The run

The run. It can be empowering. It can be a time of peace or time of chatter with friends. It can make us stronger and it can also break us down.  It can give us positive feedback on our bodies.  Its a time when you can hear your heart beat, feel your feet hit the ground with each step, your lungs expand with each breath. 

And then it happens. Your body decides to rebel.  It decides to make training difficult, delays training, pushes back training, or even can pull you from your planned races.  That's when things get rough.  You want to keep going, and you will because you're a runner.  But then your body rebels even more.  Stretching, long warm ups, foam rolling, foam rolling, drills but nothing seems to be helping. Idea: maybe some type of cross training will help.  You try for a couple of weeks but that's a no go.  So then there's an idea of possibility of switching sports for the time being

The run. It's an awesome experience. Yet you have taken a toll on my body.  You have forced me to pull out of two race this year already. I have dabbled in biking and swimming as cross training and learned to love it. Therefore, I am turning to the Triathlon. It's not that I am forgetting you, dear Run, as I will meet you again in November in Savannah. But for now, it will be better for my body and will give me a different challenge. 

ABC's of Me!!

So I saw this post on Run Courtney Run's site. I changed it a little and thought it would be a great way for y'all to know a bit more about me :)

•(A) Age:  31

•(B) Bed Size:  Queen (currently)

•(C) Chore You Really Dislike:  Cleaning

•(D) Divorced:  Yep

•(E) Essential Start To Your Day:   breakfast and sometimes coffee

•(F) Favorite Color:  Pink

•(G) Gold or Silver:  white gold

•(H) Height:  5'6"

•(I) Instruments I played:  Flute and violin

•(J) Job:  Registered Nurse (currently traveling RN)

•(K) Kids:  Maybe someday??

•(L) Live:  Umm..all over the country for the last 2 years

•(M) Mom's Name:  Doreen

•(N) Nicknames:  none

•(O) Overnight Hospital Stays:  Several unfortunately

•(P) Pet Peeve:  Lately, when I'm told that I need to know Spanish because the majority of my patient speak it

•(Q) Quote:  Carpe Diem!

•(R) Right or Left Handed:  Right

•(S) Siblings: Younger brother, 29

•(T) Time You Wake Up: If I work 5:10am, otherwise whenever my body wants to; lately 6ish (am)

•(U) Underwear: That's for only someone special to know ;)

•(V) Vegetable You Dislike:  Brussel sprouts

•(W) What Makes You Run Late: Traffic

•(X) X-Rays:  Chest, head, full body

•(Y) Yummy Food You Make:  Apricot chicken

•(Z) Zoo, Favorite animal:  well I really love dolphins

-T

Just not a runner

I get asked numerous times what is a traveling nurse so here it is and why I chose to take on this adventure for 2 years.  A traveling nurse is basically just that-nurse that travels across the country (if he/she chooses to) at 13 weeks assignments for a recruitment company.  Hospitals use "us" to fill in needs, especially in the the south during the winter months aka "snowbird season."  That's basically it. I probably have been one of the more adventurous ones as I have taken with me my car and we have gone from Coast to Coast to Coast. And she is still running strong!  I have been living out of a suitcase(s) for the last 2 years which is very interesting.  So why would I want to continue to do this? I'm constantly wondering where am I going next and it is stressful, so why? Well...

Places I have been/seen
1) Grand Canyon 2) Santa Barbara and Oprah's house 3) 13 weeks spent 50 feet from the ocean(and I'm from WI!) 4) Made friends from across the nation 5)Lived at 6000 ft for 6 months 6) Made it to RI, CA, NM, and AZ as places to visit 7) Got to see celebrities up close and in person 8) Learned how nursing differs across the country 9) Quickly got over my fear of flying      10) Own frequent flyer miles with every major airlines and use them 11)Got to go jet skiing in NOVEMBER!! 12)Rode a tram for miles up to 10,000 feet to overlook Albuquerque,NM. 13) Seen how much more athletic people are in the South them at home and it makes me sad 14) New York City!! 15) Biosphere 2, Tucson 16) Taos, NM 17) need I keep going...

What has it allowed me to do:
Not only do I travel for my career but I also travel for running. So I might have been in California but ran in Las Vegas for instance.  I have gotten to travel from almost free to New Orleans, San Diego, Las Vegas, Chicago, LA, and Seattle all because of my career.  I go "home" to see family and friends almost every 6 weeks so I get lots of frequent flier miles which I cash in on other flights.  It's been awesome.  It has also allowed me to grow greatly as a person. I have to rely on myself only.   Accident-figured it out. Deathly sick-get yourself to the Urgent care. Learn to navigate thru numerous different cities thanks to my GPS system!

I love my career.  Now I have a decision to make if I want to stop traveling and plant some roots for a bit.  De-stress and get involved in some things that I want to do but can't because I travel.  Will it hinder my running and traveling.  Nope.  I already have a plan for that one.

-T

Hydration

I'm a registered nurse.  I take care of cardiac (heart) patients and everything related to that.  So yes, many of my patients come in with chest pain; I also take care of a lot of patients who have hyponatrium (low salt), dehydration, syncope (fainting) etc.  I also am an athlete currently training for a half marathon at the end of March.  So with the two combined, you would think that I know enough about the importance of hydration and the consequences that will occur if not done right.

My days at work are 12 1/2 hours long but more like 13. LOTS of walking, 75% on your feet, little time to eat lunch (15 minutes if I'm having a good day) and bathroom breaks....So drinking water becomes a challenge when I'm on the floor and spend little time at the nurses station where drinks are only allowed.  This past week, half was spent in WI (my home), flew back to Tucson on Thursday and then spent Friday thru Sunday working. 

