Every so often, someone with real talent comes along to prompt a slight change in a popular idiom.
In this particular case, Newtown native Jin Lee makes that revision a positive one.
The old “do as I say, not as I do” saying becomes “do as I say, AND, do as I do.”
That’s because the Capital Health nurse, who is based at St. Mary Hospital in Langhorne, is not only a health care practitioner but a runner of exceptional ability.
So when someone questions her qualifications to hand out advice, she simply refers to her Boston Marathon finisher’s medal and the debate is pretty much over.
Patients in her care often need lifestyle changes. In the field of cardiology, there are the risks of heart disease due to inactivity, which can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
“Sometimes those can lead to cardiac events,” Lee, 51, said in a recent telephone interview.
“I’ve done some office work with my patients. They’re like, ‘you know, it’s really hard to find that time. Or my knees hurt, a bad back. I can’t do this, I can’t do that.’ It’s easy to make these excuses. I understand where they’re coming from. But I always have to try to work with them.”
Occasionally, as mentioned, the excuse-making ends up with a patient asking Lee what makes her so qualified to give out advice.
Lee says: “Sometimes they’ll get upset and say, “what do you do? You’re telling me to find time to exercise and eat healthy. What do you do?’
“I tell them I run marathons. I’ve run Boston. I try to eat well. I know everyone is not going to have the same outcome. I don’t force that. Not setting timelines that are not reasonable for an individual. At the other end of the spectrum, I meet people who are very healthy. But because of genetics, they have a heart attack. And they’re like, ‘I don’t understand. I do everything right.’ And I say, ‘because you did everything right, you didn’t die.’ Or this could have been a lot worse.”
Lee runs everything from local 5Ks to national level marathons like Boston.
Throughout her years at Council Rock High School, Gwynedd Mercy University and Thomas Jefferson University, Lee had almost too much on her plate to be a runner.
But by age 30 she was making up for lost time.
“In my college years I was just so stressed,” she explained.
“(Later) I just needed to do something to focus on other things. I was never that great at running, just went out there and ran. But then I realized I could run a little bit faster. I set goals for myself, other than just finishing.”
Soon she ran into the Bucks County Roadrunners Club and that association helped a lot. By working with other runners, she trained herself all the way up to the 26.2-mile test and finished the Chicago Marathon in the splendid time of 3:41.
That should take care of any of the doubters regarding healthy lifestyles.
“When you meet people with similar interests, like running, you get swept up into that environment,” Lee said. “You feed off of everyone’s energy.
“It does kind of take over your life, in a sense. Only other runners can understand that. The people in the (BCRR) group have been a great source of motivation and support in my growth. Through them I’ve met other people like Natalie Johnston. I’ve developed a good relationship with her as a coach and personal friend.
“I’ve shown if you put the work in, even with all the stress of life, balancing everything, it can work. Sometimes as difficult as it may be, with the right guidance you can achieve higher goals that you never thought about.”
Lee began her nursing career at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and was based there for the better part of two decades.
But the challenging grind of a daily commute from Newtown into the city became a bit too much and that led to a move to a closer headquarters in Bucks County.
“It (working in Philadelphia) was a great experience,” she said. “Got to see everything down in the big university hospital. I took that (knowledge) and came back home to this area.
“It’s a great community of people I’ve met through the practice and at the hospital itself.”
As for her future running plans, she’s headed back to Chicago this fall to see if she can better that 3:41.
Back home in Bucks, she will be cheered on by her mom (Bo), dad (Chung) and brother (Yun).
Oh, and did we mention, as of mid-July, Jin had run at least one mile for each of the last 2,800 days?
“I’m running faster now than I did when I was 30,” she said with a laugh.
It turns out there are a lot of “streakers” out there and keeping that achievement going can provide a unique perspective of its own.
“There are many days when I think, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ But then I’ve done it for so long, it’s really only 10 minutes of my day,” she said.
“If I can’t find 10 minutes, as I tell my patients, to do 10 minutes, then there’s something wrong here. It’s important that you take care of yourself for 10 minutes in some way. Whether it’s yoga, meditating or whatever.”
Lee is also involved in several worthy, health-related causes involving organ donation (donors1.org) and bone marrow transplants (nmdp.org).
It’s all part of a plan to cultivate a healthy existence for as many people as possible.
And it starts with a shining role model such as “do as I do” Jin Lee.
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