In this week’s episode of Routes of Healing, Dr. Siri Chand Khalsa sits down with Dr. Michelle Quirk, a board certified pediatrician and certified run coach through the Roadrunners Club of America. Dr. Quirk is the founder of Mindful Marathon, where she helps busy professionals make running feel approachable, enjoyable, and sustainable through practical coaching and a mindset rooted in recovery, flexibility, and self trust.

Together, they explore how burnout can quietly shape a clinician’s life long before we name it, and how a simple decision to run five minutes around the block can become a turning point. Dr. Quirk shares how grief after the loss of her father deepened her relationship with movement, and how marathon training opened a new kind of inner quiet that felt both restorative and creative. They also discuss recovery as a daily practice, the myth that running is bad for knees, the power of easy pace and zone two training, and why you do not need a race on the calendar to train for life.

If you are a clinician rebuilding your relationship with movement, a former athlete trying to start again without shame, or a human who wants a healthier nervous system and a steadier mind, this episode offers a grounded path forward.

If you’re inspired by our exploration on Routes of Healing, a physician-led podcast uplifting the wisdom and lived experience of integrative and lifestyle medicine doctors, subscribe to receive new episodes weekly. Subscribe and follow along!

🔑 Key Topics & Takeaways

Burnout before burnout had a name, noticing the moment when your advice does not match your life.

Starting low and going slow, why five minutes around the block is enough to begin.

Grief and movement, how running can hold sorrow without forcing it to resolve.

Recovery as a daily practice, shifting from reward coping to true restoration.

Flexibility over perfection, why missing a run does not mean you cannot reach your goal.

The knee myth, why sedentary living can be harder on joints than an appropriately paced run routine.

Easy pace and zone two, building aerobic fitness without living in huff and puff.

Letting go of numbers, how effort based training can reduce intimidation and increase consistency.

Mindfulness in motion, the reset that happens when the mind goes quiet on the trail.

Training for life, why a race is optional and the routine can evolve over years.

⏱ Chapters

00:30 — Welcome and Introduction to Dr. Michelle Quirk

01:54 — Burnout in 2012, A Wake Up Call in the Emergency Department

04:40 — Loss, Grief, and the Role of Movement in Healing

06:51 — Being a Pediatrician With a Hybrid Coaching Business

10:32 — What Recovery Really Means for Clinicians

13:00 — Marathon Training, Perfectionism, and Learning Flexibility

16:08 — Not an Athlete, Starting Again With Grace

19:27 — The Coaching Spark That Became Mindful Marathon

22:01 — Training Plans vs Building a Business as a Physician

24:37 — The Knee Myth and the Benefits of Small Doses of Running

28:11 — Heart Rate Zones, Brisk Walking, and Aerobic Threshold

31:15 — What Kids and Non Athletes Need to Learn About Running

35:03 — The First Marathon Story, Disney, Doubt, and Mile 25

40:24 — Running as Spiritual Time and Deep Relationship Building

42:18 — Mindfulness, Zoning Out, and the Creative Mind in Motion

47:24 — Returning After Illness or Life Disruption Without Shame

52:29 — Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, How Training Frameworks Differ

54:03 — Season of Life Changes, Adapting Goals and Capacity

55:14 — Simple Fueling, A Plant Forward Smoothie, and Practical Recovery

58:17 — Favorite Places to Run, Monterey and Maui

59:07 — Favorite Races and Why Disney Still Matters

1:00:09 — Music, Bruce Springsteen, and Running...