It’s been three months since I’ve done a long run.  I ran 16 miles on February 12th and that was the first time I had back pain (it was on Cat Hill for all you NYCers).  I’ve been trying to be patient with this injury and have gotten really good at resting.  And drinking beer.  Not related at all.  Anyway.

I RAN TODAY.

Sorry, I was going to have some sort of eloquent writing to lead into that fact, but I just had to say it.  I’ve been doing physical therapy for about two months, started acupuncture a couple weeks ago (more on that at some point), took enough Naproxen that my gums started bleeding when I brushed my teeth, and pondered throwing all (twelve pairs) of my running shoes out the window.

I’ve spent a lot of time talking with Meggie about injury (and sending her my new random ideas at 2am when I’m at work, thanks for reading my ramblings and not thinking I’m totally nuts) since she is finally getting back to normal after her IT band took over during her last training run for the NYC Marathon.  And that was in October.  See?  This recovery thing is a long process.  I’ve (almost) let go of goal races for the moment since I don’t know when I’ll back fully back in action, which is better for my mindset.

But basically, Meggie told me about how she started back with a run/walk program in order to get back into running again.  And by that, I mean it started with six minutes of running with walk breaks mixed in.

Six minutes.

To anyone who has run a marathon (or ten…) or has been running for fifteen years or thinks that an hour of running is an easy run, six minutes seems like nothing.  I mean, I can run a mile in less than that (…not often).  But to someone who hasn’t been able to run for three months, six minutes is amazing.

As in, I want to shout from the mountain tops that I RAN FOR SIX MINUTES.  AND IT DIDN’T HURT.  And I could bend over to take my shoes off after I ran.

As I got dressed to run, a downpour started outside.  I thought maybe it was a sign, but I’m not totally sure I believe in so-called signs, so I waited for the rain to die down a bit.  It toned down to more of a drizzle, and I decided to go for it.  If you haven’t been around too long, you might not know that I love running in the rain.  Short shorts, a tshirt, and a visor/hat and you’re golden.  You’re getting sweaty anyway.  I wore what I wore when I ran my final marathon pace run before Twin Cities last fall.  It’s a good rain outfit and it helped me channel the speedy days, although today was anything but speedy.  (And it’s not crazy at all that I can remember my exact outfit from that workout.  Totally normal.)

So I walked for a minute.  Ran for a minute.  Walked for 30 seconds.  Ran for a minute.  Repeat the run one minute/walk thirty seconds six times. 

Needless to say, I didn’t get far.  Because you can’t get too far when you only run for six minutes.  SIX MINUTES, WOOHOO.  But it’s a start.  We all have to start somewhere.  I’ll back there soon enough with an “easy loop of the park” as my run.  (That’s eight miles, including to/from the park…and one of my favorite runs.)  I can’t wait for mile repeats on the west side.  But for now, I’ll take what I can get.

Look how happy I when I got back:

I RAN I RAN I RAN.

I’m not calling it a comeback yet.  But we’ll get there.  Baby steps and a few more rambling emails to Meggie, I think we’ll be golden.

Basically, let me know if you want to run/walk with me.  We’ll go for another five minutes tomorrow.

Eight nights off.  Without taking a single day of vacation!  One of the perks of nursing, most definitely.  I was supposed to run a relay race this weekend (Ragnar Cape Cod), but my back is still not agreeing with me (one day at a time…), so I’m out.  Instead I’ll be giving my back a rest from running and from nursing since moving patients, doing wound care, and drawing labs, etc etc probably doesn’t help.  Fingers crossed.

For today’s Nurses Week post, I figured I’d do something along the lines of “A Day in the Life” to try and give you an idea of what it might be like to work as a hospital nurse.  The problem with this is that it won’t fully capture everything that we do.  Also, we have many options for the different kinds of patients we have.  On a given day, I can have any of the following combinations:

• 1:1 assignment with an ICU patient
• ICU patient with a “walkie-talkie” small burn patient (meaning they’re pretty much fine outside of the burn)
• Multiple adult patients with smaller burns, usually up to four patients
• Pediatric burn patients
• Medical/surgical overflow patients

A day in the life with each of these groups is a little different, but I’ll try and give you an idea!  Also, I’ve been on night shift for about the past four months, so I’ll talk about that.  Day shift is definitely different.  So here we go.

7:15pm

I usually arrive at work between 7:15-7:22 (on the dot…) and get my scrubs from our scrub machine, as we wear “clean” scrubs.  It’s nice in that I don’t have to wash my own scrubs, but sometimes the machine runs out of smalls.  Then I wear mediums.  Or extra extra larges:

Anyway, I change, put my food in the refrigerator, and head out onto the unit to find out what my assignment is.  I get my room assignments, then grab a piece of paper to put patient ID stickers and organize my paper to get report.  (Despite all the crazy technology floating around, I don’t know a single nurse who doesn’t take report on a piece of paper to carry around in their pocket.)

7:30-8pm

This is the time when day shift and night shift overlap, so that’s when report is given!  If you’re a family member, please don’t call during this time.    (This varies between all hospitals, so don’t go by that!)  We get report from the previous shift, reviewing the burn sites, pain medication required for dressing changes and breakthrough pain, then go through a systems reviews (neuro, respiratory, cardiovascular, GI, GU).  Important things mentioned include the pain medication required and when the patient last had a bowel movement.  (Nursing is so glamorous…)

After report, I log into the computer and do a twelve hour order check which I sign off, which basically reviews the patient’s orders to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.  I’ll also look at labs, review the doctor’s notes from the day, and the nursing burn care note.  At this point I’ll review the medications I need to give during the shift and make a checklist of things I need to do for each patient…noting what time labs need to be drawn, if I need to give any electrolyte replacements, hang fluids at midnight, etc.  Any of the tasks that need to go down.  Basically organizing my shift so I have an idea of what to expect, especially if things start to get a little crazy.

8pm – ???

So this is when things start to change between all the assignments.  If I have multiple patients, I’ll start going patient to patient (prioritized in my mind beforehand) to take vital signs and do assessments.  While doing this, we do mental checks in the room looking for emergency equipment (just in case…), assess pain, always ask about the last bowel movement (don’t forget!), and see if the patient needs anything (water, more Ensure to drink!).  With my patients who are more walkie-talkie (just what it sounds like…they can walk around, talk, usually have a smaller burn), I work with them to determine what time they want to do their dressing changes, which we do in the rooms at night.  I try to get these done on the earlier side (hopefully before 11pm, if possible) so the patients can attempt to get some sleep at night.

If I have an ICU patient, the idea is the same, but there are a few more steps involved.  Assessments are a little more intense as we check alarm settings on the monitor, zero arterial lines and CVPs, check the settings on the ventilator, do oral care and suction for secretions, check feeding tube placement and residuals, empty Foley catheters to check urine output.  I trace back the lines that the patient has to see what’s going through each one.  Check a blood glucose if the patient is on an insulin drip.  Neuro checks.  Blood gas at some point for the ventilated patients.  Each nurse has their own little system to do everything that needs to be done, and you get a routine down to make sure you hit everything.  Definitely not an all inclusive list!  Patients may also be on CVVHD (constant dialysis), receive bedside dialysis, have more intense cardiac monitoring requiring calibration, among whatever other monitoring you could think of.

