Marathon Bound...Wish me luck!!!!

What In the World...

Ok. Once again, I fail as a blogger, but with no pressure to write (readers, I think, are few and far between), the blogging mojo hasn't been in full force.

So we've now been in these new parts for about 3 months. Before finding a house we joined a running club and I got a job. The running club is the absolute best though. I met fellow runners, made a friend and had a lunch date, found places to eat, and improved my speeds. Or did I...

When I first started running with the group, I was suddenly and consistently running 9:15-9:30 pace miles. Even for my long runs (oh long runs...yeah, about that, I happened to sign up for the Marine corp marathon again....). When my 5k race pace is 8 something and my happy pace is 10 something, running ALL training runs at 9 something probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. And after running with women who are seasoned marathoners, I had the funny little hip flexor pain. As in, if I wanted get into my husband's truck, I would have to use my hands to lift my leg. And it hurt to lift my leg to put on my pants and things. You know....basic activities of daily living were now not so basic. 4 miles into my 18 miler I had to turn around because running was more bothersome than fun.

I'm ok with aches. pain, not so much. I was upset; I had already booked a hotel room, and despite being scheduled to work on the weekend of the marathon, my manager worked with me and changed my schedule so I would have the weekend off. My husband's boss gave him the ok to take the Monday after the marathon off. The runners in the club knew I was registered (3 of them are running it). I couldn't back out!

Caroline, one of the runners told me to take a week off. "DO NOTHING" she said. No gym, no running, rest and ice. So I listened (sort of...I only took 4 days off and ran really really slow on day 5): lots of stretching and a nightly ritual involving tiger balm and ice, it's feeling better.

Than came the first 20 mile run. Alone, on a weekday, I left at 5:45am and ran what must have been hundreds of circles. I made the mistake of passing the house at 19.70 mi, had a "coughing spell" (which turned into noxious dry heaves) and stopped running at 19.75. Ice bath, rest, sushi lunch and I was ok.

This past Tuesday I did my second 20 miler. All of it (fewer circles this time). No coughing spells with dry heaves. No goosebumps. No mental lapses of "I already passed that house?! Where am I?!"

Tuesday night, we booked plane tickets, hotel, car. It got a little pricey, BUT I AM GOING TO DC TO RUN MY SECOND MARATHON!

Saturday Morning Fever

I experienced my first code this past weekend.

I worked in a hospital for nearly two years and never once saw a code on my old med-surg floor. It could have been the patient profile, the nursing care, or an incredible RRT system.

(RRT stands for Rapid Response Team; at my old hospital, when you knew something just 'wasn't right' with your patient, you would call an RRT via the paging system. A respiratory therapist, Medical ICU nurse, and resident would come and evaluate/care for your patient while you cared for your other patients. The RRT was used to prevent a code....and did so for many cases on our floors.)

Saturday I got report; was looking through my patient's labs and medications when I heard the charge nurse call for another nurse saying, "Come in here!"

I didn't even look at my preceptor; we dropped what we were doing and ran. I didn't understand what was happening, even though I saw the code cart being pushed in. The four of us, plus the respiratory therapist were in the room. The head of bed was being lowered and the bed was being raised. I was told to push the code button; my preceptor was removing the headboard from the board; the charge looked at me and said, "you've never done chest compressions; start!"

And I just put my hands down and started compressions.

The only other time I've done compressions was on a dummy.

The feeling and sound of the first two compressions (or the rest for that matter) are nothing like that of compressions on a dummy.

I eventually handed off compressions; and I stepped back to watch and help however I could; there must have been 15 staff members in the room: one running the code. 3 RTs. nurses. finally, a doctor.

I know it won't be, but I hope it's my last.

Coming Soon...

why group runs are the way to go

and

new hospital job woes.

Have a great weekend!

One Monh

It's been four weeks since moving to our new location; it's getting a tad better.

