TurboNurse

Better late than never.

Thankful.

I am thankful for this whole year.  The ups, the downs.  The good.  The bad. The ugly. The painful.

Most of all I'm thankful for the healthy body that I have worked so hard for.  There is nothing better than having the freedom to move freely and pain free.  My body has been through the ringer so far this year with a broken bone and two (yes two!) sprained ankles (at the same time to boot!  luckily not severe!).  It has endured many hits and healed from many bruises.  Here's to many more to come!  But we can leave out the breaks and sprains please.

I'm thankful for my legs.  My legs have carried me though a lot this year.  They have run, kicked, cycled, and pushed me through so much.

I'm thankful for flexibility.  If it weren't for flexibility I would be able to move like I do.  I also have to thank strength here as well since they both go together.  If I didn't have the strength and flexibility I've worked so hard for I wouldn't be able to kick and move like I do.

I'm thankful for the job that found me so quickly after graduation this year and all the hard working dedicated people I've gotten the privelage to know through this.

I'm thankful that I'm aware that my job is my job and does not define me as a person.  I'm still me and haven't lost that to anything.

I'm thankful for all the people in my life, new friends and old.  Of course I'm thankful for my husband for many many reasons.

I'm thankful that I've been able to stay strong through the changes that have happened this year.  The Lord knows it hasn't been easy.  He's heard ALL about it, many many times!!!!!

On that note, I'm thankful for my relationship with God.  If it weren't for Him, I would have crumbled long long ago.

I'm thankful for my bike, aka Speedy.  It's pretty awesome.

I'm thankful to have a decent solid roof over my head so I can sleep well at night and not have to worry.  We've worked very hard these past few years while I was in school to keep it.

This list could go on and on but I hope you get the jist of it.  There are so many things in life to be thankful for that I couldn't possibly list them all here. So to sum things all up, I'm thankful to be alive and able to live the life that I live surrounded by the people that I know.

Tucson went off without a hitch.  I feel good saying that now that everyone is safe at home.

As I had written earlier, the ride down was uneventful for the most part.  I spent the first 2-ish hours of that one trying not to be sick but when we stopped in Socorro and ate, I felt better after that so I must have been hungry.  I hope.

We woke up race day at about 0615 to get all of our stuff ready and to eat some breakfast at the hotel at 7.  It was so nice to go to a race and be able to eat a nice good breakfast before.  All the running races I've done have been so early that I haven't been able to do that on the road.

We got all of us loaded up and headed to the 80 mile start for the guys.  It was actally nice and easy to find a spot to park to drop them off.  They were so calm about the whole thing.  I got a picture of them and I have to laugh when I see it.  Not one of them are smiling.  They are all just glaring and so solemn.

Got the guys dropped off and then I headed over to my start.  I started at 1030 (I think).  Either way I had about an hour and a half between the time that I dropped them off until I started to roll. 

I got to the parking lot and just took my time getting ready.  I  noticed that my phone battery was about halfway gone already so I plugged my phone into my car and was listening to channel 24 on my Sirius radio to get myself going.  There was a nice couple next to me getting ready at the same time so we struck up some conversation about Albuquerque.  The lady next to me had run Duke City a few years back (I don't know if she did the full or the half) so we talked about that for a while.

After I got tired of just putzing around the car, I hopped on the bike and made my way down to the start line and lined up.  I debated using the bathroom there but luckily there was a bathroom with a flushing toilet that apparently not many people in the parking lot knew about.  I'm so glad I used that one before I headed down.  I made sure to stuff some extra toilet paper in my pocket just in case the porta pots on the route ran out of it like I've experienced in running races.

I lined up in the front half or third, it was hard to tell how many people were behind me, at the advice of the guys.  It worked out well.  The bad part is that I had an hour before the race started so I just sat on my bike, not on the seat but on the top tube, and hung out.  There was a girl going around in the crowd taking pre race pictures of people and she came up and asked me if she could take my picture and I told her sure.  Then she looked at me and told me that I'm so calm.  All I could think is what other way is there to be?  I'm not about to be jumping around and moving all about wasting energy I knew I was going to need out on the course.

