Nurse on the Run

Friday was my LAST DAY at my first nursing job, which if you’ve been around Nurse on the Run for a little while, you would know what a joyous occasion it was!  In typical fashion of my hospital, my floor was closed so all the nurses were sent to the other floors to work.  I headed to one of my less favorite floors (cardiac…just not really my cup of tea), but I had a pretty good group so I couldn’t complain.  Although honestly, I don’t think anything was going to bring me down!  Lots of people stopped by to say goodbye and wish me well, and I got a nice card and cookie cake (yummm!) from everyone, so that was really sweet.  For the record, I spent two and a half hours battling with pharmacy to get the medications I needed, but nothing was going to bring me down!  Around 10pm I nearly started dancing down the hallway with a huge smile on my face, and then I gave report at 11pm, marking the END of my time at this hospital.  I swiped out and was DONE. 

What a feeling.

I headed to one of the other floors to chat with some of the nurses I worked with (and who I’ll miss!  They’re great!), and then I headed to one of the local bars with a few of the nurses.  We had a lovely time while drinking beer in our scrubs.    (Also, I had a virtual drink with Jeri!!  I can’t wait to have a real drink with her!)  I really did work with a lovely bunch of ladies, and I’m going to miss them.  You build relationships with your coworkers and learn to trust me and help each other, which is soooo important, especially in a field such as nursing.  The facility might not have been the greatest, but I did learn from some amazing nurses.

That being said, I’M FREE!!!  I know that I could have just quit my job six months ago, but sometimes you have the pay the bills and gain some experience, so I’m glad I stuck it out like I did.  It wasn’t easy, but I have learned so much in the past fifteen months and I’m a better person (and nurse!) because of it.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

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Never fear, I’ve still been running!  It’s going to be interesting to see how my running turns out because I swear there’s a direct correlation between how terrible my job was and how fast I would run.  The worse my job was going, the faster I would run!  It’s true when they say that running is great for stress relief!

Let’s take it back awhile.  On Thursday, I did my long run for the week because the weekend was going to hold crazy apartment hunting and such.  I mistakenly thought that it was going to be cooler out, and I didn’t even think about taking fuel with me.  Actually, I thought about it, then I was like, “Oh, I can run 16 miles without it.”  FAIL.  Don’t do this!!  You need to take something besides the two water stops for a sixteen mile run!  Especially when it’s in the 80’s.  Why I’m making these rookie mistakes while training for my sixth marathon is beyond me.  Lesson learned.

Thursday, August 19
16.06 miles in 2:06:04, avg pace of 7:51

Please note that this does NOT include the five minutes where I literally laid down on a bridge and stared at the clouds, wondering how I was going to make it the three miles I had left to get home.  The sky was very pretty, in case you were wondering.  Here’s to better runs…

Fast forward to Sunday, where I ran eight lovely miles on one of my favorite routes.  The hills at the start kinda kill me, but that means the second half is downhill…gotta love it.

Sunday, August 22
8.05 miles in 1:02:53, avg pace of 7:49

This week is a cut back week, which is nice because the runs are shorter, therefore giving me more time FREAK OUT about moving to NYC in a week.  Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it’s almost here!  In the meantime, I’m soaking up some runs on my local runs.  It’s a little nerve-wracking to me to have to find new running routes…going into “automatic” mode makes zoning out during runs much easier.  I’m sure I’ll be a pro in no time, however.

Monday, August 23
5.24 miles in 40:01, avg pace of 7:39

It was raining.  The temperature dropped 25 degrees.  Hello, glory.

Tuesday, August 24
5.05 miles in 37:59, avg pace of 7:32

You try running slower when it’s 65 degrees!  So awesome!  That being said, I should probably start wearing more than my shortest shorts and a sports bra to run in, although from the number of honks I received, I don’t think anyone was complaining.  Just saying.  What a lovely run…the cooler temps definitely make running a little more bearable.  Can’t wait to run in NYC!

Alright, caught up on the running aspect.  Soon I will catch you up on the rest of life…it’s been a little crazy here, and the fun isn’t going to stop anytime soon!