After assessment and vital signs are done, it’s usually time to medicate people as many standard medication (vitamin C, stool softeners [again with the poop…]) are scheduled for 9pm.  Anyone who needs premedication for burn care will receive medication about an hour before the planned dressing change to allow for it to work…just like when you take Tylenol for a headache, it needs time to kick in!  During time time I’ll set up what will be needed for the dressing change so I’m all set to go when the pain medication is kicking in.  At this point it’s basically going from room to room as necessary to do dressing changes.

The same things apply to the pediatric burn patients, except we’re really on top of their intake and output.  Everything is weight based, and we keep track of everything that goes in the patient and everything that comes out.  Diapers are weighed  Since kids can’t necessarily tell you when things are going south, we use these as indicators as how the patient is doing.  Many of the kids have feeding tubes because getting the proper nutrition is so important, and kiddies don’t necessarily want to eat if they’re in pain or in a new environment (or they just don’t like the Ensure we’re giving them).

burn care

So what exactly does burn care entail?  At night, we do dressing changes at the bedside.  During the day, patients who are able to walk go into our shower room, and other patients who can’t shower but are still stable will go into “the tank.”  More therapeutically called the hydrotherapy room, “the tank” looks like this: 

(Thank you internet, not my actual unit!)

Big burns are generally washed at the bedside due to being hooked up to ventilators and/or a ton of monitors.  But the idea is still the same.

Dressings are cut down and removed, and burns are washed with a certain soap.  We debride (remove…) any skin that is coming off, which is how the burn heals, by slowly removing the dead skin until healthy skin comes back through.  If this isn’t happening on its own, patients will go to surgery for skin grafts.  Once the burns are cleaned and debrided as much as possible (or as much as the patient can tolerate), topicals are applied based on where the burn is in the healing process, then they’re covered and wrapped.  IV pain medication is often given throughout this process since it’s very, very painful…I’ve never experienced it myself, but I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.  Depending on the size of the burn and the patient’s tolerance, this process can be quick (taking more time to set up and clean up than actually change the dressing!) or could be an hour.  These types of smaller burns are usually just done by one person unless help is needed, in which case you coordinate with a tech or another nurse.

back to the routine

If the patient is an ICU patient, certain things need to be done every hour.  Vital signs, ventilator reports, and intake and output are recorded every hour.  (Constantly monitored, recorded every hour along with any important changes between hours.)  Urine is dumped and recorded, blood glucose checked, insulin titrated per protocol.  Turn patient to prevent pressure ulcers.

Of course, it’s not necessarily as smooth as it might sound because a ventilator may alarm, blood pressure alarms might go off, patient might slide down in bed and need to be repositioned, etc etc etc.  Troubleshooting and problem solving are ongoing, and I’ve learned not to freak out about the tiniest alarm…an oxygen saturation problem is usually a result of the sensor falling off the finger/toe/forehead, so that’s one of the first things I check before freaking out.  Patients may also have bowel movements at any given time (it’s an important function…), so those need to be cleaned.  Basically, you have hourly things to do yet are always monitoring and thinking about how to help the patient.

12pm – 5am-ish

Vital signs are done on most other patients every four hours, so come midnight those are done on all patients.  At this point (or earlier), I give the patient a head’s up if I have to draw blood on them in the morning since I wouldn’t want to be woken up at 5am with someone telling me that they need to poke me with a needle.  Otherwise, if they’re perfectly stable, I tell them I’ll try to let them sleep (sleep is much harder to come by in a hospital than you would think…) and to call me if they need anything in the night.  I’ll stick my head in the room to check on them throughout the night.  Patients will usually call for pain medicine or water or a blanket.  But you never know.  I’ve hunted down wallets at 2am.  Had patients freak out about their lack of a bowel movement at 3am.  It always something.

Notes are written on the patients detailing their burn care…what medication they received, what the burn location is and what it looks like, if it was debrided, what topicals are applied, the dressings applied, and how the patient tolerated it.  This is a good reference for the next shift and to see how the burn is evolving.

With the kids, I’m pretty good at doing vital signs and checking as necessary without actually waking them, which is a fine art in moving around in the dark.

For burn care on ICU patients, the time when we do it varies.  I try to get it done on the earlier side (11pm?  Midnight?) to allow the patient to “rest” like a normal person, but often it’s done at 2am.  This often requires at least one other person to help you, if not more.  I’ve been in a room with six people changing one patient’s dressings.  Two hour dressing change?  Been there.  (I think the longest one I’ve done took 2.5 hours…that will make the shift go fast!)  This is just like doing dressing changes on the other patients, except on a larger scale and they can’t necessarily help to hold their arm up.  We give lots of pain medication.  Team work is key.

Throughout the night, the same hourly monitoring applies to the ICU patients (vital signs, check urine, ventilator).  We do some things every four hours and as needed (oral care, suction trach/ET tube, rezero arterial line/CVP, check feeding tube placement and residuals).  Ventilator settings may be changed and blood gases may be done.  At night, were also responsible for all the daily switching of bags of saline, feeding tubes, suction containers, etc etc.  If a patient is having their arterial line or central line changed the next day, we set up the lines for the day shift.  Behind the scenes kinds of things.  Daily labs are sent a little on the earlier side (3am?  4am?) for these patients.  I love arterial lines!

This is also the time when I eat “lunch.”  Yep, a full meal at 2am.  Usually with coffee.

5am – 7:30am

Around 5am, the shift starts to pick up again for patients who I let sleep a little.  More vital signs, labs drawn on patients who have them ordered.  Some patients shower early in the morning for the attending physicians to see them right away (either for discharge or to decide if they’re going to surgery later in the week), so they’ll wake up early and shower.  Otherwise we wrap up them for the shift.  The residents and fellow come in at 6am and some new orders go in based on lab results or whatever else is needed.  Pre-breakfast blood sugars are taken.  Foley bags are emptied of urine so everything is set for the next shift.

7:30am – 8am

Report is given!  Hooray!  If you’re lucky, the same nurse who had the patient the day before will be back, which means that report usually just involves updates from what happened the night before or what was decided in morning rounds, as well as any reminders that might be important.  Otherwise, report is the same as I said above.  Then it’s time to go home!

throughout the shift

I don’t know how controlled all of this sounds, but each shift is different.  It depends on what types of patients you have, how stable they are, what issues arise throughout the night.  Otherwise, new admissions may come at any time, which involves orientating them to the unit (it’s a lot of information ranging from where the bathroom is to an idea of how the day goes to the importance of nutrition, etc etc), vital signs/assessment just like any other patient, admission history, and initial burn care.  If it’s a “big admission,” such as a critical patient with a large burn, then it’s a big team effort to get the patient in and set up and monitored.

Medications are administered as ordered (pain medication as needed, of course!)…some medications are due at 3am, although I try to get them scheduled so I’m not giving vitamin C at this time.  Antibiotics may been to be hung though, so I try not to totally frighten patients when I wake them to do this.

Basically, the key is that anything can happen.  The basic things that you do every day are present (vital signs, assessments, burn care…and that’s just the beginning), and then you roll with the punches as they come.

that’s a wrap

As I said before, this certainly doesn’t fully describe what it’s like to be a hospital nurse, but hopefully it gives you an idea!  I don’t know what it’s like to work in an office or even just 9-5.  Most people will never work overnight in their entire career.  Hopefully this gives you a glimpse into what it’s like to be a nurse (did I mention the bowel movements yet?) and an idea of what my night is like while you’re sleeping!

