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My high hopes for a snow-free day were shattered when I looked outside and saw snow on the ground this morning. It's been slowing melting all day, but it's still here! I'm totally ready for shorts weather, but instead I suited up for another run in tights. At least I'm getting good use out of them?
Monday, March 30
6.06 miles in 49:29, avg pace of 8:10
My legs were definitely tired this morning, so I took it easy. This is a recovery week of 34 miles before going back up to 50 miles next week, so I'm going to listen to my legs and not push too hard this week. Just because the miles are down doesn't mean that I should do them all super fast...recipe for injury! My boyfriend told me that one of his shins really hurt yesterday on his 20 miler, and it still hurts today. He's hoping it's not a shin splint, but he's going to have his athletic-trainer-to-be brother take a look at it tonight. Crossing my fingers it's just a little pang that goes away with a day off!
In other news, I wanted to share an excellent find this weekend! Take a look:
I *love* animal crackers and Teddy Grahams!! Especially the chocolatey chip flavor, which is really hard to find around me! I have to go to Walmart to get the animal crackers, and they usually carry the Teddy Grahams as well, but they didn't have any on my recent trip! Since I'm all about the small things in life, I was a little sad about this! I told one of my friends, who happened to be visiting her grandparents in Wisconsin at the time. She stopped by the grocery store and found me three boxes!! My dad also found two more boxes at a grocery store around here that carries them sometimes, so now I'm all stocked up!
Okay, now you all know my inner five year old...
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It may be spring in some places, but in Chicago, it still seems like winter. Which is why I woke up to snow on the ground...excellent. The weather reports were estimating three to six inches of snow, and I'm happy to say that the weathermen were wrong, as we got more along the lines of an inch or two of snow. But still, snow is snow, and I almost cried when I woke up this morning. However, due to the glory that is Chicago weather, the snow is supposed to melt by tomorrow, leaving everything a wet, soggy mess.
People keep saying how this should be our last snow of the year, and I want to yell at them for jinxing us, as last year it snowed in May. No joke. I don't kid about these things. Why I haven't moved to Florida yet is totally beyond me.
Anyway.
No running yesterday, although I counted serving as "cross training." Running up and down stairs, running around the restaurant, and carrying heavy plates somehow fits the bill, so I think it works. It's actually quite amazing to me how often running comes up at work. There are usually two scenarios in which running pops into conversation.
Scenario 1
Sometimes I strike up a conversation, usually when someone is wearing a jacket/shirt from some running event I know about. Once a woman came in wearing a Western States Endurance Run fleece. She and her guest actually seemed kind of cold to start with, but I asked if she had ran the Western States, and she immediately warmed up to me. It turned out that she was going to do it in 2008, but that was the year it was canceled due to the fires. We then had an extended conversation and talked about which marathons we recommended. She also turned out to be a nurse practitioner who graduated from Rush (my nursing school!), so we had a lot to talk about.
Scenario 2
This scenario usually begins with the customer making some comment about how skinny I am, which then leads into a conversation about how I am skinny despite working at a restaurant with amazing food. I usually make some joke about how I don't really eat the food much (which is true), and then I go on to say that I actually run a lot so that helps as well. This generally evolves into a conversation about marathons, how long a pair of shoes lasts, the 5k they ran a few weeks ago, or how hot the 2007 Chicago Marathon was (and how someone they knew ran it). I usually end the conversation by telling them I'll run a few miles for them after we close so they can have a few more bites of pancake...
I kept my promise to my customers and got out after work to do my five miles in the melting snow. It was actually quite warm (low 40's) because the sun was shining bright! Quick run because my legs were all warmed up from running around the restaurant all day.
Sunday, March 29
5.07 miles in 39:04, avg pace of 7:42
I am definitely feeling more tired lately, so I'm definitely going to get more sleep tonight, as well as trying to eat properly...it can be difficult to fit in all the nutrition I need while working through the lunch hour.
I hope everyone had a great, snow-free weekend!
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My first twenty miler of this marathon training is OVER! Woohoo! I ended up sleeping an hour later than I planned (our power went out last night? weird), but that's fine since I don't really have anywhere to be today. I ate my traditional peanut butter on toast with a banana, drank some water, and drove out to drop off my fuel/water. I went to buy water at the store yesterday, and I found these little eight ounce bottles, which are perfect! I don't think the full sixteen ounces when I stop for water, so I ended up wasting half the bottle...and the little bottles are much easier to carry. I usually carry them until I find someone's unsuspecting recycle bin to throw them in, and sometimes it can be a pain running with them.
