Beyond ADHD A Physicians Perspective Ep 16: Dr. Michelle Quirk (Board Certified Pediatrician, Running Coach Certified by Road Runners Club of America, Founder of Mindful Marathon)

Dr. Michelle Quirk: No matter what sport you're going to do, right. With exercise. Start low, go slow. You have to go into it, you know, almost with a marathon mindset. Like this will not happen overnight, especially if we have been on the couch for a while, or even if we do a different sport.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Hi, welcome to Beyond ADHD, A Physician's Perspective podcast. I am your host, Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh. I'm a family medicine doc, with ADHD, practicing in a rural setting in Texas. I am a mother to two very energetic toddlers who are three and four years of age.

And in the past year, I have undergone radical transformation after discovering  ADHD coaching, and life-coaching. For the past decade, my typical day consisted of having 300 charts backlog, a graveyard of unfinished projects, and a lack of time awareness. I didn't realize that I was not filling my own cup. I was running on fumes, the last year I figured out the secret; learn to stay in your lane. So now my mission is to help others develop systems that tap into their zone of genius. So they too can reclaim their personal lives back like I have.

Okay. So this week I am super excited cause we have a very special guest.

One of my really cool friends. This is Dr. Michelle Quirk and she's a board certified pediatrician and a certified running coach. You heard it right. Running coach. And she is with the Road Runners Club of America, and she founded mindful marathon to help make running easy. Did you hear that? Easy and fun for busy professionals.

And so today she's going to show us how to be informed, how to, make this enjoyable and how to have a very effective approach as she, this is what she teaches her clients. And she coaches them to become athletes not just, you know, a shift of mindset, but go into it into a lifelong love for the running.

So she was going to teach us about how to be very informed and make this fun. So super excited to talk to Dr. Michelle, tell us, tell us all the thing.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Oh, thanks so much for having me, Dr. Diane, I'm very happy to be here. Yeah, so, where should we start? Should we start with, the fact that maybe I wasn't always a runner?

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yes, please do tell us, because probably everybody's thinking, well, she's probably like an athlete, like where she has 10,000 medals or something.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: No, no. I mean, I have quite a metal accumulation now, but that that's only within the last like 10 years or so, but yeah, I, I was not always a runner. I was not much of an athlete as a kid.

My sport growing up was dance. Like I did ballet and stuff like that, but, yeah, I struggled through the mile run. Never thought that, I would ever be a runner. I thought that they were made of something different than I was. And so, yeah, I found running about 10 years ago. I had tried it a bunch of times and quit a bunch of times for all of the reasons you can think of, you know, it hurts.

It wasn't fun. I was feeling tired. I was afraid to get injured. And about 10 years ago, I, decided to lace my running sneakers on again, and really give it a go because I was in this time in my life where I was going through, lots of difficulties. So it was, you know, I finished my residency, started a new job, moved to a new place, was newly married, like all of these stressors.

And my dad was diagnosed with cancer at that time. And so I found myself telling my patients and families like, Hey, you know, you need to exercise and eat well. And sleep. Well, and all of these things and here I was not doing it myself and I thought, you know, what better thing can I do then try to lace these sneakers up and at least just try again.

And this time. I'll just go five or 10 minutes around the block. See what happens because all of the previous times didn't work and I failed. And so this time

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: You we're probably trying to do like the marathon every time that you started. Right?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Pretty much. Yeah. I think not a marathon, but you know, you think that yeah.

That I would be able to go out and just run a couple of miles. Because this is what I would hear. My friends who were runners say, like, I just did my easy three miles, so why can't I do that? But if you're not trained to do that, it's very hard to go from zero to that first 5k, if you don't go about it in the right way.

So anyway, long story short is that I ran my first official 5k, like about a year after I started really consistently running and I've been running ever since. So it's it stuck this time?

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Good. So, you know, you're talking to an audience who can't concentrate at all sometimes right. With ADHD and, some people obviously do use running as a tool to help them focus.

Like actually I shared with you before that, I had no idea that I had ADHD till I was in my first year in medical school and, I was kind of surprised, but looking back now that I put the puzzle together, it makes sense that in high school, I had no idea because I was running like 10 miles a day, like with my cross country team or with my track team or whatever.

And so even during track, like, you know, I would do the two mile or like, you know, the long thing, right. You, it could make sense why that's where I was getting my dopamine from.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah, for sure. And I think when I started running, you know, like a lot of people, I would listen to music or really try to tune out, to what I was doing.

But as I went along. You know, really fell in love with the sport. Now I really, I try to go without any headphones and without any music. And I think that taking away all of that stimulus actually has helped me to focus more and I can get into, it's a clarity of mind, really. Like sometimes I don't think about anything and sometimes I get very, creative ideas for mindful marathons.