Also as I was lining up I had a freakout moment.  I was looking around at everyone as they were lining up and talking to their friends and I suddenly felt totally out of my league.  The feeling hit me so hard that I almost bagged it.  I didn't feel like I belonged there at all.

Then another lady lined up next to me and we struck up some conversation.  That was nice.  She had done the race before and we were talking about it.  I couldn't help but think she looked JUST like my sister.  I never caught her name but I did know she was from Phoenix.  I also remember she had on a really cool looking jersey with matching shorts.

Finally it's time to roll.  Yay!  It only took me a minute to cross the chip mat and I was off.  The wind was already starting to pick up before we started and by the time we got going, it was going as well.  We started off on what felt like a slight downhill and I was going at about 20-25mph.  It felt so good!

The wash/river crossing was about 4 miles in so just as I'm getting warmed up and ready to go, it's time to get off the bike and hike it for 1/3 mile.  It sure felt longer than that!  The portapots didn't have much of a line so I decided that would be a good spot to use them.  I was in and out.  It was nice.  Toward the end of the wash was an aid station so I hit up a huge glass of water and grabbed a pretzel on my way out.

I had so much crap in my shoes that as soon as I hit pavement, I pulled off to the side and dumped the river out of them.  There was so much sand and rocks in there that I never thought I would get it all out.

What I wasn't prepared for was the hill going out of this neighborhood.  It was a fairly short hill but it went up in three chunks.  The first two chunks were alright but the last part of the hill, I found out later, was at an 18% grade!  It was rediculous!  I saw so many people walking their bikes up and stubborn me was determined to NOT do that so I stood up and just pounded out that last little bit.  There was no way I would have made it if I wouldn't have stood on it.  I was so proud of myself for not getting off the bike and walking it.

The ride for the next 20 miles was uneventful for the most part.  I stopped at the firestation aid station expecting something more than the fruit and water becasue I heard that last year it was really good.  Nope.  Fruit and water.  But that's OK.  I ate some bananna and took more water that I needed anyway.

As I was entering that station, an ambulance was going by and we all thought it was for a biker.  Of course we didn't want that to be the case but it crossed all our minds.  Luckily we never saw an amulance on the course but apparently there was a wreck somewhere farther up that had traffic all backed up so a big group of us got stopped at a stoplight for what felt like an eternity because of it.

My one priority goal was to make it past the 40 mile start before they got going so I wouldn't get stopped.  I missed that by like 30 seconds!  I was one of the first ones in line that were stopped.  I was so pissed!!!!!!  That ment that I would be spending the next 10-15 miles playing dodge-bike against the slower 40 milers.  Grrrrrrrrr......  I was not a happy friendly rider at this point.

There were quite a few of us trying to pass the 40 milers on the left and couldn't get by.  There would be noone to their right and we would say left and they would just stay there.  Some of them even moved left.  Idiots!  I'm surprised I got out of that cluster _ _ _ _ without shoulder checking someone.  It sucked.

After that cleared out it was alright.  That part of the race went by so fast for me that I don't remember much from it.  I do know that I skipped several aid stations through here because they were super croweded and I wasn't in the mood to play dodge bike again with the slower 40 milers, most of whom were stopping at this first station anyway.

I stopped at an aid station that was at the bottom of a most awesome hill that I made sweet time down.  As soon as I left this aid station a train was coming across so I got stuck by the train.  If I had not stopped at that aid station, I would have missed the train but it was one that I had to stop at because I needed another bottle of the Hammer stuff that I was using for the majority of my calories during the race.  Then of course it was back to dodge bike.

What I remember next is being on what felt like a frontage road for a short time and then turning west to go around some hills.  This part was so nice and peaceful.  It was a nice two lane road that I saw zero cars on and the scenery was beautiful! 

