What's on your playlist?

Sometimes I have discussions with people (or more frequently, myself) about what motivates me while I train. I'm not talking about the big things (helping others, being an example, etc.), I'm talking about the things that keep me going right at the moment, or more specifically what keeps me from being bored when I run or lift weights. Interestingly, it depends on what I am doing. When I lift, I need to have my iPod with me because I get bored in between sets otherwise. I don't wait too long, but just standing around is kinda lame, so at least listening to some tunes helps me enjoy the passing time. I've tried reading in between sets but it's counterproductive: I get interested in a magazine article and then suddenly I've been resting way too long and my workout takes forever.

In contrast, I can't run and listen to music. I don't know why...it's not that listening to something distracts me; I used to run and listen to NPR Podcasts (awesome, by the way), but for some reason I quit doing that, though I don't know what that reason is. I think I just got too lazy to download them. But I absolutely can't listen to music, and the reason is because it screws up my pace. When I get a song with a quick tempo it makes me pick up my pace subconsciously, which I guess is good, unless you are running 10 miles and you need to make sure that you have some energy coming home. Conversely, I just can't seem to pick it up once a slower song comes on. Also, a funny thing happens to me when I listen to music and run: the music "slows down." I have no idea what causes this; if it's the sweat getting onto my iPod and slowing its functioning, if sweat in my ears is impeding the transmission of sound waves, if maybe I'm just crazy, but I definitely perceive it, and it drives me nuts! Am I the only one for whom this happens? Hollaback!

Anyhow, I thought I would give you a peak at some things that are currently on my iPod workout playlist. Maybe you'll find something you like.

Basement Jaxx "Make Me Sweat." This song is apropos, I guess, but it's actually about dancing, not lifting weights (or anything else, for people with naughty minds). It's pretty techno-y and is very cool...even encouraging a multiculti approach to music--"Hip hop, soul, a little bit of crunk, a little bit of punk, a little bit of disco, drum and bass, a little bit of house, a little bit electro, all of that!"

Amy Winehouse, anything off her album "Back to Black." I think this woman is crazy, but I dig her beehive and her updated motown girl group sound. Plus she has a cool voice. If you like this album, you should check out Garbage's "Beautiful Garbage", which has a similar vibe but wasn't as appreciated

Jarvis Cocker, "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time." For anyone with a daughter or who might have one in the future, just play this song for her when she starts dating. Got a great beat, too. He was the lead singer of Pulp, for anyone who is familiar with the band.

Anything by Fergie (but mostly "Fergalicious" and "My Humps" which I know is actually Black Eyed Peas, but whatever). I know it's probably not cool to like her, but I can't help myself. Goes double for Gwen Stefani.

Gnarls Barkley, anything off their album "St. Elsewhere" but especially "Smiley Faces". If this song doesn't make you happy, nothing will.

What else should I be listening to to help me get ready for the Urbanathlon?

Overall Update

I thought I would give an update on how everything is going with the training and the fundraising efforts.

First, the training: it's going really well. August is a tough month to train because it is so flippin' hot every day, and especially this past week it was exhausting just to live--can I get a witness that this heat is oppressive? Even when I trained at the air-conditioned gym I felt like I was sweating through my clothes in record time! So that is kinda rough--but I'm still on track. This morning I went for an 11-mile run and completed it with little problem. Except for the stupid gnats on the Lakefront Path; I swear they are the scourge of my existence. Fortunately none of them got in my eye today, although I had a bunch of dead ones smushed to my chest when I finished (I know, I know, so gross...but I must have been running pretty quickly, eh?). Anyhow, my goal is to make it up to 15 miles before the event, and seeing as how it is 2+ months away, I think I am in good shape. So that's encouraging. My strength training doesn't seem to be suffering any from all the running either...I have to be strong to make it over those marine hurdles and that darn wall!

As for the GIRF component of the Urbanathlon, I want to take this time to give a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has already donated...and there is a significant number of you. Your support is truly inspiring to me and I promise I won't let you down! If you haven't heard any sort of acknowledgement from me, fear not--your generosity has been noted by me and all the powers that be, and a proper 'thank you' will be coming, but probably once the Urbanathlon is over and I can fill you in on all the specifics. Anyhow, thus far my extremely generous benefactors have pledged over $1500 total--that is so much money!!! Thank you so much!

And, if you haven't donated yet but are thinking about it/on the fence/whatever, it's never too late--the Urbanathlon is still two months away, and GIRF is always grateful for pledges, irrespective of the time of year. But if you are inspired by the outpouring of support already, join in too! We'll love ya for it!

Taxi Hurdling

So they have finally posted the stuff that we have to do in between running for the Urbanathlon.

Check it out here.

Are you back? Good. So I have to say, I was excited about doing this, but now I'm even more stoked. Taxi hurdling? Right on! I was a little dismayed to see the rope wall, because I'm not sure how great that is going to go, but I'm hoping it's low enough that I can just jump up and pull myself over. Ropes, walls and I don't mix very well.

I think my other favorite thing is the scaffolding maze. I know my balance is good enough to make it through no problem, but it will still probably take like an hour because I'll be too stupid to figure out which way to go.


Don't I look good doing the marine hurdles? I think I need to cut my sideburns, though.

If you take some time to wander through the rest of the site, you'll see that they are having a big, free festival afterwards in Grant Park--where they give away more free stuff! Here's the math, Markus style: Free entry + free stuff = awesome. Definitely gets my seal of approval.

Perhaps this will further coerce you into coming out and supporting me on October 20th? Just askin'.

My Neck! My Back! My Neck and My Back!