Let me know if you have any questions, and if you’re a nurse as well, I’d be interested in hearing how your work is the same and/or different than mine!

So I have one, except it’s not mine it’s my friend’s. But she worked on the unit next to me, so maybe we can count it as mine While on night shift, she was doing her rounds and saw that her patient was missing. But all the furniture was piled up in the middle on the room – tower style. Apparently he decided he was spider man and climbed into the ceiling and crawled through the vent system of the hospital! It was a neuro unit… so I guess that makes sense. I don’t remember how the story ended because I was laughing too hard and it was after a long shift over margaritas.

You just can’t make this stuff up!

Today I’ll talk about how and why I became a nurse.  Many people will say that nursing is a calling, although I can’t say that’s true for me.  I’m not totally sure how I ended up here, which I can actually say for a few things in life (how I ended up going to college in Maryland is still a mystery…).  However, here we are so I might as well explain how I got here since so many people have different paths into nursing.  So here’s my story:

from doctor to ???

Ever since somewhere around the fourth grade, I wanted to be a doctor.  (This was after I got past my astronaut stage.)  When applying to colleges, I decided I didn’t want to be a typical pre-med biology or chemistry major, but I had an interest in nutrition, so I looked at schools with nutrition programs.  Other priority items in my dream college included being a big school with a football and basketball team, and I didn’t want to go to my state school (University of Illinois, sorry dad!) because so many people from my high school went there.  I ended up at the University of Maryland, which I loved.  (If only I knew that Jess was there too!)  However, at the end of my sophomore year while studying organic chemistry, I had a realization that maybe I didn’t want to be a doctor anymore.  For the prior ten years, it was all I thought about being.  I remember being nervous about calling my parents to say something along the lines of, "So……what if I don’t want to be a doctor anymore?"  I called from the windowsill in the dorm I lived in, and I still remember sitting there.  My mom responded with something like, "Well, you’ll just find something else to do!"  They never put any pressure on me to be a doctor so it wasn’t a big deal.

Except I really had no idea what I wanted to be.  I’ve written lengthy emails about my decision not go to medical school, but I’ll summarize with the fact that I didn’t want to be in school/training for years upon years just to have the long hours as an attending.  Of course many people have made this work and that’s awesome, but I decided it wasn’t what I wanted.  (Of course there are many options available, but if you don’t think it’s fully what you want, it might not be worth it.)  Anyway, those are the fewest words I have to say that without babbling for hours.

But what else did I want to do???  I was studying dietetics at the time so clearly being a dietitian was an option.  It would have been a good option, but I wasn’t totally excited about it.  I heard about nurse practitioners and how they have many rights to perform like doctors, but clearly with less training.  (Not going into an argument about how interchangeable NPs and doctors are, but just saying.)  After much, much, much debate about what to do with my life (that’s putting it lightly…), I decided I would go to nursing school, eventually work while getting my masters degree to be a nurse practitioner, and then work as an NP somewhere.

Let’s just say I’ve only made it partway through that list.

nursing school

I applied to a bunch of different accelerated second degree nursing programs, which is basically two years of nursing school crammed into one for people who already had a bachelors degree and certain prerequisites.  No liberal arts classes, just straight nursing.  I went to Rush University in Chicago for the fact that it was the cheapest option ($100,000 to be a nurse?  No thank you, UPenn…) and that I could live at home with my parents to save money.  The program was a bit intense, but definitely doable.  I got really good at studying on the train, and I worked as a waitress on the weekends.

Clinicals in nursing school made me really nervous, and on my last clinical, one of my fellow students nicknamed me "Poker Face" because I never had any expressions.  (Which is funny since people who know me realize that I make a fair range of faces…)  My clinical instructor pulled me aside at one point and asked if I really wanted to be a nurse because I didn’t seem all that into it.  That’s a pretty terrible thing to ask someone who is four weeks away from graduating, but I tried to be convincing.  I’m not totally sure it worked, but here I am three years later, so take that!

For our last last clinical, we were paired one on one with a nurse and we worked with them for three weeks.  We got to rank what unit we wanted to work on, and I was interested in the PICU (I liked my peds clinical there) or any ICU, but I was placed on a basic medical floor.  While I got better at managing a patient load and my preceptor was great, it was the unit I least wanted to work out (outside of psych, ah!).  We’ll call that foreshadowing.

susan, rn

I graduated from nursing school in a snow storm (thanks, Chicago!), then took the NCLEX a few weeks later.  I passed and became a nurse!  Hooray!  That was in February 2009 and I went full throttle on my search for a nursing job.  The plan was to move out east to be near my boyfriend at the time, but the economy fell out in December 2008 as I was wrapping up nursing school, so getting a job as a new nurse was horrific.  Nurses in general are expensive to train because you precept for at least two months (in general, definitely depends on the hospital), and new nurses are risky because many nurses don’t even make it past the one year mark.  Therefore, getting a job wasn’t easy.  I applied to over 150 jobs by the time I started keeping track.  I graduated at the top of my nursing class with good reference, but no luck.  No one was hiring new nurses, especially not someone who wasn’t already in the area.  Trying to be close to New Jersey, I applied in NJ, Philly (then anywhere in eastern PA), New York, and finally extended down to Maryland and up to Connecticut just to be somewhere on the east coast.  In May 2009, I took a job on a medical surgical unit at a small community hospital.  I cried the entire night after accepting the job because I knew I didn’t want it, but I had no other options.  (I then ran my first BQ the next morning!  Yay dehydration!)  I wanted an ICU job or at least one in an academic medical center, and this was none of the above.  But it was a job and experience would be key.

And boy did I ever get experience…

first year as a nurse

One of the things they don’t tell you in nursing school is just how steep the learning curve is as a new nurse.  You go through orientation and then all of sudden you’re full throttle.  It’s not like nursing school, and you learn so much on the job.  I consider myself to be a smart person, but the first year as a nurse is rough.  If you’ve been around this blog back when I was working at this job, you may remember how miserable I was.  It was every nursing stereotype coming true with poor staffing, a lack of resources, etc, etc.  The nurses who I worked with were great (thanks for all the hugs in the med room!), but I was so unhappy.  I cried multiple times per week and considered going to therapy.