Then we turn a corner and start up a pretty good hill.  The hill itself wouldn't have been so bad but this road was from hell!!  It was so bumpy and inefficient that I was cussing it the whole way up.  It felt like it was never going to end.  To those that have ridden the road behind Riverpoint, it felt like that but worse.  Then we topped the hill and thought that it was over but for most of the downhill it was the same.  I was never so happy to see smooth road than after that.  And boy was it smooth road!  It was like riding on butter!  It was nice and wide with a huge bike lane plus two lanes of traffic only one of which was really being used because those of us who were passing others were out in the first traffic lane.

Soon after that we turned on to the frontage road, aka the road from hell.  I was expecting to make good time down this road becasue I thought it was flat.  WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  For me, this was the absolute WORST part of the whole race.  It was nice because we had the whole road to ourselves but I was hurting so bad at this point that it didn't matter.  It just plain sucked and I don't care if I ever see this road again.

Keep in mind that during the whole race we were fighting 15-20mph sustained winds either in our faces or, as was the case most of the time, coming from the side.

I didn't think this frontage road was ever going to end.  It was about 10-15 miles we were on this road and we had a cross wind coming from the right.  At mile 51, I look down at my computer and suddenly smell sewage.  I looked to my right and what do you know, there is a lovely sewage plant of which the wind is blowing perfectly across and into us.  I just about puked it stunk so bad.

I remember being so mad on this road because it was climbing the whole way and I was only doing about 13-14mph.  I don't know why but I was so mad that I was climbing a hill and only going that fast.  I wanted to go faster and just get this done and over with at this point.  I don't think it would have mattered if it were flat and I were going 20mph, I think I still would have been upset just because I wasn't finished.

I equate this part of the course as being equal to the last 10k of a marathon.  My legs felt fine but other parts of me hurt so badly and I wanted nothing more than to be done.  I put on my determination cap and just did it.  I knew that if I stopped, I wasn't getting back on the bike so I just put the nose to the grindstone and pounded out that last bit.

My feet really hurt me bad at this point, when I finished and took of my shoes, I had so many hot spots on my feet it was no wonder.  New shoes are definately in the works for me.  No doubt about it.

My hands were pretty much numb at this point and there was not one comfortable spot I could find to put them.  Worst of all was my neck.  It hurt so bad I wanted to cry but I couldn't because I just wanted this done so badly.  I wasn't giving up at this point.

I had never felt pain like that in my life anywhere in my back.

Finally we turned off the frontage road and the crowds started to pick up.  I had asked at the last stoplight that I got caught at how much longer we had on this road and one guy told me 2 miles and the other said 1.5.  That helped get my spirits up knowing that this torture was almost over.

I had never felt so much relief as when we turned off that frontage road.  It was so nice to have crowds again cheering for us and then I hear the announcer and just lost it.  We made one left turn off the road and I saw that finish line and started to cry.  I didn't let myelf get too teary eyed because I still needed to see where I was going but the sense of relief that came across me was just overwhelming.  It reminded me of crossing the finish line of my first half marathon.  It was really awesome.

I remember rolling across the chip mats, seeing some military guy there marking my bib and then someone taking the chip off my ankle and going through the rest of the finish chute.

I was diappointed with the end.  I'm used to marathon finishes with the finishers corral and TONS of food and water available.  I had to walk for what felt like an eternity to find any water and even then I saw a jug of water sitting on a table and just helped myself.  The medals were all the way at the other end of the plaza as well.  There really could be a lot of room for improvement there.  The food I was finally able to get, I had to pay for from a vendor.  Very disappointing.  It was not recovery friendly at all.

The good part of the end was the massages though.  There were a ton of massage talbes out there and available so the wait was quite minimal given the circumstances.  That was super nice so I got a good massage.  The guy worked on me for a good 20-25 minutes.  It was amazing!

That night we went to a brewery place called Nimbus.  It was alright.  It would have been better probably if I wasn't so exhausted but they had the right postrace food so it worked.

Sleeping that night was terrible because of my back.  It was basically nonexistent. 

Luckily I'm heading to the chiro here soon to get myself straightened back out.  Two days later my upper back still hurts like mad no matter what I do.