Where I'm taking things with my athletes, but for sure, you know, plenty of studies on running and, and dopamine. And I don't think I appreciated that, you know, at the time, but now, during periods where I have not been running due to injury or rest or whatever it is. I noticed the difference.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And so it's interesting you say that, that it gives you clarity. I don't know if it's just, everybody has a different thing of what they consider like peaceful and boring. And so I remember that the things that were boring. Listening to pathology for me during medical school, like I would put it on like, I would hear the lectures and I would run because I was looking at the trees.

I was looking at everything else. And I guess the stimulus of doing something, what like penetrated and make, make the information a little bit more easily to digest. When you sat down, you kind of primed your brain, but at the same time, like you said, you were getting oxygen into the brain because, and some days, yeah, you just turned it off because he didn't matter. Like you just needed that break.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: And there's not much out there, right? Like, yes, you're paying attention to nature or the cars if you're in the city, but, but there's not much else, but you and your foot falls. So if you are, yeah. If you're listening to a lecture, I could see how it would yeah. It, how you would pay better attention and how it would stick. I used to do that too.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. It's so weird. How, you know, when you're listening to the lecture, you're just thinking, no, I just have to listen to the lecture. I just have to keep running through the lecture. Once the lecture is done, I'm done. Or even if you were not listening to the lecture, you would be like, okay, I just have to get to that street over there and then like you get to the street, you're like, okay, maybe I can do a little bit more. And so it's like a mindful challenge at the same time, then that nice sweat that happens afterwards. It's like that soreness, but you're like, okay, it's a good type of thing.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah. The sense of accomplishment, I think.

Right. And then you did two things, you exercise and you studied.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. So what do you think is the key to getting started with running?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: I think the best advice I could give would be to start low and go slow, which is not hard for us. Because we all want very quick results. And so you have to go into it, you know, almost with a marathon mindset.

Like this will not happen overnight, especially if we have been on the couch for a while or even if we do a different sport, like I have a lot of athletes who do a lot of cycling or they have a spin bike and they're used to that workout, but running is it's a little bit different. So it's still a great aerobic cardiovascular exercise, but you use different muscles and it's just different takes time to adapt.

So, but I always suggest is really taking it easy setting aside, maybe, you know, two or three days a week when you, when you first start for just five or 10 minutes and maybe tack it on, if you already do some other kind of exercise, add it on. So if you like to cycle or you like to do yoga or you're more into weights or HIIT training or something. You can tack it onto the beginning or end of one of your other workouts to work it in gradually and not do what I did, which is go out and try to run three or five miles when you haven't done it before.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. So, I mean, it seems like such common sense thing. Right. But the things that seem simple, like you said, you have to make sure you schedule it in, right.

Because. If you wait too, like you, when you feel like it, like, you're never going to quote unquote, magically feel like it. Right. But it's like everything, like once you start, like the motion will keep you going, like you just have to get over that 1%, just start something. And then the object emotion keeps going right.

Stays in motion. And the thing is like having realistic goals, like you said, I have a friend, oh my God, she, I love her to death, but. Like she has this mindset. Like, I can do anything, which is good, but sometimes it can get us in trouble. Right? Like she, again, signed herself up for a marathon. She trained here and there and then she just magically thought she was going to do this marathon.

Of course she did it. But what happened? She ended up with rhabdo, like for the next few days at the hospital. Right. So like, that's the thing, like, you can't just like reel your brain into like doing things. I mean, maybe you could, but then you pay for it, right?. The, the body keeps the score. And so it's so important to make sure that your mind and your heart and your body kind of match up with your goals so that you don't like overdo it.

And so we don't think that something like that would happen until it does. Right. So you just gotta make sure that if you're going to do something like this, that you do talk to a coach, like talk to you so we could make sure we're doing it safely.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah, you don't want to wing it for a marathon for sure.

But you know, one thing that has helped I work with a lot of, you know, high high-achievers, very busy, busy professionals. Right. But one thing that seems to work well with the training plan is like one is just to have something in writing. And two is to look at. The week ahead. So I usually sit with my calendar on the weekend and look at all of the things I have to do that are written in the calendar for the week.

You know, my work shifts, um, doctor's appointments, whatever it is, have to bring, you know, kids here, their family obligations. So you look at all of that and you say, okay, I have my three days for my. Workouts. Where am I going to put that, you know, morning, evening, like you have to figure out what works for you and where in your schedule.

It makes sense, but doing it ahead of time is really the key. And then you schedule your workouts in the same way you schedule other things. So if it's on the calendar with the time, you are much more likely to do it than if you leave it up to, you know, first thing in the morning, the alarm goes off and it's like, oh, Coach Michelle says I have to go for a run, I don't know.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: You hit exactly the point that I always teach my clients as well. Like you need to plan. Otherwise, it's not going to happen like out of sight, out of mind. Right. And the thing is, if you wait until you feel like it, you're just not going to feel like it like your body and your brain are going to tell you like all the excuses, why you shouldn't go do it.

Right? And it's the same thing. Like whenever we have to close some notes, That might seem like the painful or boring task. And you might be like, well, I don't want to do that. Like, I'll wait till I feel like it. And again, you're never going to feel like it. And so, but if you schedule it, like you just said, you don't make it mean anything.

You're more likely to make it happen because you already took away the decision of trying to even decide if you want to do it or not. It's in your calendar. It's Sarah, of course life happens and things come up, but if you at least have it on your calendar, the likelihood of it actually happening goes way up because no, no longer.

Is it just an idea in your brain? Like now it feels like a product it's it's in the open it's in the calendar. People can see that you have committed, you know, especially if you're sharing with your husband or your significant other or your girlfriends, and you're telling them, Hey, we're going at this time at this place.

Then it's more likely. Right. And, and like, I recently heard somebody saying like, you know, you have to show up for you. And sometimes we don't do that. Like, you know, you tell your friend, Hey, we're going to start running at 10:00 AM and then like nine 50 comes and like, your friend's not there.

And then it happens again. You're like, you're really mad at your friend, but your, your friend, you know, you're the one who's like not showing up for you. And so you have to decide the why. Do you talk to your clients about like, why they're running or why they're doing anything they're doing?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah, that's I actually, in my questionnaire, when I work with, my one-on-one clients, like one of the questions on the questionnaire is why do you want to run?

And sometimes we have to go beyond like the first one or two or three things, even that come to mind. But when you can really get into, um, you know, the deep reason for why you're doing it, I also encourage people to set, um, you know, Some goals for the near future and then some for the distance. So maybe you have a, you know, you want to run your first 5k, let's say, um, but you know, like your friend, like maybe you have an idea that you want to run a marathon, but that might be one or two or five years down the road.

So, you know, it's important to have those short-term goals that you can work towards. Right as stepping

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Not three months, like she did it and then like went to practice like five times. Right. She's like what? I run at the Navy all the time. I'm like, yeah, that time.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah. A marathon training cycle can be like 16 to 20 weeks.

So if you're, you know, and that's, you know, 3, 4, 5, 6 days a week of running, but it's a long time. It's half a year. So. Yeah, you don't want to just wake up and decide to do that.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And you can, and, and obviously she was able to, but then she paid dearly for

Dr. Michelle Quirk: it. I'm sure it's right. And we don't want to get anyone injured.

We want them to enjoy the experience so that she wants to do another one. Yes, exactly.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So it, so that it doesn't become something that was so exciting, all of a sudden at shore or a task, right. Because you are being unreasonable sometimes. Right. So, yeah.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. So you've been running for the last 10 years. Can you tell us some of your struggles with that? How did you overcome them?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah, but I think one, one struggle is what you alluded to. So just because I love running and I'm a coach does not mean that I am above the excuses either. Like I still sometimes wake up in the morning, the alarm goes off and I'm, you know, I don't want to get out, but I think what I try to remember is how good I feel.

While I'm out there. And it's really just the act of getting outside. Especially here I live in Pennsylvania, winter is a little bit of a rough time to be a runner. Like there's not that many hours of daylight and it's cold and you have to dodge the snow and the ice. So winter is always a little bit harder, but once I'm out there, I feel good.

And of course afterward, I feel great. So it's not as difficult anymore as it used to be to get out the door. But I still struggle with that. That's important to know everyone, I think assumes like, oh, you never have that trouble, but I do. I do. I just, I just go. And sometimes I don't write, like some days it just doesn't work and you have to rearrange things, but you know, I've learned how to be a little bit more flexible with myself, not to the point of laying on the couch.

Flexible in terms of shifting schedules as the needs come up.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And I think that's really important, like understanding what you value and what you think is important for you and then making time for it. And then again, like you said, staying flexible enough to not make it be like all or nothing.

Right. And then like, that's, it, it didn't work out the rest of the week is not going to work out. Right. Like you throw your hands and you're like Gord, so dramatic or brings like. No, everything went south, you know? And so understanding that that's just part of your brain and that your body easily forgets that you were just doing this last week and all of a sudden, like if you let go of it for a couple of weeks, it's like, you never did it.

