two items of note

1.  Today I registered for my first ultramarathon.  I will be running the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail 50k on March 8.  I am very excited.  It is just 20 minutes from my house and should be beautiful.

2.  My pathophysiology class is comprised of about 45 second degree nursing students, 45 traditional undergrad nursing students, and 45 human science students.  Today, our professor conducted an informal survey to see who was in class.  The results?

40 second degree students

10 human science students

3 traditional nursing students

OBX marathon recap

After this race, the marathon has officially become my favorite distance.  It used to be the 10 miler or half marathon, but this race has converted me.  I may never go back. 

Emily dropped me off at the race start and I stayed warm wrapped up in a yard of fleece fabric that I had bought at Wal-Mart the night before.  It was totally worth the $3 I spent on it.

Miles 1-5 (7:44, 7:42, 7:45, 7:46, 7:50)
I had planned on starting a little slower than this, but I get excited about racing and forget to go slow.   Emily met up with me and ran along side me while she refilled my water bottle and took my arm warmers from me.  All the other runners were totally jealous that I have better friends than they do.

Miles 6-10: (7:50, 7:50, 7:53, 7:50, 7:49)
Totally uneventful.  We ran around the Wright Brother's memorial where Emily refilled my water bottle yet again.  She is invited to all of my marathons from now on.

Miles 11-15: (8:15, 8:09, 8:49, 7:54, 7:53)
Miles 10-13 were through the woods on a dirt road/trail.  This portion was significantly more hilly than I had expected.  Right when we entered the woods, I caught up to the guy running in front of me.  He saw me and immediately sped up.  I don't think he wanted to be passed by a girl.  I let him go ahead, since I had plenty of time to catch him again.  (Don't worry, I did.  I whizzed right past him when we left the wooded section and never saw him again. And I might be using the term "whizzed" loosely.)  Usually I love trail running, but I have never been so happy to get out of the woods and see solid ground. That part was tough. 

Miles 15-20: (7:55, 7:46, 7:54, 7:51, 8:02)
At this point, I started to get really excited that I my pace had hardly slowed at all.  I was sure I would hit the wall and be crawling at the end, but I kept finding people in front of me that I wanted to pass, so that kept me going.  (In the last half of the race, I passed more than 15 men and 10 women and was passed by exactly 1.  This guy here:)

Miles 21-26.2: (8:04, 8:19, 8:38, 8:39, 8:54, 8:48, 8:36)
At mile 21, we turned and headed west right into a nice strong headwind.  Then at mile 23 we ran over a bridge that I totally underestimated.  It was steep and long and totally destroyed me.  Luckily Emily was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill and ran the last 2.5 miles with me.  Don't worry, that's not cheating.  She signed up to run the Southern Six, which is the last 6 miles of the race.  She didn't feel like running all six, so she started at the bottom of the bridge instead.  

Clarendon days 5k/10k pictures

Remember how one of my favorite things about running in Pacer's races is the free pictures? They just posted the pics from my race a few weeks ago and since I know you all love seeing running pictures, I am going to be so nice and share them with you. I know, I know. Your day just got so exciting.

Lately

So I know you have all been on the edge of your seats wondering if I got a perfect score on my pathophysiology exam. I did not. I missed two stupid questions. And I mean it when I said they were stupid questions. I had the answers to both written on sheet but I didn't read carefully and got a little cocky and forgot to double-check. Dang.

Last week I taught my health promotion class and it kind of made me miss teaching. My topic was screening and prevention of chlamydia. Pretty exciting stuff. I taught them all about expedited partner therapy and STD testing programs in DC public schools. (Did you know that students can get tested at school, free of charge? They just pop over during home room.) Unfortunately, I spilled my water bottle on my laptop the day before my presentation so I had to use an iPad. I know that all the cool kids love the iPad, but I have never really been that cool, so it shouldn't be too surprising that I do not love the iPad. So if anyone is looking to buy an iPad mini, I'm your girl.

My marathon is in exactly 4 weeks! Two weeks ago I ran 19 miles (the last nine were the Clarendon days 5k and 10k). It was the fastest 19 miles I have ever run, so that made me feel pretty good. Yesterday, however, I had 16 miles scheduled. I got really hungry at mile 12 and just happened to be passing a Five Guys, so I stopped for a bacon burger and coke. It was simultaneously the best and worst decision ever. A bacon burger has never tasted so good, but running those last 4 miles with it sloshing around in my stomach was less than pleasant. I am going to call that one a major fail.

Don't worry, though. Next week I am running the Somerset Elementary 8k. I am planning a 10 mile warmup, then the race (about 5 miles) then jogging the 5 miles home. That will be my last tough long run before my marathon. I may also do the Marine Corps 10k, assuming the race still happens with the government being shut down and all. Luckily active military are still working, so hopefully the race will go on. (Can we talk about that for just a minute? The government just shut down? Is that even allowed?)