All in all it WAS a good race.  I probably would have been in a better mood if it weren't for the wind I was fighting the whole way.

My actual ride time was 4:45:06 with an average of 14mph, much much faster than I thought I would do.  I was expecting about 12.5mph average on my computer.

My chip time was 5:11:xx.  For an average of 12.1 I believe.

I got a message on my facebook a little later that night from Randy telling me that my chip pace was faster than the guys. 

I still haven't let them live that down.

The ride down to Tucson was uneventful.  I do feel that I should get a medal for having rode in the back seat for as long as I did.  That was hard for me.  Luckily I had a good book and almost finished it.  I'm currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  It starts off slow but man it really picked up!

Yesterday we hit up the expo when we got here.  It was alright.  Nothing like going to a running expo.  There weren't a whole lot of deals going on.  I did get three pairs of PI socks for $15, some t-shirts, an even jersey, and a pair of sunglasses since I left mine at home.  :(

This morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast here at the hotel.  After we finished that up, we went for a late morning ride.  We did about 16-17 miles.  Just enough to work out the cobwebs.  It was really nice.  Started to get hot near the end but what more can you expect when the temps are supposed to top out at 80-something?

Now we're back at the hotel room taking showers and then we are heading out to In and Out burger for some lunch and then some sight seeing.  I'm really hoping to see either the Biosphere 2 or the big wildlife refuge that they have here.  It would also be nice to do some shopping but I doubt that will happen since I'm the only girl here and will easily be outruled on that one.

I'm very impressed with the bike trails here in Tucson.  They are very well maintained with water fountains in the shade every few miles.  They also link up very nicely if you want to go somewhere specific, unlike Albuquerque.

We went to Tri Sports last night as well.  It wasn't as big as I had imagined but I was in LOVE with all the tri stuff that they had.  Within 10 minutes of being in the store I had found about 4 different tri suits that I wanted to buy.  I bought a pair of paddles there.  I'm hoping that will give me some incentive to get back into the pool.  It's been a long time since I've been swimming.  It's probably time to buy a new swimsuit as well.

We also ate a Joe's Crab Shack last night.  I totally heart that place!  I wish Albuquerque had one of those!  Even though I can't eat fish, they have some super awesome shrimp and margaritas in a mason jar that we got to keep the jar.  Yum!

Tucson is very much like Albuquerque in some ways.  They're about the same size.  Tucson has mountains that surround all but the southern half of town.  It's really pretty here.  I also like the palm trees and the seguaro (spelling?) cacti that are everywhere.  The streets are nice and clean and the businesses, for the most part, have really nice landscaping (unlike Albuquerque). 

I haven't seen the really nice part of town yet.  So far the houses look like Albuquerque.  I'm guessing that the nicer part of town, like home, will have more of the adobe style houses.  It's not bad.  I'm not convinced that I would want to live here yet because of the heat but all in all, it looks like a nice place to live, work, and play.

I had great intentions for today.  None of them happened except for laundry and dishes.  I feel like such a slug!

I really wanted to go to the gym today but time got away from me, thank you computer.  I don't like it when this happens.  It makes me feel terrible since I didn't use my body in the way it's made to be used.

The Tucson ride is coming up this Saturday.  I'm not too sure what to think of it right now.  I'm the only girl going down right now and I feel like and extra tag-along.  I'm not really sure that I belong.  I really hope I enjoy my time there.  I just feel very ackward.

I'm looking forward to going to Tucson becasue I have never been there.  It's also been quite a while since I've gone out of town so it's time.  I'm just dying to go somewhere other than here.  I'm just diappointed.

I'm bummed that I'm missing TKD all next week.  If I'm not careful, I may start to go postal without getting my stress release.  I've been looking for a school to try and see if I can take a class there.  I've found one that says they are ITF.  I'm thinking of contacting them and seeing if they would let me come.  At least that way I will be able to work out my frustrations.  Lord knows I have a lot of them right now.

