Doctor’s Challenges Come in Threes

Dr. Mark Song knows all about pain, his and others.

For 14 years he has worked as an emergency room doctor at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, where he has seen the trauma and suffering of others.

But for the past four years, Song, of Irvine, has learned another kind of pain, the type that comes from competing in grueling triathlons featuring a 2.4-mile swim in the ocean, 112 miles of bicycling and a 26-mile run.

“To be honest, what it really gets down to is the 20th mile of the marathon when you are really wiped out. That’s the point in time you ask yourself why are you doing it,” Song said.

He said the feeling borders on having a sort of out-of-body experience, a spiritual awakening.

“Your body is killing you and your mind is free-floating and that’s an experience hard to describe,” Song said.

Last year he competed in triathlons in Germany in July, Canada in August and Hawaii in October, but admits “three in one year is really pushing it.”

“I’m just a hard worker. I don’t feel I stand out in the crowd, but when I put it all together I do very well,” said Song, married for 13 years to Wendy Song, who recently competed in her first triathlon.

They have three children.

The UC Davis Medical School graduate, who originally planned to become an attorney, said his biggest asset is his ability to concentrate.

“Someone recently told my wife I was the most focused person he had ever met and I guess that’s why I can push my body to the next level,” he said.

That is not to say that the whole idea of a triathlon is completely healthful.

“Triathlons are very hard on the body, but I’m careful of what I do,” he said. “Being a doctor helps because I have more knowledge of the body and what it can do.”

Song is in training for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in October, considered the world’s championship triathlon.

He first has to qualify for the Hawaii competition at Lake San Antonio on May 2. It is the only triathlon that has a qualifying round.

“Only the best get to go to Hawaii,” said Song, who competes in the 40-to-44 age bracket.

His training is an exercise routine of about three hours a day.

“You have to work out quite a bit and because of my own work at the hospital, I have to do it early in the morning, late at night and on my days off,” said Song, who recently ran in the L.A. Marathon.

The exercise routine takes its toll.

“Finding the time to do it is difficult, and then I usually end up pretty exhausted,” said Song, who has been a swimmer since his college days.

He has also competed in the tough 10-mile ocean swim between Huntington Beach and Seal Beach.

“I was always a swimmer and a competitive person,” said the Alhambra High School graduate who attended UCLA before transferring to UC Davis. “It’s not so much that I want to win, but what I want to do.”

Song said his long-range goal is to continue as long as he can as a doctor and competitor.

In medicine, however, “it’s hard to practice what I’m trained to do as an emergency room doctor.” He complains that the emergency room is inundated with general health care from people without insurance instead of acute care.

“We’re headed for a national health care program.” he predicts.