My CHEST Physician Content

I have been busy working as the editor of one of the most read newspapers for pulmonologists. While I am no longer blogging about my exercising experiences, I have continued swimming and strength-training several times a week.

In my current role, I create, assign, and edit content on pulmonary medicine for my client, CHEST, also known as the American College of Chest Physicians. Additionally, I edit and write content on a variety of medical specialties for the many sister publications of CHEST Physician.

Below are examples of some of the articles I have produced as the editor of CHEST Physician. Perusing CHEST Physician's website, frequently emailed newsletters, print issues, and supplemental editorial products will provide you with a better understanding of what I do as the editor of this important newspaper and website for physicians.

Earlier this month, I edited, layed out, and assigned the stories contained in a print supplement on medical research presented at the most recent CHEST annual meeting. This editorial product was mailed with the March issue of CHEST Physician:

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/160123/chest-annual-meeting-highlights-2017

Here are a few of my writing samples that have appeared in various issues of CHEST Physician:

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/159429/sleep-medicine/adenotonsillectomy-reduced-hypertension-osa-subgroup

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/155073/pulmonology/fda-axes-asthma-drugs-boxed-warning

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/144587/pulmonology/new-test-could-cause-osas-treatment-success-rate-rise

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/135919/sleep-medicine/app-may-improve-cpap-adherence

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/133590/pulmonology/children-poor-lung-function-develop-acos

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/118760/pulmonology/initial-outcomes-pert-cleveland-clinic

https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/110494/pulmonology/teams-boost-confidence-ipf-diagnoses

I hope you enjoyed these!

Cross-country in the Summer!

You sprinted across a field of shin-height grass before entering a tree-lined, dirt trail; then climbed a gravel path; and surged down a muddy hill all while hoping your spikes dug deep enough into the ground to prevent you from falling. And you only had to run 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to accomplish all of this. That's because you just completed a cross-country race.

That just about sums up why the fall, also known as cross-country season, is my favorite time of year. Unfortunately that means during the rest of the year, I am feeling a little gloomy. . .until now! The cause of my unusually high spirits outside of autumn is me having learned of a summer cross-country series.

The NJ Trail Series is hosting 5k cross-country races all summer long! Finally, I get to enjoy my favorite sport in a second season of the year!

If you are also someone who can't get enough cross-country, please join me today (May 27th) in the next 5k race of the XC Summer Series. In fact, I would encourage you to come out and run every Wednesday night this summer.

The race official yells "go" at 6:45 pm every Wednesday. The course is in Morris County's Central Park, which is located at 91 Central Ave in Morris Plains, NJ. Registration begins at 6 pm.

For adults, each race is $10, while youths pay $8 per race.

You can also pay a larger fee that covers all of the remaining races of the 14-race series.

The competitions continue through August 26. Visit this address for more information about the series.

My Recap of the HoHa Classic

On Sunday, I ran my first race since November 2013—the HoHa Classic.

By the end of mile one, I already felt worn out. The next few miles continued to beat me down. I couldn't even push out a kick during the race's last quarter mile around Pier A Park—in fact, not even during the final 100 meters.

Well, at least no ligament, tendon or muscle pain was to blame for my sluggishness. I was simply out of shape. Despite my less than stellar performance (I averaged 7:39/mile), I am thrilled to have gotten through a full five-mile race; achieving such a feat had seemed unattainable last year, when my right ankle was aching with every step.

Instead of continuing to discuss my huffings and puffings, I would like to direct your attention to the many runners who finished among the top in their age groups and the entire field of competitors.

Many of these runners are members of the Hoboken Harriers better known as the—HoHas—the race's sponsors and the running club I grew so fond of when I lived in Hoboken a couple of years ago.

My first shout-out goes to Victor Matveev. He finished number 1 in his age group and ninth overall, with a time of 30:48.1. A fun fact about this consistently successful runner is that he completed his first marathon just two weeks prior to the HoHa Classic.