But I learned a lot that year.  A medical/surgical nurse with six patients learns time management very quickly.  I learned not to freak out over everything.  And most importantly…I learned that the shift ends and you go home.  It’s a beautiful thing.

moving on

Needless to say, I hated that job.  It made me want to quit nursing forever.  It wasn’t until May that I would have had a year of experience, and that was key.  Many hospitals wouldn’t look at me until I had one year of experience.  After applying for several months before, I sent in a bunch of applications when I could officially say that I had that magical one year of experience.  The next day, my current job called me.  Nursing jobs make you go through a loooooong hiring process, and it wasn’t until July that I officially received an offer.  The day before, I was bawling my eyes out to my mom yet again, and she finally recommended that I just quit my job, move home, and waitress or something until I found something better.  I’d worn my big girl pants for long enough, but that’s how unhappy I was.  I prepared to give my notice, and then I received a phone call with this job offer.  I called my mom with tears streaming down my face, to which she said something like, "It’ll be okay, you’ll move home and we’ll figure it out."  I had to explain that I got the job and was so happy I was crying.  (To my nurses still at my last hospital, I don’t know how you’re still doing it…)

to nyc

My current job is on a burn unit in a large academic medical center in NYC.  It’s not hard to figure out which hospital I work at.  That’s fine.  It’s an interesting population, ranging from ICU patients to adults burn little burns to kids with burns to overflow medical/surgical patients.  So every day is pretty different.  Night shift has been a lesson in the importance of caffeine.  This has definitely been a major step up in my career and life, and it’s great being where I am now.

in conclusion

Well…that was a bit of rambling, but that’s how I got to where I am today.  Do I love nursing?  Not necessarily…but how many people really do love their jobs?  I think I’m pretty good at it, I like it enough, and there’s so much you can do as a nurse that if I feel like doing something else, I can.  I work three shifts per week, get paid well, and have a fairly flexible schedule.  (Although I did work on Christmas last year, so don’t get too jealous.)  I actually do help people, and I don’t think I could go to another job in  non-health field and get worked up about deadlines or anything like that.  It’s a totally different world.  Even in thinking of my path towards becoming a nurse practitioner, I never really considered the nurse part.  But here I am, and I’ll be here for awhile until I figure out the next step.

As I tell people…I’m a nurse.  It’s exactly what it sounds like while being nothing like you think it is.  Happy Nurses Week!

Tell me…what brought you into nursing?  What path did you take?

Nurses Week continues!  I’m on my third night of four in a row, and things are moving along.  Today we’re going to talk about some stories.  Often when people hear that I work on a burn unit, or that I’ve worked with oncology and hospice patients, they comment on how hard it must be.  Hard being with people who are in such pain or are dying.  It’s hard to explain unless you work in the field, but you just do it.  It’s obviously comes with the territory.  I usually say something silly along the lines of, "Ha, if you only knew how people ended up here…" (stop falling asleep smoking, please!) or something a little more rational like, "Well, it’s not my family member…"  But basically, if I got upset and attached over every single patient, I’d never make it through the day.  We cause people pain, but it’s part of the process of making them better.  I used to work with hospice patients, and it was about helping them die comfortably.  Which is definitely better than dying while receiving chest compressions, in case you were wondering.

This doesn’t mean I’m a cold, heartless person.  I’ve had plenty of patients who have touched me in great ways.  I suppose it’s one of the ways nursing is a little better than being an accountant (or something?) because we do help people in very meaningful ways.  (Not to say that accountants are great people, I’m not sure I did my taxes right this year, but I think you know what I mean.)  So for today’s Nurses Week post, I’ll share with you some patients I’ve worked with along the way…all while not violating HIPAA, thank you very much.

christmas carols

If you’ve ever heard me sing, you should consider yourself lucky.  Lucky in that I don’t sing in front of many people, and lucky for the fact that your eardrums are still intact because I can’t sing to save my life.  Around Christmas time at my last job, I had a patient who was on hospice yet not quite near the end of the life, so he was very interactive and such.  We had a radio that hospice patients could use, and the patient happened to have the radio set to a station playing Christmas music.  It was probably later in the shift, maybe 8-9pm, and he had me stay with him and sing some carols since he had no family or visitors.

"the nurse who is really good at her job"

I had another hospital patient who was the cutest little old man ever, with the cutest little old man name to match (which I obviously won’t share, but if you heard it, you’d agree).  He went downhill pretty quick and was placed on hospice.  Hospice care was pretty easy, just making sure they’re comfortable.  I came in once to find his family there, and he pointed at me and looked at his daughter when I walked in.  She asked, "Is that her?"  To which I gave a quizzical look.  She said, "He says you’re the nurse who is really good at her job." 

Awww.

Fast forward to later in the shift when his family had gone home, and I went to check on him.  I asked him if he was in pain, if he needed anything to drink, etc, and he told me no.  So I told him I’d be back to check on him in about an hour.  He took my hand and whispered, "I’m counting on it."  I started tearing up and had to walk out of the room, to which one of the other nurses asked what was wrong…I said it was so sad that he was probably going to die.  He ended up dying that weekend while I wasn’t working.  I looked up about going to his funeral services, but the family wasn’t having any.  My other internet searching showed that he still had plans to be active in the community.

"we should get married"

Then there was one patient who I will never forget…we shall call him Joe for the fact that that’s a common name.  Joe was a "frequent flier" as we sometimes call them, as he was old and bounced back and forth from whatever extended care facility he lived at and the hospital.  The first time I had Joe, I was having a bad shift and when I walked in his room, I realized his IV needed to be changed.  I was holding his arm checking out his veins, and he asked me if I was married.  Usually in this situation I would say yes, and the patient would say, "Well, he’s a very lucky man" to which I would agree.  However, I wasn’t on my game in that department and said no.  He asked if I had a boyfriend and I said no.  To which he replied, "Well…we should get married!  And then when I die in three years, you can collect my social security."

Didn’t sound like a terrible idea, let me tell you.

Moving on.  Next time I had Joe, he was in and out of being oriented.  At first he wouldn’t let me even listen to his lungs, saying things like, "You’re a pretty girl, but you’re getting uglier by the minute!" and "Only cowards hit women, and I’m going to be a coward tonight!"  Excellent.  A few hours later, he was apologizing and saying he shouldn’t say those things, then serenaded me with, "You’re too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you…" for at least an hour.

Next up?  Anesthesia made Joe a bit wacky (as is common in the elderly), so Joe thought I was trying to kill him.  He was nauseated so I was pushing IV Zofran, and he asked how long it would take…I told him maybe ten-fifteen minutes to set in, and he said, "Oh, so I don’t have very long…" and when I questioned what that meant, he told me he thought it was meant to kill him.  Nope.  He mumbled something about having worked for the FBI and how someone would find out what I was doing to him.  At the end of the shift, I was in his room cleaning up to prepare for report, and he said, "Well, whenever you finish running around, you should come cuddle with me.  No sex, just cuddling.  You know, like people used to do by the fireplace."  Oh Joe.

i could get used to this

If you’ve never had a disoriented old lady turn her head, look you in the eye, and say, "You’re really pretty…" then you’re totally missing out.

I’ve also had the same thing happen, but instead she said, "You don’t know what you’re doing!"  (Which was possibly true since I had only been a nurse for less than three months…)

and then there are the crazies

Cute, hm?  In other news, I’ve chased patients down the hallway with the AMA form they needed to sign after ripping out their IV and proclaiming that they’re leaving.  (Only to show up again hour later saying that they "just went out for a walk.")  And that’s only the tip of the iceberg…

Any nurses out there have a story they want to share?  Also, let me know if you’re a nurse (with a blog, or without!) and I’ll give you a shout out later this week!

Happy Nurses Week to all my readers…or at least those of you who are nurses.    I know I don’t talk much about the "nurse" part of "Nurse on the Run"…except for "gahhh night shift makes me tired!"  However, since you probably don’t want to hear about my back injury anymore (sorry for all the talk about it, I have nothing else to say lately!), I figure Nurses Week is a great time to change the subject and do a little nursing talk these days!  Let me know if you hate them and I’ll stop, but the nursing/hospital world is a little bit different than the office world (I have no idea what that’s like, but just a guess), so I figure I’ll give you a little glimpse into nursing.  Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like me to mention, and we’ll go from there!