Flying just dehydrates one period. So i made sure I bought the largest bottle of H20 I could find after security and finished that on the plane.  Came home to sleep, then run, then to bed.  Friday....5:00 am the alarm goes off. Drank 8oz of water with my breakfast, had the 20oz G2 at work and that's where it gets fuzzy.  I remember eating glasses of ice with water but I don't remember how many.  Early Saturday am I got up to use the bathroom.  I remember thinking, "wow, my legs are really wobbly."
Next thing I know, I'm crashing into the closet and on the ground. Yep, I have passed out.  Now, I always tell my patients, sit at the side of the bed and make sure you're not dizzy before getting up. Yeah...I didn't listen.

I went into work the next day and had my charge nurse check my blood pressure-it was low, lower than normal.  So I began to drink. Drank my G2. The next thing I did was set my alarm on my watch to go off every hour.  When it went off-as long as I wasn't in an emergent issue, stopped into the nurse's station and downed a glass of water.  A quick 2 minutes (and piece of mind)

My point-do what you need to maintain adequate hydration, especially being an athlete.  For me it's setting the alarm on my watch at work.  I don't have an issue with my water intake while I'm off since I'm glued to my Nalgene bottle.  Also, though, make sure that you are replacing your electrolytes. If you become over hydrated, you can also run into other issues that can potentially land you in the ER (not to scare you).  I really don't want to see you on my cardiac floor; I'd rather see you at a race!!

-T

Valentine's Day

So as Valentine's Day approaches, I decided to blog about that. These past couple of days have not been easy for me. As some know, or just saw, my boyfriend decided to end our relationship via email. Now this was a person whom I thought I was going to marry and be with. I was willing to sacrifice weather and a move back to a state that I REALLY dislike to be with him. And in one email, one click, he decided that it was over. Obviously, things could be worse..a death or divorce..but those who have been where I stand can understand. I was and still am crushed. It's now Saturday and the reality has finally hit me that I am single again and he has totally blocked me from his life; he doesn't even want to discuss it when I return home in 5 days.

I have received a world of support from friends/runners on twitter whom are my family (I'm in AZ right now and base is WI). One stated "he's not man enough to say it to you in person." Another, whom I've held numerous conversations with, thought he might come around aka grow some balls and step up to the plate-yea that didn't and won't occur. That person also helped me understand some of myself like I first come off as intimidating to a weaker person but that is a great trait to have. I'm still processing that one. Others said "your better off" or "focus on yourself and find yourself" or " I deserve better and I'm strong enough to move on".
To each and everyone who made one of those comments, thank you.

To Valentine's Day, I just don't like the day. It's 2 days before my ex-marriage wedding day and I have never had a good experience with the day. Not a good date or something with a relationship goes wrong. Case in point. So cheers to all those happy couples out there celebrating this happy day. For the rest of us, I propose a toast-to being single. It may not be all fun a games but we are only accountable to ourselves! Cheers to all

-T

February

It's only 5 days into February, so it's not too late to say this: My goals for this month. My overall focus, though maybe selfish, is on self improvement.
1)Always have my Nalgene water bottle with me. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten it for work and come home so dehydrated that it isn't funny.
2)After each run, practice forefooting drills. I just saw, and heard stories of a teammate of mine, @KGIRLTRIS, and her strides she made this week up in Denver.
3)Keep my stress level as low as possible. I just spent January de-stressing it. My job is stressful enough-working with patients that are ticking time bombs..enough said
4) Take the Personal Trainer cert test on February 20th to make that goal come true!
5) Learning to re-accept myself as it is. I think Pink's F***ing Perfect http://www.pinkspage.com could possibly be replayed everyday

PF Chang Marathon

Let's rock and roll baby!! Actually, I didn't run this race but had the awesome opportunity to work one of the med tents at the finish line. First, lets back this whole thing up to Saturday where I managed to meet a whole bunch of twitter friends from across the country. @dragonflytweet, @indianabackdoc, @KGIRLTRIS, @funegrl262, @LJ3000, @MissJewels212, @aimeespencer, @sarahstanley, @bedmadthen, @azrunningman, @britishbulldog, @allyspeirs..i think that is all. I know it was quiet a few; some at Starbucks and then some for dinner at Thia Elephant. All and all, Saturday was a blast talking and hearing stories of transformation, encouragement, and determination.
Sunday: Big day for all who where running. Beautiful day, cool start temps with the sun out around 9 am. Congratulations to all that ran, finished, PR...it was great race, run right, with the right people. I had a lot of fun working in a tent fun of many pharmacy students, MD, 3rd year medical student, and a Pharmacist. Lots of interesting things to be seen, stories heard. Now my two cents:
1. After running a marathon/half marathon, please remember to re-hydrate, eat more than just 2 oranges. You wont be okay. You will be on your way to see me, dehydrated, confused, and sent to the hospital.
2. When on the course, drink more than just water!!! Your sweating out all the electrolytes in your body. If you can't drink the course mix, bring your own. Otherwise, again, you will be on your way to see me.
3. After the race, get the heck out of the sun. You just exhausted your body; pushed yourself to the extreme and need to relax. If you do choose to hang in the sun, make sure to continue to re-hydrate or *surprise* see ya at the med tent.

I would like to thank @runrockandroll for a very well run event. I can't wait to volunteer at my next one. Even better, run my 2nd marathon in Georgia!!
-T