Following closely behind Victor was Mike Gugliemlo, another HoHa. Completing the race in 30:55, Mike was 10th overall and third in the 30-39 age group, which he joked was due to him being one of the youngest in that category.

For the women, Angela Colarusso clearly deserves some recognition. Placing fourth of all of the female competitors, she completed the race in 33:53.4. And rumor has it that this HoHa had already raced in New York City within hours of the HoHa Classic start.

Caroline Lennon, my sister-in-law, was another of the Classic's top females. Hailing from Philadelphia, Lennon certainly didn't have the home-court advantage of her HoHa competitors. Nonetheless, she was the 11th female finisher and second in her age group. Her time was 36:06. Caroline said she was surprised to have performed so well in the 5-mile-race, because she had been focusing her training on running longer distances at a slower pace.

Of course, I would be remiss to leave out the name of the race's overall winner, which was Ned Cunningham. He averaged 5:24/mile on the humid morning of the HoHa Classic. Way to go, Ned!

I am still trying to find the name of the race's first female finisher. If anyone can help me out here, I would appreciate it.

Congratulations to everyone who ran the HoHa Classic! Your competitiveness inspired me to keep moving all the way to the finish—and even speed up a few times.

Visit this address to learn how other harriers performed during the 2015 HoHa Classic.

Encouragement & the HoHa Classic

For the past few weeks, I had been contemplating whether to enter the HoHa Classic—a five-mile race and fundraiser for the Jubilee Center, sponsored by the Hoboken Harriers. (More on the race later.)

Among the many reasons this particular race had been on my mind is that I am a former HoHa.

While I was living in Hoboken, I trained several times a week with the diligent, talented, gregarious and generous (the HoHas raise money for various charitable organizations year-round) members of this running club. During our runs, my fellow HoHas drove me to push harder than the day before. (In fact, I think the club's members deserve a lot of credit for my 5k PR—which I ran at age 30).  More importantly, the HoHas provided me with companionship, and some of them have continued to be great friends to me. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to see these friends much lately, which takes me to why I really wanted to do this race: to reconnect with as many HoHas as possible.

Having heard all of this, I am sure you are wondering why the heck I would even question participating in the HoHa Classic, which begins this Sunday (Mother's Day) at 10 am in Hoboken, by the way. (Registration starts at 8 am at Pier A. See more details by clicking on the link above or just "Google" the race.)

Now back to why I had hesitated. For one thing, I resprained my left ankle and it's still bothering me. Fortunately the pain has subsided since I initially toppled on a trail (three Sundays ago). The second thing is I am out of shape; several ankle injuries have forced me to take tons of time off from running and even swimming. Having been a pretty good runner for most of my life, it is tough for me to enter a race knowing that I may be running my personal worst time for a 5-miler.

Ultimately, I decided to register for the competition anyway, thanks in part to a fast woman who gave me a little encouragement during my run on Thursday.

The Encouragement

I had just completed mile three of five, when I heard something (which turned out to be someone) that sounded like a bicycle approaching me. I looked over my left shoulder; a surging woman was a couple of strides away from passing me. At first, I sped up; in my mind, I was my former super-fit and competitive self, who never let anyone pass me—at least not without a good fight.

I maintained my lead for what probably was only three or four strides. After she passed me, I accelerated to minimize the space between us. I kept my face within a foot of her back, hoping to be able to use her to block the wind—Tour de France style. But I couldn't continue to match her pace. When she noticed I was falling back, she yelled: "Come on, you can do it. I know you can". Those words of encouragement coming from a fellow runner, who clearly shared my passion for competitive running, made me think, "yea, I CAN do it".

And I did do it—meaning I stayed with the woman for a little longer. While I was disappointed to not have been able to finish my workout with her, I felt happy to have run kind of fast for at least a half mile. I also enjoyed the camaraderie between us.

