It's a Marathon

Exciting news - Massachusetts has it's own holiday. It is technically Patriots Day, but around these parts, it's called the Boston Marathon!

So on Monday I walked over to the Prudential Center and watched people run. These people were amazing. Some were my age, but most runners were way older than me, and in waaaay better shape. Running mile after mile after mile in pretty ridiculous heat. I was impressed. Excitingly enough, 3 of my medical school classmates ran the marathon, so I got to cheer them on as they approached the finish line. Very fun, very exciting.

But of course, I didn't run the marathon, so to make myself feel better, I decided to relate my medical education to running a marathon (I can't physically run, but maybe my brain can!). I may only be on the first 5K of my med school marathon, but I am going at a pretty steady pace, maybe even picking up speed. The beginning of my dorky marathon metaphor was probably as terrifying as starting a real marathon. I didn't know what to expect and was pretty much terrified (I think I lost 5 lbs from being to nervous to eat back then). But I started and pretty much just kept going. I am assuming that during a marathon there are things like hills, cramps, exhaustion, anger, frustration, fear, excitement, feelings of imminent death, I could go on and on. And I am pretty sure I have experienced all of those already - or I could at least come up with metaphors for them. But here I am, sitting in a windowless study room on a beautiful day learning about the brain for my next exam (well, technically I am blogging, but when I am done, back to the books!).

I hope that I don't fatigue to badly over the course of my med school marathon, but right now I feel really far away from the finish line (which could arguably either be graduation or finishing residency). Thankfully I have a lot of people cheering me on at the sidelines, because without a whole lot of support and some serious brain stamina, I am never going to make it.