The weather was pretty blah this morning...low 30's, gray as can be, and a little breezy! I had high hopes of wearing shorts, but it was too chilly for that. I geared up and headed out...Two hours and forty-two minutes later, here's what I ended up with:
Friday, March 27
20.02 miles in 2:41:59, avg pace of 8:05
Splits galore: 8:24, 8:26, 8:11, 8:05, 8:14, 8:00, 8:15, 8:11, 7:59, 8:05, 7:56, 7:59, 8:08, 7:58, 7:54, 8:02, 8:00, 7:55, 7:56, 7:51, 0:19 (7:32)
Fantastic! I actually felt pretty good during the entire run. It's wasn't until about a mile and a half to go that I started thinking that I REALLY didn't want to be running anymore. I pushed through and finished strong, so I was really happy about that. My main accomplishment during the run was that the only times I stopped were for when I drank/ate, so only three times total. I used to take random walk breaks during my runs, but I haven't done that in a long time! I'll take that to mean my endurance and fitness are much, much better!
My little water bottles worked out quite well. I stashed them with little baggies of Honey Stinger Energy Chews, which are definitely my new favorite! They're not too chewy, don't stick to my teeth, and actually taste good! The store where I bought them only had the Cherry Blossom flavor, but I'm going to have to hunt down the Fruit Smoothie flavor. I recommend these to anyone looking for energy food, especially those people who don't do gels!
I just finished my first FIFTY mile week...and I feel great! I'm feeling confident about this marathon...knock on wood!
On the Job Front
I got a call from the nurse recruiter today, and we talked about potential start dates. When I interviewed, they told me I would start the end of April if offered the position, but today they said I would start the end of May. This would be if I was offered the position, of course. They're still approving April candidates, so they're not even thinking about May yet. I'm assuming "approval" means that someone has to say, "Yes, we have the money to hire new people." The unit manager sounds like she wants to hire, but no one can tell me when I would know by. I told them I'm still interested in starting in May if that's the case...but the job hunt is still in full force until anything more is known.
Anyone need a nurse??
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I failed to mention yesterday that I did yoga for the first time...ever! I downloaded a 20 minute running yoga program from yogadownload.com. I missed the memo that said that it was classified as "intermediate," which for the record, I am most definitely not. Flexibility is definitely lacking, and sometimes I couldn't get my legs to go half as far as the pictures showed! I'm not sure I'm sold on the whole yoga idea, but I definitely felt like I got a good stretch in after my run.
As noted in the title of this post, here were my highs for the day!
Today was a busy day at work! We've been slow all week so I was really excited to have lots of customers, especially since I opened this morning. The highlight of my day was when I asked an older gentleman who was eating by himself if I could get him anything else for the today, and he responded with, "No, I'm good to go, but definitely keep that smile going all day! It's really wonderful!" I told him that I thank my orthodontist (and my parents for funding the orthodontist) for my smile, but it really made me feel good to hear him say that. The restaurant I work for is HUGE on customer service, and we say the most important part of our uniform is our personality/SMILE. No one wants a grumpy server, so I try my hardest to always be smiling, joking, and fun when I'm interacting with customers. It makes their experience more enjoyable and my job more fun!
But obviously you don't read this to hear all about my days as a server...I ran today too!
Thursday, March 26
10.17 miles in 1:17:35, avg pace of 7:38
I guess I wasn't tired after work! It took a lot of motivation to get out the door, but once I started running I was good to go. I love the feeling that I get after the first couple miles are over, when running feels effortless and I'm really enjoying myself. That's when I remember why I like running so much. I've got twenty miles planned for tomorrow, which will cap my week at 50 miles! Yikes!
And now, for the low of the day!
I got a call from the nurse recruiter who I interviewed with last week, and she said they were finished checking my references and are just waiting to hear what the unit manager wants to do. Hopefully I'll find out soon, but in the meantime, I go from being super excited to being really, really upset. Sometimes I think that it will be fun to move and start living in the "real world," but on the other hand, I like where I am. I like being comfortable and knowing what to expect...and I love love love my parents. I moved back home after college and have lived here all through nursing school, and I know that leaving my parents will be soooo difficult. I feel like a four year old when I say that, but it's so true. My boyfriend is going to have to fly out here to drive me to wherever I end up because I know I won't be able to leave otherwise. I know I'll be fine once I get wherever I am, but I just hate the uncertainty of it all.
Time for some ER! Second to last episode tonight, which is DEFINITELY a low!
