With almost 2 hours to kill in between medical appointments last week over at UCSF, I decided to put that otherwise wasted time to good use and do something Ive always wanted to…. I racewalked the Kezar stadium!
That’s right…. I racewalked 5.5 miles around the track, and I did it while wearing jeans and a button up shirt. You should have seen the stares I got. Hey, I have no shame. I’d racewalk in my underwear if I thought I could get a way with it. Not since my little racewalking for science experiment back in 2007, have I had so much fun during a medical appointment day.
Not sure why I didn’t do this sooner. Ive walked past this stadium a hundred times on my way up the hill to the hospital. I guess I felt a bit strange about combining a racewalk workout with a medical appointment, especially an appointment with lung doctor. Or maybe it’s just the weird juxtaposition of the two places. One representing illness and suffering, the other sport and pleasure. After all, the reason I come here UCSF in the first place, is because I have severe breathing problems. Wonder what their reaction would be if I told them, “Oh….and while I was waiting to see you today about my worsening dyspnea, I did 22 laps on the Kezar track”.
Yeah, that would go over real well.
UCSF medical center [in the upper right background] is situated just 2 blocks above the historic Kezar Football stadium. The former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers, Kezar stadium now hosts amateur and recreation sports leagues, as well as numerous San Francisco high school football games. The outdoor stadium has a beautifully maintained 400 track, perfect for a racewalking nerds like me. I’m sure a lot of the medical students and staff at UCSF use this track for their own workouts, so why shouldn’t their patients…. even their respiratory patients ? Hey if aerobic exercise isn’t useful in maintaining good health, I don’t know what is.
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I dunno, it always makes my Dr. happy when she hears I've been exercising.
That's the way it should be.
In my case however, its usually just the opposite. Theyll say things like…
"Just because youre able to do marathons doesn't mean you should." OR " One of these days youre going to kill yourself doing that ". They just cant wrap their brains around the idea that someone with lungs like mine can condition themselves to do these kinds of physical things.
That's a shame, because I think it's the regular exercise that helps us endure severe episodes and recover from them more quickly.
Now, let's hope your doctors don't find your blog, or your secret is out! 😉
That's one nice track, I must say! Glad you put that waiting time to productive use.
Most of them know that I have a blog and I always encourage them to take a peak. But theyre also cautious that they might end up being the subject of one of my blog posts, so I think thats why they stay away.
I wish there was a track near where all my doctors are to kill time. Cause I try to schedule 'em all in one day with like 90 minute gaps between strategically for whom is gonna be running behind. I mean as long as the pro's outweigh the con's why not keep marathoning? Of course the pro's and con's are subjective…I digress.