Have you ever had really bad neck pain?

I never had...until Wednesday, when I started to get this weird crick in my neck. And then it got progressively worse over the next two days, despite application of IcyHot (watch out folks), a couple back rubs from Eileen and trying really hard to have good posture. It didn't do anything.

My response to this neck pain (which was concentrated at the base of my neck and radiated out to my right shoulder) was typically male: I complained to my wife and begged her to make me feel better (if you asked her, she would readily admit that she was sick of my whining, and I can't say I blame her), and then decided that I must keep on training and ran 10 miles Friday morning, despite the pain. You would think it wouldn't have been a big deal because I was running, not crawling 10 miles using my neck and chin, but it was. I was okay at first but by mile 8 I was pretty much in agony and had to walk/run the rest of the way home. So dispiriting! But I guess I know not to do that again. Anyhow, as I assessed my reaction to said pain, I have to admit that it is typical of every stereotype that I have heard women spout about men who are sick--they are helpless, crying babies. And also probably a little stupid. (Ladies: can I get a witness?)

Anyhow, all the people I consulted about my neck problem said that it would just go away after about a week. But that was not happening for me because I don't think I could have gone another week with this pain, it was that bad. So I did something I never do--I took aspirin. I don't take aspirin for two reasons: 1) I don't like taking medicine at all, despite (or because of) the fact that I have to take anti-inflammatories every day for my Crohn's. 2) thinning your blood and potentially giving yourself ulcers (two side effects of aspirin) isn't the smartest thing to do when you are already bleeding enough down there. But I was desperate and went for it (note: I could have taken Tylenol, which doesn't have these side effects, but that would have only been a pain-reliever, not an anti-inflammatory, and I wanted to get both effects), and miraculously, my neck cleared by this morning. Isn't that crazy? Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I don't care. I have mild soreness when I turn my head to the left, but otherwise I'm right as rain.

So, the morals of this story are:
1) Don't take aspirin or related products if you have IBD
2) Take the time to rest if your body is actually telling you to
3) Be more sympathetic to your spouse's neck and back pain if they have any, because one day it's gonna get you, too.

I also think that everyone would benefit from better posture.

Oh, and this is the obligatory, periodic link to what I am doing on this site, for any newcomers. Welcome!

A Request

I was appraising my blog and realized that nobody ever leaves me any comments/messages. Am I amusing? Irritating? Irreverent? Drop me a line and let me know what you are thinking! I'm one of those needy types looking for feedback. I'm also actively taking suggestions for what I should post about--do you want to know more about Crohn's, IBD, GIRF, med school, the Urbanathlon or anything else? Let me know and I'll try to address it.

You can always email me, too.

Thanks!

80% Oxygen

Hiya!

I'm back from my MD/PhD Conference in Keystone, CO. It was a ton of fun, and very informative, too--always nice when you can share the research you have been doing and get some new ideas. Fortunately we had some free time to enjoy the surroundings as well.

My fellow MudPhud Kent and I made it out a little bit early to make sure that we would make it to the conference on time, and it's a good thing we took the precaution because everything was delayed on Thursday and Friday going east to west. Apparently, it's bad to fly in stormy weather. I know this has nothing to do with the purpose of this blog, but I just need to share how awful the morning that we flew out was. Here are the things that happened to me, in order: woke up to torrential rain, found front window leaking, went downstairs to leave and found basement flooding, tried to stop flooding by opening up drain, sliced finger open on metal drain cover, went to airport without precautionary tetanus shot (Eileen fixed me up in a jiff), boarded plane, stood on runway for 2.5 hours, gave up aisle seat to man so that he could sit next to his 5 year old son, got switched to middle seat with crying baby next to me instead. Could it possibly have been any worse?

Actually, no, it couldn't. So when we landed in Denver, I had a beer and realized that, in fact, I would not be training for the Urbanathon at any point that day. The rest of the day was actually lots of fun. And the story ends this way: I got a tetanus shot yesterday when we got back, and I'm not dead. Yay! (FYI: the symptoms of tetanus infection present themselves 5-15 days after initial infection. But my finger, despite its deep wound, never looked particularly infected to begin with, so Eileen assured me I would be OK).

So...in addition to engaging in some hardcore nerdness, I also found time to train while in Colorado. Can I just say that running at an altitude greater than a mile above sea level is really hard? I usually like to mix up my speed when I run, but I could just manage enough energy to plod along at a single pace at the Keystone Resort--especially because it was much more hilly than I am used to (also, see title of this post). But I definitely worked up a sweat! Needless to say, the huffing and puffing probably did me some good (running this morning felt pretty easy), and it was nice to have a change of scenery, too. Running along forests and over rivers is definitely a nice break from the regular (though scenic) Michigan Lakefront.

We also went on a hike to McCullough Gulch, somewhere outside Rocky Mountain National Park. Good times! It was advertised as an "intermediate" hike, but beyond a few stretches of steep elevation gain, it wasn't too bad. And it was cool--there was snow when we reached the top!

Unfortunately, the fitness center at the resort was under construction so I couldn't train for the in between stuff for the Urbanathlon. Hopefully my obstacle course scaling abilities haven't suffered too terribly for the lost time. Oh well.

Anyhoo, it's good to be back home and with my baby (don't get too excited, I'm talking about Eileen, not an actual child). It's hard to be away from your spouse for so long (plus Eileen had to work in the PICU the day after I got back. Bleh)! Don't people warn you about this stuff before you get married? Alas and alack, lessons to be learned...

And to Shnook: the Mile High Stadium is, in fact, NOT a mile high. Hehehe.