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Definitely had a fun day today! I woke up and headed out for my run, then I had a shopping day with my mom! First, my run:
Wednesday, March 25
5.04 miles in 40:00, avg pace of 7:57
It was a little chilly and a bit windy, but the run was good overall. My legs feel alright, and even though I tried to slow down, my pace tends to hover around 7:45-8:00. Hopefully that will stick through the marathon! I have a 10 mile run and a 20 mile run left this week, and I'm still trying to figure out where to fit them in. I'm opening at work tomorrow and am usually drained when I get home, and then I work both Saturday and Sunday...ruling out 20 miles on either of those days! I'll see how I feel when I get home tomorrow and then I'll decide if I want to do the 10 miles tomorrow. I'm definitely going to do the 20 miles on Friday since I have it off, but not doing 10 miles tomorrow means that I would be doing them probably on Saturday after the 20 miles on Friday...that could be painful, especially after working! I guess I'll figure it out tomorrow. I have three 20 milers planned, so hopefully they will give me the strength and confidence to run this marathon strong to the finish.
Moving on! After lunch, my mom and I went shopping! I haven't been in the mood to shop for a long time, and my mom is really the only person I like going shopping with. She knows what I like and will tell me what she actually thinks about something I try on, so she's good to have as a shopping buddy. I ended up getting a shirt and TWO pairs of jeans. That's a huge deal because, like for most girls, jeans that fit me somewhat well are IMPOSSIBLE to find. I found two different pairs that fit well in the store, so I'll have to try them at home for the real test! The funny part is that the jeans are two different sizes. When it comes to pants, I can wear anything from 0-7, depending on the brand! The jeans I bought today were a 1 short and a 3/4 regular. Companies really need to develop some consistency in sizing, it would make life much, much easier.
Time to head off to bed for my 4:45 wake up call for work tomorrow...
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Back in the swing of things! It's always weird readjusting to a home schedule after you've been gone, even if it's only for a few days. This is most likely because I put off things such as unpacking! Work has been slow the past two days, but I'm hoping it will pick up for my shift on Thursday. Arriving at work at 5:30am and then not having making customers really doesn't help fight the fatigue!
Good runs the past two days...Here's what I did!
Monday, March 23
5.03 miles in 38:33, avg pace of 7:40
Tuesday, March 24
10.08 miles in 1:17:07, avg pace of 7:39
My route on Monday was one of my favorite routes that I haven't done in awhile because I haven't had many five milers on the schedule. I add two little extensions to a four mile route in order to make it five miles, but my mind still thinks I'm only going four, so it doesn't seem very far! It's kind of crazy that five miles is my "easy" day...not because I think five miles is far, but because all the other days are much longer! 50 miles this week, which is a high for me...hopefully I end this week strong!
This morning was a good run...woke up, ate peanut butter and banana toast, and hit the road. If I get the job I interviewed for last week (trying not to jinx myself!), this could be more of my routine. The job is for a 3-11pm shift, so I could wake up and get my run in right away. Of course, I'd have to resist the urge to sleep in since I don't have to be anywhere til the afternoon, but once I got a schedule going I think it would work out well. I didn't realize how fast I was running until I looked at my watch and saw 7:30 miles! These longer mid-week runs are kind of like impromptu speed workouts for me, which I think is good since there's no actual speed work built into my schedule. I'm definitely going to add it in for my next marathon, but this time I wanted to concentrate more on just running higher mileage. (Higher for me...it's all relative!)
I'm excited to catch the Biggest Loser tonight! I've never tried to lose weight (...or I've never had any weight to lose), but it's so inspiring watching them do it the healthy way!
Giveaways Galore!
Visit Angela at Oh She Glows for a Pom Wonderful Giveaway!
Visit Julie at Julie GoLean for Julie's Favorite Things Giveaway!
Head over the Danica's Daily for a giveaway of Annie's Products!
Want to try Barney Butter? Head over to The Hungry Yogini!
Mix My Granola over at Foods That Fit if you want to create your own mix!
I think that covers my giveaway links for the day...crossing my fingers for my chance to win something!
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Back in Chicago! Actually, I got back last night, but I didn't feel like updating then. So much to talk about!
My flight was on Wednesday night, and unlike all my other flights to Philly, we landed EARLY. Fantastic! I was planning to do some interview prep on the plane, going over my answers, reminding myself of what I actually did in nursing school, etc, but the guy next to me was super chatty. He started talking the moment I sat down, and then we talked for half the flight until we watched 30 Rock together. He was probably around 35-40 and told me about his wife and kids. It's so funny how some people can be super rude on airplanes and others will talk to you like you've been friends forever. Certainly made my flight go much faster! My boyfriend met me at the airport with some red tulips and two bags of M&M's (milk chocolate and peanut)...he definitely knows the way to my heart!