To start off on the right foot (probably wearing a Dansko clog if you’re a nurse…), we’ll start with a little series called, "You might be a nurse if…"  Here we go…

You might be a nurse if…

…you wear drawstring pants to work on a daily basis.  God bless scrubs and all the money I save on not buying work clothes.  (And my unit gives them to us and washes them, so I don’t even have to do that!  Win.)

…you’ve worn yellow isolation gowns around the unit because it’s cold (so cold at night…) and you forgot your sweatshirt.

…you can talk about any sort of bodily function/product while eating any type of meal.

…you secretly eye the veins of the person in front of you in line.  And then think, "I could totally get a 16 gauge in there…"

…you’ve made it through a twelve hour shift and realized you have yet to pee.  Bladder of steel.  (Luckily this doesn’t happen too often.)

…you drink coffee at 2am on a regular basis.  Thank you, night shift.

…you wake up and have no idea what day it is or if it’s AM or PM.  Thank you again, night shift.

…you know that the patients with tattoos are the ones most likely to tell you they’re afraid of needles.

…you wash your hands before going to the bathroom.

…by the end of the night, the Omnicell/Pyxis won’t take your fingerprint anymore because of all the Purell/handwashing.

…you can speak and write in a shorthand that most other people don’t understand.

…you know that the best way to fix a patient’s oxygen saturation is to change the sensor.

…you have the "this is your heparin shot, it’s a blood thinner so you don’t get blood clots in your legs" speech down pat.

…weekends and holidays mean nothing to you, except that you get time and a half on holidays.

…your doctor tells you to cut down on the coffee.

…seeing people naked is just another day on the job.

…you’ve had a patient ask if you’re nervous because your hand is shaking, but you know it’s just from all the coffee you drank.

…you’ve done a bowel prep on a quadriplegic.

…you have three favorite letters, and they’re "DNR."

…you’ve ever said the words, "That patient just really needs to die." and you mean the best by it.

…you’ve eaten a meal standing up.

…you’ve rolled your eyes when someone says, "Hellooooooo, nurse!" because you know how unattractive scrubs actually are.

…you shower after work instead of before.

…you know that "stat" never happens quite as fast as everyone else thinks it should.

…you know that hitting the night shift wall is worse than hitting the marathon wall.

Happy Nurses Week to all my fellow nurses out there!  Please feel free to add to the list if you have a good one!  If you’re not a nurse, fill me in on how the rest of the work world works!

Yesterday I wanted to throw my running shoes out the window.  Today I tried acupuncture for the first time.  I’ll keep you posted.

In attempts to lift my spirits back up, I’m not going to talk about my back anymore and instead present you with this week’s version of, “it’s friday, i’m in love.”  Because it’s Friday, and it’s better to talk about happy things rather than the fact that my back still hurts.  (Even though I just did…nevermind that.)  Away we go.

post-work mimosas

What’s the big deal, you say?  Drinks after work, isn’t that normal?  Well, drinks at 9am on a Thursday aren’t quite the most accepted practice…unless you work night shift and that’s your version of happy hour.  A few nurses went out for breakfast after work on Wednesday night (therefore making it Thursday  morning…), and the mimosas will knock you off your feet…especially after being up all night.  It’s totally acceptable, okay?

sleeping at night

It’s a beautiful thing.  I’ve been having a hard time switching back to a normal schedule on my nights off…staying up until 4am is boring and then makes me sleep until noon or later.  Oops.  However, last night I was asleep by 1am and got up at 8:45 this morning.  VICTORY.  Also, seven more night shifts until I’m on day shift for two months.  Please be my friend again, thanks!

“you don’t look like someone who would like beer…”

That’s what my physical therapist told me yesterday when I was discussing what I did last weekend.  (Beer at the Blind Tiger in the West Village…so good!)  He told me I don’t look like someone who would drink beer…mainly because I’m lacking the beer gut.  I guess that’s what I get for running fifty miles per week (er…used to) and being somewhat healthy.  Pour me another, please.

This is also a plus because I kind of feel like a whale.

salad bars

I love salad bars.  You can pick what you want to eat.  Load up with cucumbers (so good…), a little beans, maybe some tuna, avocado…as much or as little as you like.  It’s  a beautiful thing.  I may or may not be eating a salad from one right now.

bin candy

On the same note as salad bars, bin candy is fabulous.  I don’t necessarily know where to get this in NYC (Dylan’s Candy Bar?  The M&M Store?  Talk about $$$), but the Wegman’s where I used to live in Pennsylvania had bin candy, and I loved it.  Again, you can have six Reese’s Pieces, seven gummy airplanes, and three peach rings.  Sure, people probably reach their gross hands in the bins instead of using the tongs…but whatever.  Immune system of steel.

coffee

Coffee is delicious and brings me up to baseline.  Don’t judge.

Please tell me how much you love bin candy.  Or whatever else you might love today.  Ready, go!

But that’s not happening anytime soon, as my back still is not my friend.  I even made it cookies tonight and that still did not help.  In the meantime, I’ve had nagging pain for about three months and injury for about two and a half months.  My last speed workout was about nine weeks ago.  For the past three weeks, I’ve basically done nothing.  I stopped using the elliptical or pretending to take up swimming.  (A shame since I bought goggles…)  Can’t say I’ve gotten better.

However, in the past month or so, I’ve learned how to be injury.  Not how to get injured, but how to be injured.  It’s a little bit different than my normal way of life, and it’s took a bit to come around to.  I guess this might be how the rest of the world lives, but they probably don’t spend a lot of their extra free time (you know, from not doing ten mile runs…) looking up what marathons they could possibly do when their injuries heal.  So here is my current guide to how to be injured.

you start to eat less

I don’t know about you, but when I’m running 40+ miles per week, I eat a lot.  I don’t have a tendency to eat all in one sitting, but I eat a lot spread out over time.  You have to if you’re hitting 50 mile weeks!  However, when you go from full speed to nothing, you don’t need to eat that much.  Having been in training for one thing or another for about three years, it wasn’t natural for me to suddenly adjust my eating simply because I immediately stopped running.

Let’s just say that I definitely went through a few weeks where I felt like a whale.  I was even convinced I look like one.  I don’t own a scale and therefore don’t weigh myself…and I know I’m by no means overweight, but I felt huge.  I pay a little bit more attention to what I’m eating now because I’m not running at all.  I kind of hate it. 

