Let the Marathon Training/Posting Begin!

Whoaaa...it's been a whole week since I posted!! Oops! I had a busy weekend in Princeton, and then when I got home on Monday, the video card on my computer was making dying noises, so I put in a new one that the Rocket Scientist got me from school. However, that didn't work with my internet (or something?), so I was without internet until just before heading to work on Tuesday. I ended up having to get a USB wireless thing, and it works MUCH better than the internal wireless card I originally bought. Back online! It was so weird to be without it, much like The Laminator. But now we're back. :)

Like I said, it was an eventful weekend! On Saturday, the Rocket Scientist and I dragged ourselves out for a hot, hot eight mile run. After driving from work on Friday night, I was tired and don't like to get out of bed early anyway, so we didn't leave until the early afternoon. Oops! RS does not do well in the heat, but we managed okay. I just wish there were more public water fountains! Most of our arguments tend to be around running, which is probably a good thing if that's all we have to "fight" about. He doesn't necessarily like the garmin nearly as much as I do...he goes by "feel" much more than I do. (Because I don't at all!) I think we'll make it.

Saturday, July 11
8.13 miles in 1:04:55, avg pace of 7:59

Saturday night was GUSTO 2009! It's a game that one of the grad students played in college, and it's basically drunken kickball. We divided into teams, East/South vs. West/Midwest/International, and then we played kickball. You get a point for traditionally scoring a run or for, of course, drinking a beer. It definitely gets interesting as the night goes on, and I think the West/Midwest sneaked out a victory by a few "runs." Being a native of Chicago, I played on the West/Midwest, so go us! :)

Sunday we headed to the driving range. To sum it up very quickly: I am not Tiger Woods. Done and done.

Onto this week! I will divide it into Running and Nursing so you can read the section of your choice...or both!

Running!

Let the marathon training begin! We are undecided about which marathon to do (kind of?), but we're leaning towards Richmond. We've also thrown the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon into the mix. Philly is a possibility, but RS thinks it might be too cold, and I'm probably working that weekend...I don't know how "switching weekends" works yet. We still have time to decide, although I would like to avoid the "sign up ten days before the marathon" that happened this spring...oh well! Either way, I've decided to go with the Pfitz 18/55 plan. I've used Hal Higdon's plans in the past, and it's time to step it up with some speedwork! Plus, I think it will be good to try a new technique/outlook and see what works best for me. I'm already in for Boston 2010, so it's time to experiment.

Monday started off with a bang...rest/cross train! I consider nursing to be "cross training," so, um, I guess it was a rest day for me. :) Tuesday, the real fun began! Seven miles with 10 x 100m strides. I want to keep the paces under wraps, not doing all my runs at the same speed...I did well, maintaining 8:05-8:10 until I got to the "strides" part, where my overall mile pace was 7:15. I just worked the strides into the 6th mile, leaving mile seven as more of "cool down" mile. I'm not sure if that's how you're supposed to do them...any Pfitz followers have some recommendations??

Tuesday, July 14
7.09 miles in 56:21, avg pace of 7:57

My next run was yesterday...nine miles! Only four runs this week, so they are a little on the longer side. Before heading out, it was partly cloudy and a little breezey so I thought it would be a nice run. WRONG. It was so toasty outside! I ended up trying a new route which ended up being very scenic, through some fancy, big house neighborhoods. Annnnnd HUGE HILLS. They never ended. I like to think I did well, only stopping when I realized that I missed a turn somehow and was lost. :) I retraced my steps and figured out where to go, but I ended up adding half a mile to my run. Oh well.

Thursday, July 16
9.51 miles in 1:17:13, avg pace of 8:07

And that was that. Good start so far!

Nursing!

Gahhhh first week on my own! I haven't cried yet, although I was close on Tuesday. I don't even currently remember what happened, but I know I didn't eat dinner (common theme). Oh! Now I remember. I started with five patients, then two went home. One took FOREVER to discharge and ate up and a bunch of time, and then I got an admission. Basically that amounts to an obscene amount of paperwork, and it's really hard to get organized, especially as a newbie and no real time to get organized. I think I got out around 1:15am.

Wednesday was good...busy, but good. Two patients on contact isolation, all four with accuchecks (blood sugar checks!). We rarely have a nursing assistant, and those accuchecks and just eat up your time! I ask a bajillion questions throughout the shift, so I feel bad for the nurses I'm working with. They assure me that I'm not bothering them and that it's good to ask questions. I still feel like nuisance.

Thursday was a train wreck. I had four patients to start, and then we got tons of admissions right at shift change. Being new, I managed to escape them at that time. However, in the first hour of being there, one patient's IV came out and another started to vomit. Behind from the get-go. I missed dinner again...I'm going to lose so much weight with this job, and that's not a good thing! Annnd a doctor that I called wasn't exactly pleasant and told me to tell the other nurses on the floor not to bother him tonight with requests like mine. I'm sorry that my patient was requesting something to help her sleep, but it's my job to call you and have you say yes or no. I'm not allowed to do that. Luckily the other two doctors I called were nice and (gasp!) professional, but I hate how one can ruin the reputation for the entire bunch. (I'm sure all my doctor readers are nice people!)

We had a nursing assistant last night, but with one for twenty patients, they just do vital signs and accuchecks, and I'm not sure it's enough to really reduce my workload as a nurse. At Rush, where I went to nursing school, the aides were awesome...They cleaned patients, helped them to the bathroom, etc. While I don't mind doing that, it's so nice to have an extra hand when two patients are ringing for you, or when one is in the bathroom and you can't just leave them there.

I keep asking the nurse who started a month before if it gets better, and she says it does. Other nurses on the floor tell me to give it a year. I hate feeling like I don't know what I'm doing and being frenzied all the time. Nursing is much harder than I ever thought it would be. One more night tonight, and I'm totally ready for the weekend.

I need to blog more often...thanks for reading my marathon of a post!