Casseroles AGAIN?! - lament of a time cruched athlete-wannabe.

Many of my friends ask how I balance my training with my crazy work schedule, and with my "responsibilities" as a wife , (no, I'm not a slave, but the cooking, cleaning, and laundry responsibilities do fall on me).

I don't have multi-tasking down to perfection (D can attest to this).  Although as I write this blog, I am dual-tasking by spending quality time with my dog Fez in my lap (he likes to help when I'm on the computer by pointing to the exact key on the keyboard that I need).  Laundry and cooking is sporadic.  Cleaning, even more so.  Making sure D has underwear and socks falls ahead of mopping and vacuuming.  And thankfully I survive in either nursing scrubs or workout clothes so my wardrobe essentials are pretty minimal.

I'm thankful for the Elmwood Inn or the Otter Lodge to feed us when I don't have time (or just don't have the energy) to cook.  I've been known to have s'mores or a couple bowls of Cap'n Crunch for dinner and nothing else.  D lives off casseroles when I work - and I'm glad he really doesn't mind.

I don't have racing/training down to a science, either.  I'm not particularly fast (a middle-of-the-packer in mid-distance races), so I don't think that anyone looks to my mediocrity as inspiration, or a goal.

Although I "only" work 36 hours a week (three twelve-hour shifts), those shifts alternate between nights (7pm-7am) and days (7am-7pm).  I only have two patients, but as a Trauma and Burn ICU nurse, often those two patients will keep me on my feet all.  Shift.  Long.

For example, one day I had two patients who each had hourly evaluations (other than their vital signs) due to their mechanism of injury.  Add their medications, hourly vital signs assessments, charting, and helping the nurses to my left and right - it can get REALLY busy.  And often my legs feel like dead weight afterwards.

Thankfully I don't have to work a lot of weekends (two weekends out of every six weeks).  But that said, following a prescribed training plan is pretty much impossible.  I don't get to do my "Long Run Saturdays" or "Tempo Thursdays".  It just gets fit in whenever it gets fit in.  I miss out on doing community stuff, like Monroe Milers - something I would really love to do if I had a normal schedule.

I try to work my "three days" back to back, so I get some consecutive days off in between.  So on those working days, I concentrate just on the running.  I've found running tired (especially after a night shift) to be very beneficial.  I don't often have a goal for these runs, but I hardly call them "junk miles".  At times they turn into 5-mile tempo runs and I surprise myself.  Running tired helps you realize what you can push your body to do - something I learned a lot about when I was training for Sehgahunda 2011 (which was by far my worst race in terms of how I fell apart, but one from which I learned from).

On the days I don't work, I often cram in brick workouts (swim/bike or bike/run) or two-a-days.  I don't do specific "speedwork", and only occasionally get in a hill workout.  Over the past year I haven't been running trails as much, although I love running trails in the wintertime the most, so I see this changing over the next few months.  Once or twice a week I hit the pool at UofR.  I don't have a specific triathlon in mind right now, but as my body has responded well to multi-sport disciplines (both in health and my weight), I see this as being my direction go forward (my dream was once do to trail ultras, but as my ankle has been re-damaged annually on trails, I see 26.3 as my max limit on trails).

At times, I feel guilt for not being a better wife - I honestly do try my best.  D is busy too.  And our schedules do not mesh together:  We spend very little time together when you look at how many hours are in a week.  Often I may skip a workout altogether when he gets the rare early night home.  And so be it.

So, there is my (albeit poor) balancing act in a nutshell.  But over the past few months I can't say that it hasn't worked for me:  Since September, I placed third in my age group at a super-sprint duathlon, and I PRd in the half-marathon and 5k (both by over 90 seconds).  I guess these personal triumphs just affirmed to me that quality over quantity will reap decent rewards.  I know that my "success", as others may define it (i.e. consistent AG placing, or winning), will be very limited because I can only dedicate X-hours a week to training - and I refuse to sacrifice family and sanity any more than I have.  But considering that this girl only started running 4.5 years ago, I'm pretty darn happy with how far I've come.

Post first-marathon blues

Well, I wouldn't say "blues".  I'm actually feeling good and excited to run more, which is quite a change since after my previous 4 half marathons, I was so bummed about my performance I didn't run for weeks or months.

Boots' "plan" called for us to do SOMETHING the day after Sehgahunda: swimming, easy bike ride, or walking, for example.  I walked...all over two Home Depot locations.  I was like that little old man in the opening scene of Office Space...hobbling with my cart/walker, trying to find those gosh darned fake mulch rings to put around our three fruit trees

Monday was a blessing.  Dave went to work and I did a whole lot of nothing.  Laid on the couch, studied for my NCLEX (state nursing board examination), and hydrated.

The rest of the week I tried to stay active.  My first run was a 3-miler on Tuesday.  Hot as hell, but felt good to get 3 miles down, even if I did look like a marionnette puppet being jerked in a generally forward motion.  Wednesday was a 17-mile bike ride with Gustavo which felt awesome, save for the high winds and debris in the road and on the Erie Canal Path.

Thursday was special.  I took my NCLEX at noon, and thankfully it "shut off" at 75 questions (the exam is anywhere from 75 to 265 questions, depending on how well you do...the better you do, the fewer questions you take).  I went to Urban Fit that afternoon for a "cross-fit" type workout.  Friday was another 3 miler, which felt easier than Tuesday's

Mendon Mauler finish.  Photo courtesy Gustavo Zajia

Saturday I attempted to run the 8-mile Mendon Mauler, as I was dumb enough to decide to move from my originally-registered 4-mile option.  Bad move.  I felt great, but rolled my ankle at Mile 3...nothing serious, but the trail was very rocky and I made the executive decision to not kill myself, nor my ankle, for this race (or any race so early in the summer).  Still had a good time, though, and the shirt is killer.

So, here we are on Sunday.  I woke up with my ankle feeling a little tender, and my new chihuahua dog having an upset stomach from it's worming medicine.  I was planning to do an 8-miler at Durand Eastman park with my fellow teammates, but my body (not just the ankle) was telling me I really REALLY needed a rest.  So what did I do all day?  Napped, made ice cream, and walked the dogs.  Not a bad "rest day" in my book.

But I'll admit I'm getting a little antsy to get out and run soon.  Which is a good thing, since there is NOTHING healthy about home-made vanilla ice cream!