2 mile race. I began training with Andrea 5 months ago. As fun as it's been, there were certainly some gruesome times as well. I logged in a total of 314 miles, the equivalent of running from Winston-Salem back to Williamsburg! After months of preparing my body and mind, I was very excited for the race weekend to finally arrive.

Andrea and I met at the expo on Friday night to pick up our race bags, filled with all kinds of goodies and a technical race shirt to commemorate the event. After following a strict pre-race diet, we topped ourselves off with a delicious pasta dinner. As I closed my eyes that night, I was filled with jitters and excitement that the race was now merely hours away.

We awoke to perfect running conditions- cool, cloudy weather with a gentle mist in the air. After warming up in the staging area, the gun sounded and we were off! The first mile was exciting and surreal. We settled in and found a comfortable, yet brisk pace that would eventually average out to be slightly over nine minute miles. Our race entertainment was nothing short of incredible, and included thousands of cheering fans, party zones, and even two junk food stops (the gummy bears were my personal heroes). I hit my wall at mile 15, but was able to shake it off three miles later to run it in strong. The most incredible moment was seeing our two proud parents towards the end of the race. It was just what we needed to push us through to the home stretch. As I crossed the finish line, I was overcome with a surge of emotions. I was filled with excitement, pride, relief, passion, and appreciation for all those who came out to support this amazing event.

HIV awareness

HIV... AIDS... words that so commonly connote a mental image of gay man, IV drug abuser, or someone partaking in outrageously high risk behavior. While such behavior does contribute significantly to the epidemiology of this disease, I frequently find myself caught off guard with the true demographics of the patient population I see in my HIV clinic.

Take, for example, the patient I saw in clinic this morning. A very nice lady who has been married to her husband of 17 years. She denies any other sexual partners, has never had a blood transfusion, and has never used any injectable drugs. Over the last 3 weeks, she has noticed progressive right sided weakness and difficulty with her speech, symptoms which have exacerbated quickly leaving her wheelchair bound in a matter of days. In the last couple of weeks, she has seen multiple physicians and has had extensive work-ups. Somewhere in the process, an HIV test was performed and found to be positive.

It's unclear how long she's had HIV. After all, who would think to test a monogamous, ordinary woman who goes about her business as usual. Unfortunately for her, the presenting symptoms of her HIV manifested as a severe neurological complication seen in patients with advanced AIDS. I started her on medication today and am praying that she overcomes her slimming odds, the long shot possibility that she will come out on top. I can't begin to imagine what's going on in her head when just one month ago she was completely healthy. All I can do is try my hardest as a clinician to help this patient and make every effort to spread the word. To my colleagues- please test your patients- even those with no apparent risk factors. To my family and friends- please get tested yourself. Every 9 1/2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV.