#008 - How Does Age & Stress Affect Athletic Performance? Dr. Laurie Boge, ER Physician & Army Veteran On Dealing With Menopause And a Stressful Lifestyle. - Endurance Cartel

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#008 - How Does Age & Stress Affect Athletic Performance? Dr. Laurie Boge, ER Physician & Army Veteran On Dealing With Menopause And a Stressful Lifestyle.

January 4, 2023 • 57 mins

There are many factors that influence the quality of our lives. At some point in time, we’ve all felt the pressure of work-related stress and the effects of poor time management, and an unbalanced and unhealthy lifestyle. Even if we don’t realize it at first, in the long term all these can be harmful to both our physical and emotional health.

In today’s episode of The Endurance Cartel, we are joined by Dr. Laurie Boge, an army veteran and ER physician, who shares her thoughts on how aging and stress impact our lives.

Laurie used her love for endurance sports as a healing mechanism for the traumatic experiences she’s been through while serving in the Iraq war as an emergency medicine physician. During the Covid pandemic, she created “Green Cloud”, an apparel line and the first “girls club” dedicated to supporting women working in the medical field.

In today’s episode:

(01:04) Meet Dr. Laurie Boge, ER Physician, Iron Woman athlete, and founder of Green Cloud Apparel;

(02:05) When things don’t go as planned- what went wrong in her latest endurance competition;

(04:36) Going through menopause;

(06:43) Finding the ideal work-life balance- life as an ER Physician and dealing with work-related stress;

(12:41) Serving in the Army as an intern in emergency medicine when 9/11 happened- spending her first year after medical residency in the busiest combat hospital in all of Iraq;

(25:19) Getting addicted to endurance sports;

(29:08) When Covid hit…;

(32:01) Creating Green Cloud, the first "girls club” in the medical field;

(39:04) Menopause- how do you deal with aging and physical changes as an endurance athlete;

(44:02) The Endurance exchange- feeling like a superhuman;

(46:01) Her husband, Burke- the most inspirational person in her life;

(49:47) Laurie’s advice on productivity and time management;

Quotes:

“More and more I just prioritize what’s important for me. I say yes to things that have meaning and I say a lot of no’s. I really won’t meet friends anymore to go out to dinner at 8 p.m. cause that’s when I like to go to bed (...) and then it looks like I’m very productive because I’m accomplishing my goals a little bit easier because that’s all I’m focusing on.”

“Most people say they are running from something or towards something. I just love running, nothing makes me feel so good. I mean, that's like when I kind of solve my problems, I solve the world's problems. I feel my most beautiful self when I'm sweaty and finishing hard intervals. It's still a struggle to get out the door, but I love running.”

“My first year after finishing residency, I was in Baghdad, in the busiest combat hospital in all of Iraq, and it was insane. Those were the worst and best days of my life. That sounds so weird, but to be able to take care of thousands of soldiers and marines was incredible, but also really hard (...) you're used to like, 30 to 50 victims of IEDs so it changes your whole perspective in life for sure.”

“When you get there, you're scared for the first week that you're gonna die, and then the last week you're worried cuz you wanna get back home. But in between, you just kind of have to live and you can't live in that fear 24/7. But parents back home, I can't imagine. I mean, my mom was living in fear the entire time.”

“I'm 49. Around this age, even a few years before we go through this crazy thing called menopause, and it's like wild hormones and your sleep gets disrupted and your mood gets disrupted and big changes start happening and you kind of have to learn to just go with it rather than fight it. (...)”

“Always start with the basics. You gotta get your sleep, you gotta nourish your body. So eat real foods, you know, mostly plant-based, but real foods, one-ingredient items. Try to stay away from the processed stuff (...) and then exercise. (...) You may not be able to do what you used to do, so be okay with that.”

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