After November 10th I am very excited to start aerobic threshold training. It basically means that on all of my runs for 3 months I am not allowed to let my heart rate rise above 150 beats/minute. Which likely means that I will be running really slow. And will probably have to walk up hills. But supposedly, over time, the pace at which I can run without elevating my HR will get faster and faster, and make me a faster runner overall. Yay! And I get to have an excuse to be slow. Woot woot!

what a day

The most amazing things happened yesterday

1.  I ran in the Clarendon Days 5k and 10k, and received my favorite race shirt I've ever gotten.
2.  Joe showed up after the races with Dr. Pepper AND Gatorade!  My two favorite post-race drinks.
3.  I ate the most delicious brunch buffet.  I usually am not a fan of buffets, but they had biscuits and gravy, so I went for it.  They are a very close second to Loveless Cafe's biscuits and gravy.  Definitely the best I've had in DC so far.
4.  I found out that I have $150 of credit at the bike store from my last bike purchase!  Yessss!!!
5.  I got a perfect score on my latest pathophysiology practice test.  Hopefully the same thing will happen on the real test tomorrow.

diva women's half marathon race review

Well, this was without a doubt the worst race ever.  I am still annoyed by it, and it's been a whole week.

On Saturday morning, we left Erica's house at 5:45 so that we could make the hour-long drive out to Leesburg.  We were told that we had to be in the parking lot by 7:15, so we should have been there in plenty of time.  Unfortunately, the race coordinators failed to notice that there was only one road to the winery where the race started, and that road was exactly one lane.  The last 7 miles of our drive took an hour and a half, and we didn't park until 8:30.  (The race was supposed to start at 7:30.  Needless to say, it did not start on time.)  Nevertheless, we smiled and posed because everybody knows that whether or not it's going to be a good race, the least you can do is look good in pictures. (Can you tell that this is my favorite running tank?)

The half marathon finally started at 9:00.  I was still in line for the porta-potties, so I didn't start until 9:10.  The race was on a small, gravel country road, which was gorgeous, but also meant that if two people wanted to run next to each other, there wasn't enough room to pass.  I spent the first 4 miles of the race weaving around people or walking behind large groups trying to find an opening.  Kind of annoying.  At mile 5, I finally passed the 10-minute-mile pacer.

After about the halfway point, we finally got onto wider roads and I got into more of a groove.  This was, without a doubt, the hilliest race I have ever run.  The scenery was gorgeous, and one of the neighborhoods threw a big block party and all came out and cheered for us, which totally made my day.  

Finish time:  1:48.  I am pretty happy with this time, considering the hilliness of the course and my inability to actually run for the first few miles.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, I grabbed a handful of cookies (I was STARVING) and headed over to meet up with Erica and wait for Bethany to finish.

Look at how happy we were to be done!!!  

Now I am really excited for next week's back-to-back 5k/10k (after a 10 mile warmup).  Hopefully those races will run a little smoother than this one!

things I have learned in three weeks of nursing school

First and most importantly, I now know how to properly don and doff personal protective equipment.  (Doff means to take off...  Good thing I am getting such a good education and now know all these fancy new terms.)   I also know how to set up a sterile field.  This is pretty big stuff, I know.

In my abnormal psychology class, I sit behind a girl who has perfected the art of the messy bun.  When I wear my hair in a messy bun, it generally just looks like I have bad hygiene and haven't washed my hair in a week.  (Which maybe I haven't, but I don't want other people to know that...)  So I spent my last class staring at the back of her head and I realized that her secret is making TWO MESSY BUNS and intertwining them.  Don't worry, I was still taking notes and paying attention (the class is actually supremely interesting) but whenever there was a break, I definitely studied her hair just as thoroughly as I will study my notes.  Maybe one day I will do a tutorial so that other people can also have perfect messy buns.  Probably not, though, so don't get your hopes up.

It's a good thing I paid such close attention in abnormal psychology because I failed my first nursing school test before school even started.  I didn't cry, though, because it wasn't a real test, just a TB mask fitting test.  Hospitals make you get fitted for TB masks before you can start working, just in case you have a patient with TB.  They make you stick your head in a plastic bag and spray a bitter-tasting solution into it until you start to taste the bitterness.  I stuck my head in the bag, and they sprayed thirty squirts of the solution in, and I tasted nothing.  I was even breathing as hard as I could with my tongue sticking out, and still nothing.  Apparently this has never happened before because the lab techs had no idea what to do and just told me that I failed.  All that means is that if I happen to have a patient with TB (which is unlikely), I will have to wear a big fancy ET-type mask, which I think will be pretty cool.