
Embrace The Uncomfortable, Successive Short-term Goals:
From Running Back To Medicine
by Rebecca Breslow, M.D.
There I was, with two minutes to go until I faced one of the more daunting starting lines I would ever cross. It wasn’t on a track, or a trail, or a road. It was on a computer screen. At the stroke of noon, I logged in. I pressed Return. “Congratulations,” I read, “You have matched: Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA – Sports Medicine.”
The Boston area is a medical mecca, and news like this is not so unusual for those who come for medical training. So it was for me, years ago, as an earnest medical student, resident and fellow coming up through the city’s academic hospitals. But this time, at the age of 41, it meant a hard-won second chance. I had found the courage to train in a new field and reinvent myself, and it was because of Coach Cathy and MOVE! -- a practice focused on realizing athletic goals which in turn help you realize significant accomplishments in other areas of your life, including career and family.
Initially, I had sought out Cathy’s help for my running. I had aspirations to compete at a high level, and hoped to do so with her guidance. Though that’s how we started, little by little, running became the background for conversations about other things. I was in a period of transition. I had recently left a job in medicine that was not a good fit. I had succumbed to the struggle so many professional women face: trying to successfully balance family with an ambitious career. On top of this, my primary interests were no longer in the field in which I had trained. I did know I wanted to put my stamp on the sport of running, but the best way to do so was not yet clear.
Learning to Embrace the Uncomfortable (ETU): At the time I met Cathy, I felt lost. But as we sorted through the reasons why, I started to find my way again. She always told me if I set my own goals and focused on them, I would figure out how to achieve my best, both in running and in life. She helped me to believe the components of my best are a unique recipe, fitting together in a way that is completely individual to me. At the same time, she helped me to push hard in my running, dispelling myths about my limitations I had been holding on to. I could run 50 miles in a week. I could start a workout with a brave pace, and hold on through discomfort and doubt. And so, as I learned to Embrace The Uncomfortable with my running, earning personal best after personal best, this approach trickled down to other areas of my life too.
Setting Successive, Short-Term Goals: An idea started to germinate and then blossom. If I trained to be a Sports Medicine specialist, I could capitalize on my strengths and skills in a field very close to my heart. I could make an impact on the sport of running in my own best way. In parallel to my running goals, Cathy helped me set career goals, both short-term and big picture. I talked to other providers in Sports Medicine and in related fields. I took some relevant continuing education courses. I visited the department I was most interested in. Then I did a rotation there. These short-term goals and actions led to an application, interviews, and ultimately, The Match.
ETU from Running to Career: Many doubts and fears hung over me as I weighed the decision to move forward along this path. Going back into medical training would mean a lot of time away from my three young children, my husband and my dog. It would mean much less time, maybe no time, for my own running and the other sports I enjoy. It would mean working long hours, taking call, that maddening lack of control over my schedule, and of course the endless fatigue I thought I’d left behind forever after I went through it all the first time. Like all those tough workouts and races that led to my running personal bests, this journey wouldn’t be easy.
But now I’m poised at the start, ready to Embrace the Uncomfortable again. I’ll take a deep breath and relax my shoulders. I’ll think positive thoughts. I’ll put my fears into words until they are shrunken down enough to push aside. I’ll take small steps to achieve the big leaps. On your mark, get set, go!
From Running Back To Medicine
by Rebecca Breslow, M.D.
There I was, with two minutes to go until I faced one of the more daunting starting lines I would ever cross. It wasn’t on a track, or a trail, or a road. It was on a computer screen. At the stroke of noon, I logged in. I pressed Return. “Congratulations,” I read, “You have matched: Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA – Sports Medicine.”
The Boston area is a medical mecca, and news like this is not so unusual for those who come for medical training. So it was for me, years ago, as an earnest medical student, resident and fellow coming up through the city’s academic hospitals. But this time, at the age of 41, it meant a hard-won second chance. I had found the courage to train in a new field and reinvent myself, and it was because of Coach Cathy and MOVE! -- a practice focused on realizing athletic goals which in turn help you realize significant accomplishments in other areas of your life, including career and family.
Initially, I had sought out Cathy’s help for my running. I had aspirations to compete at a high level, and hoped to do so with her guidance. Though that’s how we started, little by little, running became the background for conversations about other things. I was in a period of transition. I had recently left a job in medicine that was not a good fit. I had succumbed to the struggle so many professional women face: trying to successfully balance family with an ambitious career. On top of this, my primary interests were no longer in the field in which I had trained. I did know I wanted to put my stamp on the sport of running, but the best way to do so was not yet clear.
Learning to Embrace the Uncomfortable (ETU): At the time I met Cathy, I felt lost. But as we sorted through the reasons why, I started to find my way again. She always told me if I set my own goals and focused on them, I would figure out how to achieve my best, both in running and in life. She helped me to believe the components of my best are a unique recipe, fitting together in a way that is completely individual to me. At the same time, she helped me to push hard in my running, dispelling myths about my limitations I had been holding on to. I could run 50 miles in a week. I could start a workout with a brave pace, and hold on through discomfort and doubt. And so, as I learned to Embrace The Uncomfortable with my running, earning personal best after personal best, this approach trickled down to other areas of my life too.
Setting Successive, Short-Term Goals: An idea started to germinate and then blossom. If I trained to be a Sports Medicine specialist, I could capitalize on my strengths and skills in a field very close to my heart. I could make an impact on the sport of running in my own best way. In parallel to my running goals, Cathy helped me set career goals, both short-term and big picture. I talked to other providers in Sports Medicine and in related fields. I took some relevant continuing education courses. I visited the department I was most interested in. Then I did a rotation there. These short-term goals and actions led to an application, interviews, and ultimately, The Match.
ETU from Running to Career: Many doubts and fears hung over me as I weighed the decision to move forward along this path. Going back into medical training would mean a lot of time away from my three young children, my husband and my dog. It would mean much less time, maybe no time, for my own running and the other sports I enjoy. It would mean working long hours, taking call, that maddening lack of control over my schedule, and of course the endless fatigue I thought I’d left behind forever after I went through it all the first time. Like all those tough workouts and races that led to my running personal bests, this journey wouldn’t be easy.
But now I’m poised at the start, ready to Embrace the Uncomfortable again. I’ll take a deep breath and relax my shoulders. I’ll think positive thoughts. I’ll put my fears into words until they are shrunken down enough to push aside. I’ll take small steps to achieve the big leaps. On your mark, get set, go!