Sunday mornings have a typical routine spent running, driving to Publix to pick up the NY Times, and then driving to Starbucks to read the NY Times (for whatever reason, the NYTimes supplier of NW Florida does not deliver to any of the Starbucks in the region. Maybe he/she is protesting their 'no decaf after 12' policy). Then it's a quick lunch out, trip to the commissary (and sometimes back to Publix for produce and/or meat), nap, and if it was like yesterday, an afternoon of The Kardashians.

Not quite the home depot, bed bath and beyond of Old School, but eerily close. It would be fun to decorate a house, unpack a box, or shop.

There are certainly highs and lows to living here.

The lows: the newspaper. With each move, the local newspapers get smaller and smaller. And now more than ever, it's scary to read the locals' take on national issues. Some of the sound bytes, quotes, and letters to the editor are jaw dropping.

The highs: Thursday night I crashed the local running club's Thursday night run. As we were waiting for 5:30 to roll around, I was the only female amongst pierced and tattooed men, most of whom were shirtless. In otherwords, I'm thinking, "What am I doing HERE?! Where are the turtles?!"

(there really weren't any turtles to be spoken of.) People welcomed me, and nobody made fun of me when they asked my normal pace (10:30). One of the male members ended up running with me (good thing as I would have be lost with all the turns we made). It's hard for me to talk while running 5 miles at a 9:15/9:30 pace...so here's hoping I'm not dubbed the new snooty one. The pizza, talking, laughing and beer following the run was probably the best part.

Finally, after 4 weeks of not meeting anyone, I was meeting locals and socializing. Quite a high for the week! Now if only we can move into a house and get our house hold goods out of storage!

MMS seeking...Friend

Married Military Spouse* (age30) seeking female friend between the ages of 22 and 42. Friend must find humor in following local news story:

Man being arrested for driving lawn mower drunk

and shock/amazement in:

man shooting self in public location.

Friend should enjoy laughing, meeting up for caffeinated coffee or tea. Friend should enjoy going out for dinner, cooking with friends, meeting up for the occasional drink.

Seriously, it's been about 3 weeks since moving, and I've yet to meet a soul (save for the two yoga instructors at the local yoga studio and the ladies interviewing me at various hospitals).

I attended the base new comers meeting (it was mainly for the active duty), and put my name on the spouse contact list, but have yet to receive a call informing me of the spouse newcomers meeting.

For our first time, we're not part of a flying squadron, and holy heck, how do women meet people if they don't have kids or aren't part of a church?? Our first base had a spouse group, as did our second base. And at the second base we met people on day one or day two, going out to dinner on day three, and meeting up at a new friend's house a week or two later.

I hope the track club allows turtles to join..... :)

*just realized that married military spouse is somewhat redundant...oops!

*Muffled Cry*

"Um, I'm sorry. I just moved here....so please excuse me. But I don't understand....no decaf after 12 noon?"

This was my response to the Batista at the local Starbucks after he told me that it was a district policy to NOT brew decaffeinated coffee after 12 noon.

Time? 2pm. A brief run down of the day up to that point: drank 1/2 a cup of regular coffee (brewed at home), and made the poor decision to run 5 miles on the treadmill at the apartment complex (which is equivalent to running in a sauna). The 5 mile run was more like 3. There was no juice in the tank. Cool down....lunch...and an hour on the phone dealing with a certain phone/Internet/cable company that has a 'V' and a 'Z' in their name.

Finally, a 30+ minute drive to Starbucks. The goal: Write a letter to the above mentioned phone/Internet/cable company with a 'V' and a 'Z' in their name.

The request: a medium coffee, half regular, half decaf.

Barista: Oh....uh, yeah...we don't have any decaf. We don't brew decaf after 12 noon.

And he then went on to explain that it was a district policy to not brew decaf after 12noon.

Here's the problem...it's a coffee shop. They should have coffee...regular & decaf. I get that times are tough. If it was 0800 am and they weren't brewing decaf BEFORE 12 noon, I might understand the cost benefit of not having decaf early in the morning. I imagine most Starbucks customers want the caffeine, especially in the morning.

Happy to say that I did not shed a tear and go ape shit at the store. But yes, internally, screams...and a delicious, somewhat caffeinated cup of green tea. Seriously. WHERE on earth am I???