My interview was on Thursday, and I got to that without a hitch. The hospital is about an hour and twenty minutes from Princeton, and it's a pretty easy drive. It started to drizzle when I was walking in, which I hoped wasn't some form of sympathetic nature (woo eighth grade literary terms!). I had a peer interview with two nurses, then met with the unit manager, and then finally went back to HR to talk to the nurse recruiter. This hospital is TOTALLY different than anything I've been in before. It's a community hospital with no university affiliations (hence no teaching...hence no residents to bug with all my questions), still uses only paper charting, and is about 20% the size of Rush. Yikes! Definitely not where I pictured myself. On the plus side, it does seem like a good place to learn to be a nurse. Since there aren't docs around 24/7 (you can call them, but they're not physically sitting around the corner), the nurses do everything and are really accountable for monitoring the patients. This is both exciting and frightening because I'd be the one responsible (frightening), but I didn't become a nurse simply to follow doctors' orders, so that would be exciting.
Anyway, I'll discuss that more if a job offer comes around. I called back later in the afternoon after my interview, and the nurse recruiter said that the unit manager told her to check my references, meaning that she is interested in pursuing me further. Yay, they didn't hate me. :)
The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful, but filled with running and BASKETBALL. March Madness GALORE. I don't know how many of you are into college basketball, but I still have 13/16 of my Sweet 16 teams, so I'm in pretty good shape. Illinois, Florida State, and Utah were my downfalls, although I'm not sure why I picked Utah...oops! My TERPS fell to Memphis as I predicted, so that was good while it lasted. We should have made a blog pool! I'll have to remember for next year.
Lots of running this weekend, including a nine mile run and a big nineteen mile run! Here's how I fared:
Friday, March 20
9.08 miles in 1:10:28:, avg pace of 7:46
Saturday, March 21
19.01 miles in 2:32:59, avg pace of 8:03
Friday was a pretty good run, except for lots of stopping and starting. First we hit every single red light, and then later in the run my boyfriend-the-running-buddy had some GI issues so we stopped quite often until we found a bathroom. I, however, felt awesome. Friday night is designated as Happy Hour night in Princeton (as well as in other places of the world), so we had half price chicken quesadillas and a Miller Lite. That's long run fuel, right? I sure think so. Also, one of my friends from Maryland is from Jersey and was home on break, so he met us for dinner and subsequent basketball watching. I hadn't seen him since the summer, so that was exciting!
Saturday morning was the day of the long run! Four of us are planning on doing the same marathon, and this was my first time running with the entire crew. As noted in previous posts, I was nervous about this because I never do runs with others, and I'm the "slow poke" of the group (it's a relative term!). My boyfriend assured me that we would start slow and I would be fine...Not that he would ever tell me otherwise!
All my worry ended up being for nothing because the run went just fine, with a few minor blips. There were some hills later in the run that were tough, but I made it up and over them! No small feat for the girl from the Prairie State. The saddest part about the run was that my garmin ran out of battery after 11.71 miles! I've been quite dependent on the little guy ever since I got him for Christmas in 2006, so I panicked slightly when I realized I wouldn't know my pace or how far we had gone or how much we had left or the time or ANYTHING. My garmin is definitely like a security blanket and I really like having it with me at all times while running! The time and distance reported above are from my boyfriend's watch and his mapping of our route on mapmyrun.com, so it's probably fairly close to what the garmin would tell me. I like to think I did quite well without my garmin, but I did ask multiple times how long we'd been running and about how much we had left. I like to think that stemmed more from the fact that I had no clue where we were and less from my neurotic tendencies to know everything about my run.
Here are the splits that garmin did save: 8:31, 8:22, 8:29, 8:22, 8:08, 8:21, 8:08, 7:51, 7:38, 7:59, 8:23, 6:04 (8:35)
We started off slow, and then we picked it up a bit...I was playing "follow the leader" so I just went with the pace of the people in front of me. The 7:38 was definitely on a downhill, and I think our last 6-7 miles were around 8:00/mile if not a smidge under. I believe the one guy we were running with is shooting for 3:10 (BQ), so he would pick it up sometimes, but overall I felt good during the run. I tried Luna Moons and Honey Stinger Energy Chews, and I might be sold on the Honey Stingers. They weren't terribly sticky (Shot Bloks make me feel like my fillings are going to come out!), and they actually tasted good! Further experimentation will be required, but definitely the best so far. I think the nutrition during the run helped, as I never felt exhausted during the run. I was getting tired near the end, which is when I realized that it's good to have other people to run with because I might have slowed down if I wasn't with other people. However, I didn't feel awful at the end or afterwards, so I think that's a good sign for the future!I will stop this novel for now...hopefully some of you got through it! I hope everyone had awesome weekends and long runs! I've been trying to catch up on blogs, but I keep finding new ones and the list just gets longer and longer!
