Spring Forward (Fall Back)

Happy Daylight Savings Time!
My, how time has flown. This past Friday at around 4pm, members of the class of 2013 received their third year clerkship rotations. Responses to this development varied. There were the inevitable announcements on Facebook, the anti-announcement announcements ("I will not be sharing my schedule. I am far too original for that, but I still feel compelled to update you on my 'status.'"), the flurry of panicked texts ("NOOOO!!! I'm DOOMED!" Then, 5min later "Phew-I switched."), the quietly content group who got one of their top choices and those few people still desperately pleading for a schedule change, to no avail. Guess which group I'm in?

Things aren't so bad. We're all pretty excited to depart the 5th circle of hell that is the end of second year. I, for one, am more than ready to embrace the feelings of perpetual ignorance and inferiority that third year will bring.

Another piece of good news is that unless my schedule miraculously changes, I can now begin to think more seriously about races. Kate suggested this one, for the Boston contingent: http://www.lonegull10k.com/about/. Or this one: http://www.runtotherock.webs.com/. Or this one, should only women decide to participate: http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/tufts10k/eventdetails/. All look good to me right now, so tell me what you think.

For those running in New York, I think it could be really fun to do the Merrell Down and Dirty Mud Run (http://www.downanddirtymudrun.com/ny.cfm), though it's admittedly not a conventional 10k. I'm open to suggestions, so please send them along!

Running this week was...meh. Even though I'm on spring break and should have energy to spare, for some reason, I haven't been able to match the level of endurance I had reached a week ago. The regression put me a sort of funk, fueled also by the fact that I haven't been feeling all that great for the past few days. What is it about having time off that makes the body automatically poop out? In an attempt to get my aerobic groove back, I decided to try a couple of spinning classes.

Normally, I actively avoid spinning. Sitting on a stationary bike in a dark room for upwards of 45 minutes, watching myself struggling in a mirror while being instructed to vary the bike's resistance to simulate a scenic, hilly ride never held much appeal. But, bolstered by the encouragement of my friend/chaperone/handler Nicole, I took the leap. The verdict: shockingly, it's not so bad, after all. I don't think I will ever favor spinning over other forms of exercise, but sometimes it's nice to switch it up. This week, I will be back on my feet, though, hoping for the best.

In case you didn't see them, here are links to a couple of relevant editorials from last Sunday's New York Times' "Week in Review."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/opinion/06ross.html?scp=9&sq=organ%20donation&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/opinion/06longo.html?scp=5&sq=organ%20donation&st=cse

The first piece, written by a transplant nephrologist and a clinical ethics professor, offers one viewpoint on the new proposal to change the way kidneys are divvied up.
The second is written by Christian Longo, a prisoner on death row in Oregon who started an organization to promote organ donation among prisoners sentenced to death.