Departures and Arrivals.

Life is good, and it only gets better.

The past few weeks in Austin have been fantastic. Not only do I feel like I am really starting to belong to the community here, but I am also learning how to utilize the resources and wealth of knowledge surrounding me. I went to a beekeeping class, kayaked on town lake, and tubed down the river in San Marcos. I have eaten some of the most delicious food on the planet. And I have enjoyed spending time with people I love. Needless to say, I am pretty glad that I made the move from Hawaii to Austin in February.

Timing is a funny thing. Just as I was starting to feel established and comfortable with my life in Austin, it was time for me to leave for the summer to go to Nigeria. I accepted a position working with the Chife Foundation to help develop a public health care system in a new city in Africa. This opportunity provides a chance to make a difference on a larger scale than a private practice while working with visionaries. The goal is to create a model for future African development. While I have lots of ideas about what I will be doing and what to expect, there are more unknowns than knowns. Here's what I do know:
-I will be living in rural Nigeria for two and a half months, doing a combination of surveying (health surveys, etc) and collaborating with other experts to make recommendations for the new city project.
-Stacy will be there. And seven other interns, whose names I have seen in an email.
-I will have a chance to work with other really amazing people (interns, Chife employees, Anam community members).
-I will get to learn about Nigeria and have to opportunity to make a contribution.

So on May 29, I boarded a plane bound for Lagos.

About an hour into the flight, there was an announcement over the loud speaker: "We are looking for a doctor or nurse to help with a medical situation. If you are a doctor or a nurse, please contact a flight attendant immediately." After a brief moment of hesitation, when I wondered if I was really prepared to declare myself so publicly on a plane, I made eye contact with a flight attendant who asked if I could help. After introducing myself as Dr. Strickler, I quickly felt that I had control of the situation and the moment of hesitation was long forgotten. Luckily we didn't need to reroute the plane, nor did I need to perform any drastic measures. A simple exam with questioning and some paperwork later, everything was in order. It was a good reminder of how comprehensively I was trained for myriad situations. It also made me wonder what was in store for me once we landed in Nigeria.

I made it safely to Lagos after 14 hours of travel. Before even making it through customs, I met four of the seven other interns, which only contributed to the excitement of arriving. After getting our luggage and yellow fever cards checked, we were swooped from the airport to a hotel, where we ate our first Nigerian meal. I managed to sleep the whole night through even with the time difference (Nigeria is six hours ahead of CST). And prepare for another day of travel before getting to Ebenebe, the site of the new Anam city.

okc marathon.

Following in the tradition of Pheidippides, I ran my first marathon yesterday. It was quite an experience to say the least.

Four months ago, I remembered a promise I made to myself when I was eighteen: I would run a marathon by the time I was thirty. That seemed reasonable when I was eighteen and thirty seemed like forever away. Plus, I was eighteen, resilient, and trail-running regularly. That was twelve years ago and I really had no idea what the impact of being somewhat sedentary through medical school would have on my body. Nonetheless, a commitment is a commitment. And now I had less than six months to follow through.

I trained with the Passmore Racing Team (Stacy and Paul) for the Austin Half Marathon in February. It was great to have the support and accountability of our 8-week training schedule. I think we each pushed ourselves a little harder knowing that we would be racing together. After finishing the half marathon, we all felt pretty good and it was motivation for me to continue training for the full marathon.

So I scripted my plan, laid out days that I would do my long runs and hoped that four months was enough preparation. Turns out, a stress fracture type injury is enough to derail training. Six weeks before the OKC marathon, my left foot started giving me trouble. I pretty much quit training at that point. The longest I'd run was 16 miles. Now I couldn't go more than a few miles without major pain. So I stuck to yoga and swimming and wore an ankle brace. I decided that I would still go to the marathon, and do the best that I could despite the injury.

So, on Sunday May 1st, I completed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I am not sure yet how to characterize my mixed emotions about the race. One one hand, I am humbled at the number of people who participate in such events and proud of my accomplishment, while at the same time I think we might all be CRAZY.

When I woke up on Sunday a cold front had blown in creating a thunderstorm that was predicted to last for the day. We went from sunny and 72 on Saturday evening to 42 with 25mph winds and rain on Sunday morning. Thank you Oklahoma weather. Still too excited to process the potential impact this weather may have on the race, I got dressed in warm layers I had luckily packed 'just in case.' The final layer was a 13-gallon trash bag over my clothes. Stylish, I know.

My mom graciously agreed to run with me at the start and finish of the race. So she and I were out on the course at 6:20am ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn't know that the race was delayed due to lightening. So we stood out in the cold rain waiting for the new start time to arrive. While standing there listening to announcements and runners chattering about the weather, feeling the excitement of everyone was energizing. Then, moments before the gun went off, we were all asked to observe 168 seconds of silence to honor the memory of the 168 people that were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. The only sound around us was the raindrops falling. I cannot express the profundity of 25,000+ people standing in the rain before sunrise, totally silent.

One of the things that I appreciated about the OKC marathon was the emphasis on the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. We started and ended at the memorial, with tributes to the 168 victims woven throughout the fanfare of the race. The announcer read this quote that is on the entrance to the memorial:
"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity." I like the sentiment.

As the shot rang out, we started running! (This is a photo of us finishing.) The course took us through some really great parts of the city. My mom ran with me for the first four miles and then Spenser was waiting at mile 11 to run the rest of the way with me. I ran with another racer for a while who was running the half. He told me that he and his girlfriend started training for the half-marathon together and then they broke up two months ago. He was running in the race and she was at home on the couch! Love it!

Overall, the weather was the most remarkable part of this race. The first half was cold and rainy, and then it got colder and rainier and windier, and then colder and windier with hail. During the second round of hail, a nearby racer said, "Seriously, what's next?! A tornado?!"

Seriously, who thinks it's a good idea to run a marathon in 40 degree weather with 25mph winds and hail?! I couldn't feel my hands after mile two, my feet were wet and numb, and I think I shivered for at least an hour after finishing the race. A warm bath, hot water bottles, three blankets and a comforter later, I was finally warm and feeling pretty good.

I definitely could not have finished the race without the all support I had. Spenser, mom and I crossed the finish line together. (Above is Spenser drinking a beer at mile 25.) We all got our hard-earned medals and I got my finisher t-shirt. At one point in the race, I wondered why I was doing this, and recognized that in addition to being stubborn, I wanted that medal and t-shirt. However, the emergency blanket they passed out at the end was a more valuable prize then the medal by the time I made it to the end.

I am so grateful to Dave and Janet who generously hosted us, to everyone that wished me luck and cheered for me, and to the people who stood out in the rain supporting the runners. And I am really glad that I will never have to do this again! Ever.