Right. You're a sore all over again. But again, like getting back into. I think is so important. And, and sometimes even like taking a picture before and after, like can motivate you because it actually happened. Right. And, and yeah, like, so I hadn't ran since like high school. And then like, I don't know, I went through lots of shifts, like last year with like life coaching and discovering myself and all kinds of stuff.

And then I started running for a while there and it was so amazing. And I was like, oh my God, I can't be by just ran like a mile or two. And then I did it. 10 minutes, which is very slow, of course. But then you're comparing yourself to like, when you were to high school, you could do like a seven or eight minute a mile. Right. And, but I'm like, Hey, when you haven't done it in like, almost like 20, 30 years, like, it feels like crazy, right. And then of course, I had my injury with my, I dropped the 50 pound bag of cement on my foot and broke it in July. And then after that, I was like, I think I'll wait. And so I haven't gotten back to it, but I definitely want to, because it felt great.

Like you said, it's just you and the road and then just measuring each post or each house that you're passing it is just gives you that like competitive spirit of like, okay, I can keep going.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah, I think, I think that's probably. You know, talking about injury, that's probably the other biggest struggle are periods of time away from running.

Due to injuries. And, you know, like the first time after I had really, you know, run for, I don't know, five or six years without having any trouble and then had an injury, it was something like ridiculous. Like I was weeding the garden. Stepped off of the step into the garden, twisted my ankle. And I was out for two months, three months.

And so I remember just feeling very like defeated, how I was going to lose all of this fitness and it was going to take me. In my mind, I thought it was going to take me five years to get back to where, where I was by taking three months off. So that was, that was tough. But I think, you know, coming up with ways to just adjust your goalposts.

And during that time, I found that I liked swimming, you know, I was allowed to swim and I found that I liked that. And I ended up doing a triathlon after all of that. Done. So you can, you can turn the lemons into lemonade.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And like, not being afraid to go get a massage, if you are sore, if you just went for a round, you know, because, that's a good way to get all that lactic acid out.

And then you just feel so much better. I really think that doing my massages during the time of the injury was so helpful because you know, you're trying to be. The whole thing, and then they're like, they're working it out so that you still are getting back on track, you know? Yeah. So, yeah. So, um, so tell us, what are you up to like these days?

What are your current, big activities that you have going on? Or how can people find you.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Yeah. So I, I always have, at least a couple of one-on-one clients. And I just started a group program, which is called ReadySet run. So that's going to run for 10 weeks and I'll probably offer that again in the fall.

We'll see. But I am actively planning our spring virtual 5k. So that's what is on deck next. So look out for that and you can. Find out all the information on my website, which is mindful-marathon.com. And if you are, you know, if you're a beginner, let's say you're on the couch. If you're on the couch, there is a walk plan.

So you can really like dip your toe into it. There's a walkway on the website. And then if you want to, you know, kind of get started with running, and make it stick. There is a workshop. So you can find those both on the website, just scroll to the bottom and you can get them for free.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: How exciting. So tell me, where do you see yourself in the next like five years what's coming up?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Ooh, that's a great question. I would really like to help more runners. And I think that that may be in the form of races. I don't know if it will be virtual. I have visions of in-person races, and hopefully helping to bring this maybe to doctors, healthcare organizations like to help the problem with burnout.

So we'll see. It's, it's a little cloudy, a little fuzzy that vision, but it's. So I'm hoping to grow that portion of mindful marathon, like the race portion.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Awesome. Okay. So one last question. So let's say my, you know, ADHD, people come and go in or attention comes and goes. So let's say that they just started listening.

Like what is the one takeaway point you want them to take away?

Dr. Michelle Quirk: No matter what sport you're going to do, right. With exercise. Start low, go slow. Just don't overdo it. Good. Awesome advice.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: You heard it. You just got to start, even if it's slow, don't be trying to do the whole marathon at once, right? It doesn't matter where you are.

You can keep improving if that's what you desire. Right? You want to do things that light you up and be willing to try things that you haven't tried before, because you don't know what if that's your thing and you didn't know that was your zone of genius, right? So you just gotta be willing. So willing gets us, gets us places.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Exactly.

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Well, thank you so much for coming today, Dr. Michelle, you're basing. I think I'm going to go in and look at that website myself, because I think I need to get back into that. Okay. Thank you for the motivation.

Dr. Michelle Quirk: Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to talk. Bye-bye

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: As someone who understands that time is your most valuable asset, I am so honored that you have shared your time with me. Please click the subscribe. And join my Facebook Group: Beyond ADHD A Physician's Perspective so that you never miss an opportunity to create time at will. Do share this podcast with your friends. So they too can learn to live life and stay in their own lane.

 

Stay connected with Dr. Michelle Quirk:

Website: www.mindful-marathon.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mindfulmarathon

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mindful.marathon

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mindfulmarathon