I'm thinking I need to start looking for a tri to do to give myself some motivation to get out and train on days that there is no TKD.  I keep talking to myself about going to swim because it's another sport I really enjoy but for some reason I've just not made it.  I really want to go.  I think when I get back from Tucson, I'm going to make myself go that Monday.  For recovery, you know.  :)

This past week was the worst week I have had at work so far.  All three days were full of stress for me. The first two days was becasue of social issues surrounding a kid I was taking care of and the second day just started off terrible. 

Our computer system went out.  It wasn't just our hospital, it was nationwide.  I have never paper charted like this before and it just totally threw me for a loop.  I depend so much on computers.  I felt like I should be a character in the book Who Moved My Cheese.  My routine was just all thrown off.  I didn't know what meds I had due when.  Everything was late and I was just behind the 8 ball all day.

We have to change out clear fluids on days and I typically do this in the afternoon.  I kept looking for my fluids and they never came.  I finally caught a pharmacy tech and asked him if he had my fluids.  He said he didn't.  My fluids finally showed up right at shift change.

I didn't like that because it puts more work on night shift.  It's a task assigned to me and it didn't get done.  I don't like leaving things undone.  What could I do though?

I think it will help when I go back to school in January to kill my sluggishness.  I have so much free time right now that I don't know what to do with it.  I have had a hard time getting into a routine.  I know some people wish that they had this problem.  I'm not one of them.  I like to do things but in order to do things, I have to have a reason to be somewhere and do something.  I need to be around people.  It just helps when I can interact with them.  Even if I'm not talking to someone, just being in a group is nice.

I'm a happy person when I have a full schedule.  Right now I have work 3 days a week (12 hr days) so there goes those days, M and W is TKD (if I am off work those days), and when I am off on Saturdays I can either go bike with a group or go run with a group.  Oh yeah, I have bible study on Tuesday mornings, again when I am off work.

I would just love to have a steady schedule of some sort.  I'm getting there.  It looks like in January my work schedule is going to become more consistent so that will help a lot with getting a set routine going.

When you feel like there is nothing left, pray, just pray.

That was all I could do today.

Unfortunately as a nurse you get caught up in more social stuff than any one normal person should be exposed to in a lifetime.  Today was one of those days.

Yes my job is there to take care of the baby but I also need to know, to some extent, about what is going on.  For example, it's important for us to know if a baby is a CYFD case or not.

This baby was supposed to get transfered somewhere else.  The mother and grandmother were understandably upset.  Unfortunately they were upset at us when they should have been taking it out on the court system who decided what was going to happen.  Or better yet, maybe they need to be taking a look at themselves and asking themselves where they went wrong and what they can do to fix it from this point forward.

Of course there were threats thrown out.  It was just rediculous.  I don't understand this stuff.

Anyhow, someone along the way lost their spine and the baby did not get transfered to where the court order said to send it.

Some people think it's so great to "work with babies".  I think they get the idea that it's all about feeding, burping, and cuddling.  It's the exact opposite of that.

There is a good side to nursing but there is also the ugly side to nursing.  These last two days have been all about the ugly side of things.

Part of nursing is being involved in the family unit, no matter if you want to get involved or not.  This means that you get stuck, yes stuck, in the middle of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the absolutely apalling.  There is just no way of getting around it.

I try as hard as I can to be neutral.  I call it being Switzerland.  I get to know what I need to know and I refuse to go digging beyond that.

I suggest everyone out there take this approach.  The more you know, the deeper it gets and before you know it, you're caught up in the whole thing and you have now dug yourself a hole so deep that you can't climb out.  Luckily I have learned this lesson by watching others.  Sometimes you can get in so deep that it may put your license on the line.

I'm sorry but I worked HARD for my license and I continue to work extremely hard to keep it.  You may think that once you get your license it's easy sailing but it isn't.  The work is just begining when you get your license. 

Being a nurse is about taking care of your patients but the other dirty side of nursing is about protecting what you have worked so hard for, your license.  Without your license, you aren't a nurse and won't be able to practice as such.  Nothing is worth putting that at risk.  Let me repeat that, NOTHING is worth putting your license on the line.  Especially when it comes to social issues.

