New challenges ahead – Career progression.
I applied to only Wessex jobs (10 posts total). Earlier this week, I was unexpectedly offered a Wessex Clinical Oncology post. When I got the Medical Oncology offer, I almost accepted it straightaway but I managed to restrain myself and put the offer on hold instead. It felt selfish and presumptuous of me; I wanted to see if I was good enough. Sure enough, the Clin Onc offer came through. And after 48 hours of deliberation, swaying back and forth… I made my decision.
To myself, I’ve always said Clin Onc though I felt that I am Med Onc in nature. I was more into Chemistry than Physics, and honestly, I don’t know how I will do with the Physics. I like writing more than exams and there are not one, not two, but THREE exams throughout training! Then Clin Onc takes 5 years vs Med Onc takes 4 years! So whyyy?!
During a Taster Week a long while back, a Clin Onc Reg told me something that has stuck with me…
If you’re going to read a book, you might as well read the whole thing.
At crunch time, I chose Clin Onc because I want to learn ALL of it, I want to learn the Physics, learn a new language if you will (as if starting Oncology is not learning a new language in itself). It is 100% out of my comfort zone and I wanna push myself further. I know the exams are going to be difficult and I may fail them (given my track record) but I will get through them. Short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.
My other epiphany is… “Well if managed to get through all that (and actually smashed it), then I can get through this.” Having gone through all the challenges in the last few weeks, months, and even years, I think I am ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.
More challenges – More Marathons.
In the autumn time, I have not only one but TWO races to run, 2 weeks apart. Berlin and Chicago. Hopefully, my second and third star. Both deferred from 2022.
London was my 5th marathon, that already is a feat in itself. And I have finished them all under 5 hours. However, despite setting pre-race goals, I somehow revert back to “Just as long as I finish.” For these next 2 races, I’m going push myself a little harder.
I’ve not really tried hard enough yet to see how well I can really do in a marathon. My fastest was in Richmond (4 hrs 37 mins). And surely, I am slightly faster now than 2 years ago. I can hold a pace of under 10 mins/mile for probably 8-9 miles. But then beyond that, I start-stop. And once I do that, the cycle is VERY hard to break. I know I have gotten used to this and the reason why the my next races were around the 4 hrs 50ish min mark. So I want to improve that.
First, the one thing that has to go is start-stopping. I have to mentally prepare myself before each run and anticipate what I would if the urges to stop come around. I will have to work on this and break the cycle.
Second, training 5 days a week rather than 4. Currently, I am working at 80% (working 4 days/week) and I have yet to decide whether to remain at 80% once I start Clin Onc training. I worked Full-Time in IMT. Anyway, right now, I have some extra time to add in another run.
My only real rule when training is that as much as possible, don’t run when the kids are at home. And if they are, 30 min run max. Them at home is our time with them. It’s bad enough that we have careers that keep us in the hospital for very long hours. So I absolutely need to reserve Home time for the kids.
Further challenge – Fundraising.
Lastly, fundraising. For the last marathon, I got my place through the ballot, not a charity place. But I ended up trying to raise money for 2 charities. I had already signed up to raise money for Cancer Research UK before finding out about Home-Start. This proved to be a not so great decision. Anyway, for the rest of this journey, I will only raise funds for Home-Start Portsmouth. Also, I found it difficult reaching people. I have been off social media for 2 years now, and back then, this has worked well for fundraising. So I might have think about re-joining or think about better fundraising strategies.
Sidenote:
Reach for the Seven Stars 