Nurse on the Run

mini work mention

I can’t really begin to explain how happy I am right now.  As I was driving to work, I got a phone call saying that an extra nurse showed up, so they wanted to know if I wanted to stay home tonight…YES PLEASE.  My night last night was straight out of a nightmare…six patients is wayyy too many for evening shift, in my opinion.  Multiple nurses were crying and it was NOT fun.  I felt like I was developing an ulcer while I was at work…so glad that it’s over and that I get today off!!  While I should work since, you know, I’m going on VACATION on Saturday, I’d rather have my sanity.  Thank you.

Plus, now I have more time to pack and get ready to leave bright and early Saturday morning!  Gotta love it. 

In case you were wondering, I’m trying to cut down on how much I talk about work since I’m nervous someone from work will find my blog.  Also, being so negative all the time about it isn’t going to get me anywhere.  Yayy impromptu days off!

it may be cooler in costa rica

So, it actually appears that it will be cooler in Costa Rica than it is in Pennsylvania right now!  The high temperatures have hit 100 the past two days, while it appears that the temperatures are in the high 80’s in Costa Rica.  Perhaps I should take a sweatshirt with me.  All kidding aside, I’ve been braving the heat…taking water with me and only doing short runs.  I’m drenched after about half a mile, and I’m currently sporting a lovely sports bra tan, but the people in my town have been enjoying my shirtless runs (okay, I made that part up), so it’s all good.

Tuesday, July 6
6.05 miles in 48:31, avg pace of 8:01

WHAT A SCORCHER.  Probably not the best idea, but I made it and then chugged water when I returned home.  I’ll take it.

Wednesday, July 7
3.04 miles in 24:30, avg pace of 8:03

My mouth was dry before I even started…I’ve been trying to hydrate all day so I hope that’s kicking in, but it’s hard when I immediately start sweating when I walk out the door.  I won’t complain too much since I much prefer summer to winter…it could be 10 degrees outside!

the marathon plan

In theory, you should follow some sort of training plan when running a marathon.  While I do know people who just show up and wing it, I’m not one of those people.  Plus, I like to run a lot so obviously training is a good idea.  For my first three marathons, I used good old Hal Higdon, as his beginner and intermediate plans were right up my alley.  For my fourth marathon, I decided to switch it up and try the Pfitzinger plan, since so many people use it with speedy results.  I used his 55 mile/18 week program for Philly, and attempted the 55 mile/12 week program for Boston. However, I got injured during both training cycles, and while I’m not sure what to attribute the injury to (the training plan?  new terrain?  my job?), I’m a little hesitant to try Pfitz right now.  Therefore, my grand plan is to go back with what works.

And what might that be?  Hal!  Since I’m just coming back to running after two months off, I don’t want to dive into super high mileage, but with about 14-ish weeks until the Chicago Marathon, I have to start somewhere.  Therefore, I’m going to be combining the Intermediate I plan with the Beginner plan.  I plan on using the intermediate plan for every run except the long runs, during which I will use the length of the long runs on the beginner plan.  I’m not ready to run 12 miles quite yet, but this plan will still let me comfortably squeeze in a 20 miler before race day.  Sounds good to me!

Time to pack for COSTA RICA!