Quick post here! I have to finish packing and then it's off to Princeton for my interview (not in Princeton, but in Pennsylvania). I had a short run this morning before work. Took it easy to let my legs rest a little for the upcoming weekend!
Wednesday, March 18
4.06 miles in 33:16, avg pace of 8:12
Time to put my last minute touches on my packing, then it's off to the airport! I hope my flight is on time...I've landed in Philly at 2 am one too many times. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow at 11 am (Eastern Standard Time!).
I hope everyone has awesome runs this weekend, and I hope you'll all ready for some March Madness!
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I had a weird weird weird dream last night. I was at my wedding, all dressed up and everything, and I was sitting at the head table with whoever I assumed to be my new husband. I didn't recognize him at all! We had just finished dinner when I realized that I had made a huge mistake and married the wrong person. I reallllly wanted to go find my mom and talk to her about it, but my "husband" noticed that something was wrong and kept offering me cake. At least the "husband" in my dream didn't look like my boyfriend at all!
I think the dream messed up my big plan to get up early and run before work (had to be there at 11 today). I set my alarm, but then I did one of the "five more minutes" type things where I end up falling back asleep. I woke up at 8:45, realized I could still squeeze a run in if I hurried, shoved some peanut butter toast in my mouth, and was out the door and running by about 9:02. Woo! It was in the 50's with the morning chill, which is AMAZING running weather, and it got up into the 70's today. Too bad it's supposed to be colder and rainy tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 17 - St. Patty's Day!
9.09 miles in 1:10:35, avg pace of 7:46
I thought my legs would be tiredddd today, but they actually felt pretty good. Overall I was pretty relaxed and the pace felt good, so two thumbs up for that. We'll see what this weekend brings with the higher mileage...9 at marathon pace followed by a long run of 19 miles. I'm hoping I learn what it feels like to run with tired legs!
Time for some BBQ outside and then packing for Princeton/my interview...flying out tomorrow night!
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What a morning! I definitely had a really odd start to the day. I woke up and went to wash my face...when I looked up in the mirror, I saw that I had a bloody nose! Not sure where that came from, but I spent a few minutes squeezing my nose and catching blood with a tissue. Got the nose bleed under control, and it was time to head to work. Soooo I put my work shirt on, but I still had the hanger in it! Really...who forgets to take the hanger out? Take the hanger out, head to work for a 9:00 shift. I clock in at work and go to check what side work I have to do, so I look at the schedule and see that I was scheduled for 11:30 today. Oops! I mixed up Monday and Wednesday. Fantastic. I laughed about my stupidity with a few servers and told them I'd see them in two and a half hours.
Which, I realize, gives me plenty of time to get my little four mile run in before work, since I really didn't feel like doing it after work. Perfect.
Monday, March 16
4.04 miles in 33:53, avg pace of 8:23
It is gorgeous outside (sunny, in the 60's!), so my run was fantastic minus the fact that I. am. so. TIRED. This weekend definitely took a lot out of me, and I'm looking forward to this coming weekend for multiple reasons. Job interview, boyfriend, and only running with no serving! The combination is exhausting, so only running without serving for four to nine hours per day will be super.
I'm a little nervous about this upcoming week not only because of the interview, but because I'm probably going to be doing my 19 mile run with a group. Four of us (me, boyfriend, boyfriend's grad school friend, and boyfriend's grad school friend's boyfriend...confused yet?) are planning on running the Delaware Marathon together (various paces...I think I'm the slowest!), but since I don't even live in the same time zone as them, clearly I never train with them. Their goal paces are definitely faster than mine (3:10 and 3:20, I believe, while I'm shooting for somewhere around 3:30...yet to be determined), so I'm a little nervous about running with them, even if it's just a long run. Running in a group is sooo different than running by yourself. Yes, there's the social factor, and time may go by quicker with people to talk to. On the other hand, I can't dictate the pace, which is easy to do when you're by yourself...slow down when you want, speed up when you want, etc. This will be interesting, if nothing else. I just hope they're not too speedy!
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I *love* animal crackers and Teddy Grahams!! Especially the chocolatey chip flavor, which is really hard to find around me! I have to go to Walmart to get the animal crackers, and they usually carry the Teddy Grahams as well, but they didn't have any on my recent trip! Since I'm all about the small things in life, I was a little sad about this! I told one of my friends, who happened to be visiting her grandparents in Wisconsin at the time. She stopped by the grocery store and found me three boxes!! My dad also found two more boxes at a grocery store around here that carries them sometimes, so now I'm all stocked up!
