Carm’s BodyBlog

so i finished another semester; one more semester of basic sciences left to go. I have completed some of the most difficult and stressful semsters, I made it this far. My spring semester of this year was amazing; my grades were great, i completed a traithlon in march, i was training daily, i felt toned and energized. I was on top of my game. I thought i had a grasp on anxiety and stress; i had finally reached that perfect balance. Then this semester it all came apart. I had to analyze my poor performance and panic attacks; something i thought i had overcome. I started off strong, working out eating healthy as i was doing; yet when the heavy work load kicked in, i began neglecting workouts and sleep. I was not getting proper sleep because i became anxious and stressed; and there began that vicious cycle i had a few semester prior. I began to feel overwhelmed stressed and as a result perform poorly on examinations, leading to panic attacks and poor confidence in my abilities.

I suffered two test anxiety attacks this semester because i did not release my stress with exercise, i was lacking proper sleep and healthy nutrition. As a result i spent all semester stressed, not as energized and playing catch up. Thank god in the end it all worked out. I completed a difficult semester, passed all my classes and i did well in some. But i cant allow myself to go through that again in my final semester. I am starting my daily workout training tomorrow; proper sleep, good food and relaxation.

This semester will be balanced, properly managed and most of all healthy mind and body. I have finally realized that if i expect to perform my best on exams i need to train my mind and body together. If i let my body suffer, become weak and tired my mind will also lag. I had so many of my classmates comment on my energy on the days i worked out and had proper sleep. Not only did i notice the change and rejuvination in myself but others could feel the positive energy. I made the promise in prior semesters to not allow stress and negative thoughts to affect my performance. I am making that promise once again with more dedication and enthusiasm to perform my absolute best; to train my body and mind equally to battle stress, heavy workload and most of all the challenges of med school.

med school is a life long commitment; i will always have challenges, stress; on call shifts, minimal sleep and many other responsabilities; this part of my career is the training field. I need to learn how to manage stress and time efectively in order to perform my best. I did it before and i will do it again. we learn from our mistakes and continually try to improve. Analyzing my strengths and weakness, my mistakes and my progress have helped me to improve and become a more efficient medical student.

TRAINING the MIND and BODY as a whole not as seperate systems

I completed my first triathlon (my first race) yesterday. I had been training for the triathlon since january. Before that i was doing the gym training (weights, cardio machines). My race consisted of 750 m swim, 20km bike ride and a 5km run/jog. I have never been a runner or cyclist up to this point. I have been so use to training short muscle fibers. I found the swim challenging; just because you dont know what the water conditions will be until you get out there. Plus pool training and ocean are totally different. I would have to say my strongest of all three would be the bike; i had my moments yesterday where i was going uphill, then i felt like i was going backward bc my legs at that point felt like jelly, my butt was numb; i was just pushing as much as i could to get over that hill. It wasn’t so bad coming up the other side of it.

I started off strong in the water; i wasn’t last to come out, and i still had some energy. I wasn’t to pleased with the huge sharp rocks up against the shore line, but  i can’t control mother nature. The cycling part was pretty good; i started off slow, then picked it up. The running well that was just a challenge in itself. At that point my quads were screaming, n i was so hot, i jogged n briskly walked n jogged near the finish. I was so glad to see the finish line; n best of all to see all my friends there. I had so many ppl come out to watch; it really was great to have that support.

I’m so glad i had my first race with my friends. SQUID was my trainer and support, through all my complaining during tough training, she always kept us going w songs n positive attitude. Thank you.

To all my Bodybuilding friends that have continued to support me with my triathlon training, given me advice (STRYKA) and shared stories, thank you so much. I hope we can continue to share race stories.

This has been the biggest physical challenge of my life. Up to a year ago i was in the worst shape; i was not healthy at all. I was able to complete this challenge because of my ATTITUDE. My attitude is what got me through the muscle pain, bruises and most of all on final race day.

My downfalls: i should have trained more; for 2 weeks i didn’t do anything bc i was on vacation, exam weekends i didn’t do much either. I should have practiced running and swimming much more. I favor the AC of the gym, and weight training, which helped tone but did not help me prepare in endurance and skills for a triathlon race. I should have trained my long muscle fibers much more; especially in running. Endurance training requires a whole different set of muscles. For future races i need to get out there and train those muscles and learn how to pace myself to make sure i have enough energy to the final end, instead of burning it in the early part of teh race.

Positive aspect: i feel amazing, very proud of myself for doing this, I made new friends, and most of all i have opened my mind to a whole new type of fitness. I would like to continue to do races. It was an amazing experience. I’ll wait until another race comes up, but for now back to the gym and weights.