But I finally naturally started to eat less.  I went out to dinner and couldn’t finish a meal I easily would have polished off beforehand.  Only managed 3/4 of a bagel instead of the whole thing…and still being hungry.  Physically full.  It’s weird.

you pay less attention to what time it is

I’ve never been much of a partier, but when you don’t have to worry about getting enough sleep before meeting someone for a long run the next day, eating pierogis at 2:30 in the morning because that’s what the birthday girl doesn’t phase you.  (Plus I’m in night shift funk and couldn’t fall asleep until 3:30 anyway…)  But I’ve been going out and having an extra beer or staying out a little later without thinking about how it might affect my workout the next day.  Maybe this is how the other half (tenth?) lives…

you don’t see your friends as much

This may seem somewhat counterintuitive…if you spend less time running, wouldn’t you have more time for your friends? Well, when most of your friends are runners, one of the best way to see them is to go for a run with them. Everyone’s busy, schedules are all over the place, but meeting someone for a few miles is a great way to catch up. Therefore, when you’re not running, you don’t see your friends as much. But that doesn’t meant I don’t miss you all…

some days, you’re totally okay with being injured

I was not a happy camper as a result of this back pain, which I don’t think should be hard for any runner to understand.  I wanted to run Boston and chase after some huge goals.  In the back of my mind, I thought I’d get better and be able to come back and run Boston, even if it wasn’t at goal pace.  While I wasn’t happy when I first got to Boston, I got better as time went on, and once the race was over, I felt much better about the injury.  Pressure (self-imposed, of course) was off.  This morning I definitely told people that I was okay with the injury and just want to get better.  Acceptance is nice.

and then you just want to throw rocks at people

Lauren called it “runner rage.”  Hours after I told Betsy that I had come to terms with being injured, I spotted a million tweets and facebook updates about people who ran awesome races this weekend.  I love you all, I really do…but it made me want to throw rocks at any runner I saw.  Which was a lot since it was really nice out.

I’m jealous of people who are running.  I’m jealous of people who can run, but are choosing not to.  I’m jealous of people who know what their injury is and therefore might have a timeline on when it will get better.  Because I don’t really know what’s wrong and therefore I have no idea when it will get better.

you back out of races

So far I’ve backed out of three races.  I’m supposed to do a relay in two weeks, but that clearly isn’t happening.  I’m hoping I can at least get back into running time to at least do the half marathon at the San Francisco Marathon, but if I’m not up and running within the next month, I’ll probably have to scratch that too.  And I really don’t want to.

It also makes it really hard to sign up for races since I have no idea when I’ll get better and be able to train again.  When races sell out months upon months in advance, I have no choice but to sign up and hope for the best.  I registered for the NYC Marathon, which was basically $240 (or something?) for the option to run.  Money doesn’t grow on trees, in case you were wondering.

Have you been injured?  What did you do in your non-running time?  Help a girl out..

Here’s what I’m loving this week:

shuttle talk

The shuttle did a flyover of NYC today before landing in JFK.  It’s to be placed on the Intrepid.  With the rain and fog last night, I figured it wouldn’t happen, so I slept until about 10:30.  (Having a hard time switching to a normal schedule and was up until 4am last night…)  I woke up to a bunch of twitter talk about the shuttle flying over Manhattan, and I’m sad that I missed it!  I’m so sad because my normal plan would have been to run over the west side to see it come down the Hudson, but we all know that isn’t happening.  For those of you not in the know, when I was little I wanted to be an astronaut, and I even went to Space Camp.  I’m so cool.

twitter

As with the shuttle, I actually learn so much from being on twitter.  If I have a question about almost anything, I can tweet it and someone will respond.  My dad was in town the past two nights for work, so we went out to dinner with some of his coworkers,  I’m not too well versed in Midtown West restaurants, so I turned to twitter for some suggestions.  Gian suggested Becco, which is an Italian place on 46th and 9th.  And it is delicious.  We all got the pasta, which is basically all you can eat of three different types.  So good.  Thank you, twitter, for introducing me to this gem.

Also, I think Gian should write a guide to NYC because he’s steered me towards multiple amazing suggestions.  Just saying.

dad visiting

With Dad at Christmas…we got the same book.

As I said, my dad was in town!  It’s never until my dad visits or I go home that I realize how much I miss Chicago and being home.  We watched some of the NFL Draft on TV…sports with Dad is always fun.  And don’t tell Mom, but he always gives me money to take a cab back home even though I tell him that 11pm is not too late to take the subway.  He follows this up by saying, “Well, if taking a cab is faster, I would do that.” 

unplugged

I know I just said I love twitter, but hanging out with people in an older generation means that people aren’t constantly checking twitter, facebook, or email throughout dinner.  As much as I love being so connected and it’s brought me awesome friends and opportunities, sometimes it’s nice to not be so connected.

spreading the nuun love

Envelopes!

Lots of people asked for some nuun samples, so I’m spending some time today getting those packages ready to send.  If you asked for a sample, look for this in the mail!

shoe racks

 
My shoes have a nice spot on the floor.  I’ve never been much of a shoe girl, but since I buy running shoes in bulk to rotate (at least) three pairs at a time, they pile up quickly.  (I spot five pairs of Brooks…)  Add in the fact that I buy $20 flats because for whatever reason I don’t own rain boots so I trash them whenever it rains, I end up with more shoes than I thought I had.  So when I bought the above envelopes, I broke down and finally bought a shoe rack.  I’ll admit…maybe I should have done this sooner.

weekend!!

I get a legitimate weekend this time around, meaning I’m off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.  So I can happily say, “Weekend, WOOHOO!!”  Lots of fun plans.  Hooooooray!

What are you loving this week?  Did you see the shuttle?  Did you go to Space Camp??

So by 10am, I was fast asleep.  In true "I just worked for three nights and now I’m officially on a night schedule" fashion, I only woke up once, and that was at about 3pm…just in time for the announcement!  I grabbed my computer, which proceeded not to connect to the internet, then grabbed my smart phone and checked the website.

3…2…1…

I’M RUNNING HOOD TO COAST with TEAM NUUN!!!

Except that announcement was made Tuesday so it’s probably not a total surprise to all of you.  But announcements are fun so let me bask in it.

The second step after scanning for my name was to check what other awesome people will be my teammates in August.  I spotted some of my vanmates from last year, as well as one of my NYC real life BFFs, Jocelyn, who was brought to me via Nuun last year.  I’m so excited to run Hood to Coast again while representing this amazing company and meeting awesome women…last year’s race and teammates were more than I could have ever asked for, and I can’t wait to find out what is in store for this year.

(Back pending, of course.  Fingers crossed it’ll be in shape soon.)

So in the Nuun Hood to Coast spirit, let’s talk about some of the great things that running Hood to Coast with Nuun has done for me over the past year.

provided me with a shoebox full of nuun

I buy Brooks Ravennas in bulk, which leaves me with a bunch of shoe boxes.  Living in a shoebox NYC apartment means that shoe boxes are perfect for storage, and the fit tubes of Nuun perfectly.  For those of you who asked for a sample of nuun a couple weeks ago, I’m sorry for the delay and I’ll be shipping them out this week!  (If you want a sample, email me at susan @ susanruns dot com and I’ll send some your way!)

Being out of marathon training mode (or running mode altogether…) means that I haven’t been drinking nuun on a regular training basis, but I’m fully stocked for when my back gets its act together and lets me rock twenty milers again.

best visor ever

                                          Tonia and Casey rocking the visors.