As it turned out, I ran faster when I was bustling alongside that motivational speaker of a woman than I did during the rest of my run. According to my Garmin watch, mile four was by far my fastest mile of that workout; it was also the fastest outdoor mile I have done since I returned to running in November of last year. Having accomplished this made me realize that getting back to my old race pace is not going to take me as long as I had been thinking.

It was this experience that inspired me to ultimately type my name—and credit card number—into the 2015 HoHa Classic race registration page on Friday.

I am looking forward to the race, even though I won't be running 7-minute-miles like I have in the past on this course.

I hope you all will join me in this urban, Hudson River-following and surprisingly hilly race!

How to Beat an Ankle Sprain

Just when I had finally started to feel fit and injury-free, I turned my left ankle on a trail run.

I think I sprained a ligament or two last Sunday, but I have not yet seen a medical doctor or physical therapist for a professional diagnosis.

Of course, I feel anxious to return to running. At the same time, I am afraid of facing another ankle injury that forces me out of competitive running for more than a year. My anxiety and fear have driven me to exercise caution over the past week and to incessantly research how to treat ankle sprains.

Among my findings is that ankle sprains are incredibly common and possibly even the most common injury of athletes. More than 20,000 ankle sprains occur each day in the United States.

I also learned a series of new strengthening exercises aimed at healing and preventing further injury to the ankle and non-running workouts for maintaining fitness.

The best initial treatments for an ankle sprain are the four methods, which are often collectively referred to as RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are also often prescribed to patients with this injury. Some, however, question the effectiveness of doing so. Running Physio summarizes why there is division among professionals on whether NSAIDs are useful for treating ankle sprains in the following quote. “There has been some suggestion that they may delay healing but if they allow early movement and reduce pain they can have a beneficial effect on recovery,” says the Web site.

Stretching, Strengthening and Conditioning

Actively separating your toes for five seconds, writing out the alphabet with your toes and stationary cycling for 15 minutes a day are recommended for runners early on in an ankle injury, according to Competitor.com. These exercises are all done seated, because, at this phase of the sprain, weight-bearing is too painful to do. Read more tips on how to treat ankle pain in this article from Competitor.com.

Once weight-bearing is tolerable, rehabilitation professionals often suggest performing exercises that restore proprioception, which is the body’s ability to know where it is in space. This may be attributable to researchers having found that distortions of the ankle can lead to disturbances in this sense.

A commonly prescribed series of exercises for restoring proprioception is balancing on one leg with eyes closed, then progressing to balancing on one leg on a pillow and ultimately balancing on one leg on a less stable structure, such as a wobble balance board or rockboard. Physical rehabilitation experts recommend that balance is maintained for as long as possible on each surface and that several reps of this exercise be performed a few days a week.

The strengthening programs for patients with ankle injuries often include the basic squat and the more challenging single-leg squat or dip. Physiotherapist Tom Goom demonstrates several variations of the single-leg squat in this video. He says this move is good for runners, because it activates the glutes, ensures the ankle joint is "loose and mobile"  and strengthens the quads. 

To prevent additional ankle injuries, a Running Times article suggested performing several exercises that strengthen the tendons and muscles in your ankles, feet and lower legs. These include "[stretching] your ankles regularly by rotating your foot several times in each direction" and "[pointing] your toes downward as far as possible for 10 seconds, followed by pointing your toes upward for 10 seconds".

When it comes to purely maintaining fitness without exacerbating ankle pain, some sports medicine experts suggest circuit training, which involves performing a series of strengthening exercises with brief rests in between each one. I like this program, because it targets the upper body, lower body and core.  Lat pulldowns, stability ball push-ups, leg extensions and bicycle crunches are some of the exercises that it includes.

Cycling and swimming are also helpful for maintaining cardiovascular fitness. For some with ankle injuries, performing these exercises can be almost as painful as running, so exercise caution (Yes, pun intended).

I hope this post helps injured runners heal!