Know only what you NEED to know and be Switzerland about the rest.

I also suggest NOT giving out your last name.  Lucky for me, my legal name is not on my badge but still.  I don't want to give ANY family ANY way to find me and either find where I live and/or try to name me in a lawsuit.

To end this all, I have to say that there is no way I would have survived these past two days if it weren't for me knowing that I had Christ by my side to lean on and to get strength and courage from.

I don't remember the last time I have prayed as hard as I did these past two days.  I am so THANKFUL to have accepted Christ and to have Him in my life.

I don't know what I would have done without Him.  He is my rock.

Ouch!  I sparred so hard on Monday night that I am still sore today!!!!  I didn't think I went at it that hard. 

What I remember is sparring this new guy in our class that is a boxer.  Apparently he thinks Tae Kwon Do still = boxing and treated it as such.  I wasn't ready for that and ended up getting by butt handed to me.  I actually got hit hard enough in the face that I got mad.  That hasn't happened to me before that.  It was an odd feeling.  I don't remember if I landed any good kicks on him or not but I was using my kicks every time he tried to get in and rush me.  I also remember that if he was able to get in, I was using my kicks to get him away.  That being said, he's one heck of a boxer.  I could learn some stuff from him.

My next go-round went better.  I think I was still feeling the rush from being mad but this time I was more controlled.  What I remember from this one is that it just went well all around.  We got to chose our partners and the person I chose is a pretty equal match for me which is why I chose him.  I finally landed a good back kick and was able to follow through with it.  I was so happy about that.  I've been working on that for quite some time.

One of the things they teach us is to counter a side kick with a back kick.  I still have to think about it when someone throws a side at me but I'm finding I'm getting more and more comfortable with my counters.

I don't know why but I find I fight better using counters than attacking first.  I like to see what the other person is going to throw at me so then I know how to react and I know their speed and how to read them.  I fought like that my first few go-rounds in TKD as well and was quite successful with it.  Every once in a while I'll take the offensive side if the person I'm sparring isn't doing much and then when they start throwing stuff at me, I change my game.

That being said, things are going well.  Scott and I are getting ready to head to Tucson next weekend to ride the tour.  I'm quite nervous about it.  It's not so much the distance, 67 miles, it's just the fact that I have never ridden in such a large crowd.  I sure hope I don't wreck!!!!!

I haven't been on the bike in over a week.  My hamstring was bothering me after working last week so I took Saturday and Sunday off and it helped.  I'm feeling 100% better now and have had zero pain, even with TKD on Monday night.  I'm so happy.

I'm going to look into doing one of the turkey races on Thanksgiving this year.  I'm very excited about that.  I haven't run a 5k in at least two years.  It should be fun.

I am off on Thanksgiving this year.  I still don't know what we are going to do.  I'm hoping to get together with friends again.  I cooked a turkey last year and have no plans of cooking one this year. 

I'm a little sad though.  I haven't seen these friends in a while but I know it's a little hard right now since I've been training for Tucson and they were training for a different race.  I still hope that they come down with us though.  It would really suck being the only girl there.

Yesterday I was home with a headache for most of the day and what do I do?  Research for NP (nurse practitioner) school and specialty.  I basically ended up giving myself an even bigger headache.

It's so hard to decide what to do.  I LOVE working where I work.  The patient population is really awesome.  I would go NNP but the thing holding me back from that is that the practitioners rotate days and nights.  I'm not sure how often they rotate between the two but either way, it doesn't sound healthy.  My husband suggested that I start there if that is where my heart is in a few years and then I can always go back for a post-masters certificate in FNP (family).

I don't know.  I'm going to let everything sit and simmer for a while before I start bending in any one direction.

One thing that hasn't changed over the years is I still want to do cardiology.

The quest for a baby continues as well.  It's been since July. 

I really really want a dog.  I think that would make a great Christmas present.

I'm getting random now.  it's time to go.