Okay, or, only visor ever.  I’m a cheap runner.  I buy my shoes on sale, and the only fancy thing I own is a Garmin.  Most of my running attire has been bought on sale, is from a race, or is from high school.  (Seriously…I should probably get rid of those sports bras from high school.)  Nuun outfitted us with some gear last year, including a nuun visor.  I don’t wear hats because I look funny in them, but I love my nuun visor.  It keeps the rain out of my eyes on my beloved rain runs, and it spreads the nuun love on sunny days.  Definitely excited to sport this visor in Oregon.

friends who make you cry…in a good way

made TED hose cool

Newsflash:  I work in a hospital.  I wear scrubs that are usually too big, clogs that make me two inches taller (thank you Danskos), and while I’ll rarely be seen in public with my glasses, I’ve worn them to work for four nights straight.  Needless to say, nurses aren’t often all that fashionable.  To fight varicose veins in my future, I wear medical compression tights (aka TED hose).  Luckily, XLMIC made these cool by wearing them multiple times throughout our 200 mile journey in Oregon.  Thank goodness I’m not the only one…

oh yeah, i suppose i’m well hydrated…

I not only represent nuun, I believe in nuun.  It’s a great product, and it keeps me well hydrated on my runs, especially as summer is approaching.  (Please hurry!)  I drank it before the Twin Cities Marathon, and I ended up with a PR.  Just saying…

I’m so excited to run with the nuun team at Hood to Coast this year, and I can’t wait to be reunited with my teammates and meet all the new bloggers!  Can’t wait to see what kind of fun is in store for this year!

Have you had nuun?  (I’ll send you a sample!)  Favorite flavor?  Are you running with me this year??

All of my sadness definitely rolled away by the time Marathon Monday rolled around and it was already hot as Amy and I were heading out for our cheer squad duties.  Amy had taken James over to Boston Commons early that morning, and I think my final words were basically something along the lines of, “Don’t be stupid.”  I’m uplifting.  I just remembered looking back to when I ran the 2007 Chicago Marathon (that was my first post!) and the temperature was in the 90’s.  It was a disaster, they cancelled the marathon, and I almost cried when I turned and saw the finish line because I’ve never been so happy to just finish.  So Boston Marathoners, when I say I know how you feel…I really know how you feel.

to ashland

Amy and I have a very scheduled, mapped out plan for cheering for the Boston Marathon.  It was made when my dad came to watch me when I ran it in 2010, and my dad is a really good spectator and likes to see me as much as possible, so they figured out how to do that.  It worked so well that we’ve repeated it the last two years.

We grabbed some coffee and loaded up our goods (signs!  water!  snacks!  beer!) and started the drive out to Ashland.  I was literally bouncing out of my seat as we danced to the radio music (yes, I dance in the car, and I’m glad Amy does too so I don’t look like a total fool…although let’s be honest, I know I still do) on the Mass Turnpike.  I was so excited to be heading out and cheering and definitely glad to not be running.  I’ve done the 90 degree marathon before, and I didn’t really want to do it again.  (Although had I been ready to run, I would have.)

We got to Ashland and staked out a spot with about thirty minutes until the elite women would get to us.  The wheelchair/disabled runners were coming by, so we cheered for them as they passed and got even more excited to cheer everyone on. 

Team Hoyt!

It’s hot and we’re ready to cheer.

Some official vehicles came through, and I spotted Meb in the back of a Nissan truck.  I don’t think anyone else noticed who he was (again…), so I yelled “Go Meb!”  He was probably glad to not be running in these conditions…

Meb in the blue car.

Soon enough, we saw some lead cars coming through, followed by the elite women.  We cheered for them, and they were all past within a few minutes.  I always think it’s interesting to see the women go by….and then wait for nothing.  It’s at least twenty minutes before the men and the masses come through, so it’s kind of weird.

Speedy women!

Once the women passed…we waited.  I may or may not have bounced up and down a little bit more, as much as my back would let me.  And I got really excited.  Did I mention that  yet?

I love Marathon Monday!!

We saw some flashing lights in the distance and knew that the men were coming.  Followed by everyone else. 

I forgot to take my camera off zoom, oops?

Once the masses started coming through, I kept my eyes peeled for all the runners we were looking for.  I knew that Kevin, Chris, Dan, and Charlie (aka the fast kids) would be among the first to pass, so seeing them would be the sign to really get our cheer on.  Luckily telling people where we were going to be worked to our advantage, as I believe we spotted all three of them, or people spotted us (the hot pink shirts were helpful…) and yelled over at us.  Despite the heat, I think most people who still had hopes of a good race were going out on pace, although they were drenched by the time the got to us at mile 3.5.  Yikes.

James was the main runner we were following, and we actually saw him this year…missed him last year in Ashland.  We even got a picture!

In the red!

You can see that people were already dumping water on themselves because of the heat, and at one point, I think I got light headed just from screaming too much.  I definitely didn’t want to be running at that point!  I hoped the runners would be smart and adjust their goals and/or stop running if it got too bad, although in my head I knew that if I was running, I’d convince myself that I needed to finish.

But back to the fun!  I knew so many people running Boston, so I kept my eyes peeled and soon enough Lindsay yelled over to us, followed by Mason running by.  I missed Dorothy  and Baker, and we kept our eyes peeled for Megan, but we missed her too.  Too many of you!  Once we realized that Megan was past us, we packed up and headed to Wellesley since we waited a little too long in Ashland last year and thought we were going to miss James in Wellesley.  I had a feeling everyone would be slowing down by then to buy us some time, but you never know.  So off to Wellesley we went!

kisses for PRs

Let’s take a break to review the cheering plan for the day.  As two single ladies, we decided to make a push on the “Kisses for PRs” sign that was slightly successful last year.  We had our original sign which is a real winner, but then we made a duo of signs that I’m quite proud of. 

Classic.

PRing in Kisses!!

The real kicked was the inside of the signs…

No shame, my friends.

As you can see, we also had matching shirts.  Last year we made “Why wait for Wellesley?” shirts, but with the heat this year, we went on a little shopping trip to get matching shorts and tank tops.  A few iron on letters and you get this little number:

As I said on twitter, “Dear Boston Marathoners, I know it’s going to be hot tomorrow, but just saying…”  Good times.  In Ashland we had a few people blow us kisses, and one man stopped and gave us really, really sweaty kisses, did a lap around us, and said “I PR’d again!” and gave us another kiss.  The lady standing next to us either said that what we’re doing is creepy, or that what he just did was creepy.  We were just having fun!

Amy with our set up in Wellesley.

We used the signs less in Ashland and much more in Wellesley, and we got a fair amount of kisses (well, Amy did, I had the underwear sign from last year!)…including one guy who told us his bib number to look up.  (I happen to be an excellent runner stalker and we found him on Facebook…win.)  The signs definitely helped people recognize us (thank you, neon colors…), although by mile 14 I think the runners were no longer chipper as they once were and had little interest in entertaining our cheering requests.  Don’t worry runners, we still love you.

back to the action

With only minor freaking out, we made really good time and got to Wellesley in time to see some of the front runners coming through.  I found out later that a guy I went to college with was running, and although I had no clue at the time, I actually got two pictures of him in Wellesley.  He finished in 2:32, which is a crazy time in perfect conditions, let alone in the ridiculous heat.

Pat is fast and racing in black!

Yet again I kept my eyes peeled for the fast kids listed above, and I spotted Kevin and Dan come through first.  You all looked wonderful……wonderfully sweaty. 

Hi Kevin!

Dan gave a little bit of a wave when we yelled at him…I don’t blame him!

I’m pretty sure Charlie ran over to us next, where he slowed down for a brief moment, long enough to say, “There’s no way I’m even going sub-3” while dripping with sweat.  Probably a smart idea…although I offered IVs to everyone, I didn’t actually want to have to give someone one!  (And I had no supplies, that makes it rough.)  After Charlie went by, I think I yelled, “Josh!” at three people who I thought were Josh, but none of them were.  Sorry buddy…

Luckily the text message tracking was working pretty well this year, and we got the half splits pretty quick so we knew when James was going to be coming up.  Certainly off goal pace, which was for the better.  A sign that he wasn’t going to over do it?  He actually stopped and chatted with us for a few seconds.