When do I eat?

Sometimes I feel like the hardest part about being a runner is figuring out when to eat.

When I step out of bed in the morning, my body feels the eight-hour fast it just did. At that moment, I am almost never able to convince myself to continue fasting.

A run immediately after breakfast will be halted by an upset stomach. If I wait too long to start my run, I probably won't get to work on time. Because of these obstacles and my inability to rise insanely early, I don't do a lot of morning runs during weekdays.

My early evening yearning for food is even stronger. After finishing the work day I feel desperate to eat. At the same time, I feel desperate to move, because I have an office job and I'm a runner gosh darn it. As recently as two years ago (before my ankle injury), I was somehow able to consistently run before dinner. An oatmeal and fruit breakfast followed by a colossal salad with whole wheat bread and tons of coffee would take me through the entire work day and a post-work run. 

Now, my running and eating schedule vary each day. 

This personal struggle is one of the many reasons I am extremely impressed with any great runner with a day job title that is something other than "runner". Hilary Dionne, who completed this year's Boston Marathon in 2:40:42, is one of such people, according to an article by Sarah Lorge Butler, which was published on the Runner's World Web site on "Marathon Monday". Dionne is both an elite runner and director of operations for a company, Butler reported. 

I hope Dionne is taking time to bask in her most recent success. I admire her and would love to adopt her weekly meal and training schedules (albeit with a few less miles). Dionne and my other fellow "working runners", please tell me: "When do you eat?"

I do not mean to discount the talent and work ethic of full-time, professional runners, by the way. Of course, I am extremely impressed with them, as well.

In fact, congratulations to all who competed in the wet and wintry 2015 Boston Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that race is a beast in any weather.

Running in New Places with New Running Partners

After a two-week-long visit from an old enemy named illiotibial (IT) band pain, I am thrilled to be running again. The past few weeks have been particularly exciting, because I trained with new running partners on routes that were also new to me. 

Among my running location firsts was the National Mall in Washington, D.C. For years, I had jealously listened to runner friends rave about their past trots through this urban national park. When my work sent me to D.C. this month, I had to see what all the buzz was about. During the 4-mile, flat loop, I zipped past the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Museums, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. I felt energized by the combination of my iconic surroundings and the dozens of other runners I encountered during this route. What made this run even more special was that I did it with Lauren, a super-athlete who has been one my best friends since seventh grade. Although Lauren and I have been friends for nearly two decades, our recent workout marked the first time we had ever run together. (She is a former professional ballerina who "jeted" into competitive running a few years ago. In fact, last year, she qualified for the sprint triathlon national championship.)

My next new running destination was Rock Creek Park, another D.C. national park that covers a less developed part of the city. This park featured miles of trails carved though steep tree-covered terrain. It reminded me of New York City's most challenging cross country courses, such as the ones in the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park and Staten Island's Clover Lake Park.

When I returned home, I continued to explore new running locales, only this time with new friends, who are members of the Life Time Run Club in Florham Park, NJ. I was only able to keep up with these speed-demons for the first couple of miles. Fortunately, I stayed close enough to catch all of their turns and avoid getting lost during the 6-mile route.

In an effort to try to continue my pain-free running streak and because I was exhausted, I took the next day off from running and cross-training. The following two days I swam and strength-trained. Then on Saturday, my new running club mates led me through the winding, paved trails of  Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morristown, NJ. I enjoyed this run so much that I returned to the park on Sunday for a slow 6.5 miles. 

I am happy to have logged a bunch of outdoor miles alongside some dedicated runners. When I run with a partner or group, my desires to be as fit as my peers and not hold anyone back drive me to run harder than I do alone.

My recent runs also provided me with a feeling of relief regarding the status of foot and ankle pain that had been plaguing me since 2013. During and after each of the aforementioned runs, I felt little, if any, pain in my ankles or IT bands. 

After a few more weeks of training, I hope to finally compete in my first race since November 2013.