Nice glasses.

“This is terrible.  I’ll finish.”

Once James went by, I gave up on my camera and switched it out for the “Smile if you’re not wearing underwear!” sign and focused my efforts on scanning the crowds.  We had more time to hang in Wellesley before heading to the finish, so we were definitely on the lookout.

I don’t remember the order people ran by us, but we saw Lindsay (still looking really strong!), Mason, Dorothy (who ran by yelling, “Hi Susan!!  I recognized your signs!”), Claire (who stopped for a sweaty hug), Laura (who didn’t hear us, I believe) and Megan (who threw her sunglasses at us…and I got them safely back to NYC!).  Who else did I miss??

We cheered and yelled and screamed and held our signs, but the truth is that pretty  much all of the runners looked nothing short of defeated.  We got much better responses to our signs last year (obviously not what it’s all about, but it was fun last year!), but I think people were so out of it, hot and tired, and mentally not in it that they were dead  by mile 14.  When I ran Chicago in the heat, I remember calling it a fourteen mile run followed by a twelve mile death march.  Most people were still running, but they looked rough.  We only saw one ambulance as we were leaving Wellesley, but I figured it was the first of many.

down to boylston

We left Wellesley when the temperatures were still soaring, and we hadn’t even touched the beer that we had in the trunk since we wanted water for ourselves as well!  So hot.  We headed to Boston with plenty of time to park and head to Boylston…much more time than if runners had been on their goals paces.  We found a spot along Boylston, and I did my best to wedge my way up towards the front, but people were lining the street.  The lady next to me didn’t seem to appreciate me pushing my way up, and she turned and told me that they had a runner coming so they needed to be close.  Well, I have like twelve runners coming, so don’t mind me.  (They proceeded to have a conversation about what their runner might be wearing, which led me to believe they would never see him.  Moving on.) 

Lindsay went running by us, so I screamed for her although it’s hard to hear anyone cheering on the sidelines so I doubt she heard us.  However, I’m proud to say that we saw Lindsay in all three spots, making her the winner of this whole spectating experience.  (And she got 58th place!  Not too shabby…)  We kept our eyes peeled for James, but I was on my tip toes trying to look over the people in front of me (I’m short at 5’4”, okay?).  We had no idea how much people were slowing down, so we just kept looking.  I saw Baker flying down Boylston (first time we saw him!) and yelled his name.  Not too long after that, we got the text message that James had finished so we headed towards the runner reunion area.

Eyes wide on Boylston

To the finish!

A few notes on Boylston.  First, a runner stopped right in front of us with an obviously cramped up calf.  As in, you could see his calf bulging, and he couldn’t even put it on the ground until that released up.  A policeman went in front of him to direct runners around him, and we all cheered when he started up again.  I’ve never experienced cramps like that, but I can only imagine what it would be like to see the finish line and have to wait for a few minutes to make it there.

Secondly, to everyone lining Boylston.  Why are you not cheering your brains out??  If I was up front and not straining just to see, I’d be yelling at every runner going by!  It was so quiet around us.  Amy and I wanted to push to the front just to show them how it’s done.

Moving on.

we’re famous

We headed over to runner reunions in order to find James, and we actually had a plan for a meeting spot so we went there.  Since we didn’t see him, we started walking towards where the runners were coming out of the finisher area, and we ran into Chris.  We chatted for a bit about how miserable the race was and how awesome his positive split was.  I then demanded a picture since we didn’t take one when we had lunch the day before, and we all know that post-marathon pictures are better anyway.

You’ve already seen this picture.

Chris rewarded my photography skills by offering to let me stay with him and his fiance in Portland, luring me in with the fact that multiple breweries are by their house.  I’m in.  Also, it’s fabulous that random people invite you into their homes after meeting them once or twice.  Thank you, internet running friends!

James came up to us alive and not walking too funny.  He first said, “That was terrible,” followed by, “I have no idea how you ran Chicago.”  (In 4:12, that’s how…)  Anyway, as we were walking to find some of his friends, a photographer from the Boston Globe stopped and asked us if he could take our picture.  Given the sayings on the front of our shirt, we acted out the fact that James (didn’t) PR.  He told us the pictures would be up that night, and on Tuesday we found ourselves on the sports home page of the Boston Globe:

Yep, my 15 minutes of fame.  If only they got the front of our shirts…

James found some of his runner friends and learned that one of them ended up in a medical tent.  (Yikes!  He’s okay now, so that’s good.)  He changed out of marathon clothes and we headed back to Amy’s apartment.

Elite cheer squad!

We refueled with some burgers and beer before heading back to NYC/NJ.  We said bye to Amy who begged us to stay and run next year…we’ll be back, I promise!  I got door to door service from James and Tim, who drove into Manhattan so I didn’t have to hop on a train.  (Thanks guys!)

the end

So, Boston Marathon weekend was basically more fun that I could have thought.  I was nervous going into the weekend because I wasn’t sure if it would make me upset to be there, but I realized that not everything goes your way all the time, and maybe the injury was a blessing in disguise.  I don’t know what Lauren has to say about this, but there’s no way we would have run 3:10 in those conditions (would have been a 7-8 minute PR for both of us!).  Not that I’m in condition to run another marathon in a few weeks, as some people are planning on, but I still had a great weekend with great friends.  It was a blast cheering all of you on.  Before this weekend, I said that there was no way I would run Boston next year.  This is the second time I’ve registered for Boston and the second time I’ve been injured for it.  (First time around I had IT band problems and ran with my right knee straight for 20 miles.  Don’t do that.)  Which brings me too…

on deferment

The race was crazy and hot and everyone looked miserable.  I’m glad that I only know one person who ended up in a medical tent.  If I had been prepared to run, I would not have taken advantage of the deferment option that the BAA offered over the weekend.  I would have gutted it out, slowed my pace, and ran.  I don’t know anyone who deferred because of the heat.  Maybe more people should have, and I think it was great of the BAA to play it safe and let people know that they could defer if they wanted to.  I heard ten people are in critical condition (or at least were earlier this week) after the marathon, and I’m not totally surprised based on those conditions.

That being said, I technically did defer.  Anyone who picked up their bib and then didn’t run on Monday is automatically deferred, which is only about 400 people.  I already have a qualifying time for next year (and at 3:18, I had no worried about being able to register with the new system), so the deferment doesn’t do much for me.  I think it was smart of the BAA to allow people to defer if they were concerned about their health…better to be safe rather than sorry, although it is no guarantee it’ll be better next year!  And next year seems really far away…

congrats!

Congrats to everyone who ran, whether you finished or played it safe and cut out early.  It was hot just spectating out there, and I know what it’s like to run a hot, hot marathon and miss your goals by a long shot.  (Chicago was when I was first going for a BQ, and that certainly didn’t happen.)  Thanks for being safe runners and scaling back, and know that there will be more marathons in your future to kick butt in.

And I’m really jealous of your red jackets.

real recaps

If you want to read some recaps of people who actually ran the marathon, go check out Baker, Lindsay, Claire, Kristy, or Megan’s blog.  Good reads!