Katiebell’s blog

Worked with trainer today.  Better workout than last time.  I told her I had been having some difficult workouts, so she may have gone easy on me, at least it seemed that way, I wa still out of breath at the end though.  She told me I was doing plenty and that I was probably tired and hungry from a lot of it.  She's helpful, but not nearly as much fun as Brendan. 

So thats where I am at. tired and sometimes hungry.

I did finally run on the city's running path that is miles and miles long.  Of course I immediately wondered why I had been running anywhere else.  The path has hills but they are more of the gently rolling variety, rather than the San Francisco variety that I have encountered elsewhere in Clermont.

Unfortunately Trainer tells me no, miles done on ellipitical count only as gym time, not miles ran.  Bummer.

Interestingly, I found my Garmin totally screwed up after I ran under a bridge.  Suddenly it read my pace as 2.03 min miles.  Yeeeah right.  They were more like 10:30-10:45 min miles. Fastest I ran today was 8:30 mile...which was plenty much for me... 

So I just continue to pump and run (and swim...) Here's hoping net week I'll see some results I like....

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So  last week was Nurses Week.  This week is Hospital Week, so it still seems like we are celebrating.

For Nurses week, I recieved some gifts.  A very nice Umbrella from the hospital I am working at, and some very cheap "reusable" shopping bags from the company I work for. The shopping bags are made of the same material our paper scrubs are made of, and will last maybe a few months with grocery use.  That said,  I am more pleased with the shopping bags actually because I got an umbrella last year from Duke...but I know that the bags must have cost all of about 10-15 cents a piece for the company, so I think it was a bit cheap of them, but it's always nice to be recognized.

One of the Hospitals in Orlando had been running commercial spots to thank the Nurses.  I found these commercials to be so irritating.... At the end the business suited man surrounded by mostly women in a variety of "nurse outfits" makes a statement saying, "Nurses are really Angels with Shoes."

Well, that certainly sets up an odd expectation.  Google  defines Angel as an attendant to God,  or a "Person of exceptional Holiness.  Neither one describes me, or most of my friends very well at all, but we all have a license and wear a name badge stating RN in pretty loud letters. I'm starting to think this Angel business may be why our Patient Satisfaction Scores are always not as high as administration would like.

I am not exactly where this Angel idea got started, but it certainly has spawned a great deal of business for makers of interesting jewlrey.

I think it's because people want to be taken care of someone who has a higher calling, beyond money. One of the comments we recieve all the time when we get a good review is "My Nurse really seemed to care about me".  I suppose the idea of someone poking around your body who was only in it for the money bring up images of females who are less holy, or course with Florence Nightengale's not so stellar reputation I suppose people also pushed the Nurse-Angel image as a way to clean things up.

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  One comment we recieved recently was that "Nurses never care if you puke on them" (Actually we really do..we, like the rest of the population find it disgusting, but we are nice about it because its our job...believe me none of us went to school to be vomited on.)

Unfortunately, people, I'm not an angel.  I can not really imagine going to work on a regular basis if there wasn't pay involved. If I were a holy being, I would be able to answer all the call bells instantaneously, listen to the drama induced ramblings of your visitor who is more concerned with informing the nurse of  the details of their last hospital experience than with you, the patient, I'd be able to provide all sorts of pillow fluffing, ice water getting, TV channel changing and all the things apparently our patients care about, all with a smile on my face.

As I said, I'm not an angel.  While you are in my Department, I will be very very concerned about you. (Unless of course you are one of the millions of people with a cold who arrive at the Emergency Department.) My main goal is to keep you alive and improve your condition. Doing that rarely requires angelic skills.  But it does require that I think and use a variety of skills that I have developed over the years.  I have to be able to start an IV drip quickly, monitor your heart for all sorts of potential or actual issues, initiate the right treatment for Emergent problems, and recognize when things aren't going in the direction they should. I'm also spending a lot of time reviewing treatment orders.   You see, if the Doctor orders the wrong treatment for you, I'm supposed to catch it and not initiate it.  If I do initiate it I'm going to be held liable, especially if you come to some harm.  You probably think thats all on the Doctor's shoulders, but actually it's a huge part of my job. On top of that, I have to make sure the Doctor's follow those pesky protocols created for your safety, and somehow I have to locate the missing piece of critical equipment as well. Over the years, especially working in hospitals where Doctors are training, Nurses have saved a lot of patients from unneeded tests, harmful medications etc.  While you are my patient, I will do everything I can to make sure you come out better on the other side.  Unfortunatley I get pretty busy doing these things. Sometimes your pillow remains unfluffed, or you have to continue to watch The Golf Channel  longer than you'd like, you might even have to wait to eat, amazing how many people show up in the Emergency Department for an Emergency and within 20 minutes of arrival want to know if they can have a sandwich.... 

Patients can't "see"  a Nurse checking for allergies, or verifying the dose of a medication.  They are not usually allowed to see the "drama" involved when one refuses to follow an order for the safety of a patient. (sometimes it is dramatic, other times it's pretty much the doc saying "Ooops sorry"..) They don't often realize that a third "eye" is glued to the cardiac monitor at the desk, watching whatever is going on and making some decisions based on what I see.  So, all they see is the pillow rearrangement...a less painful blood draw, or a meal tray brought when asked, so I guess thats all they can judge.    

and Unfortunately, unless you, the patient,  do something spectacular, and I mean really spectacular (like actively try to die, actually die, or have an injury so bizarre that I can not forget it even when I want to~like a knife enbedded in your eyeball by your wife who caught you in bed with your girlfriend at the family home~)  I usually forget you at the end of the day.  Unfortunate but true, there are just so many of you, I can not possibly remember you all.

So, I'm not an angel.  I work for money.  I enjoy what I do but don't want to do it all the time.  I care about you the patient, when you are my responsibility.   When I go home, I don't attend to God or anyone else.  I do normal people stuff...the dishes, vaccuum, walk the dog.

I wonder if our patient satisfaction scores nationwide would increase if nurses were not characterized as heavenly beings, but more as people with a job to do....

But then again...if that were to happen....then there might be no chance of me recieving

this!  

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I seem to be going through a bit of what feels like a standstill at the gym.  I'm running ok, not great yet, but more distance and hills hills hills.  Florida in general is flat, but Clermont has Hills.

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This is a topo map of the area, but it doesn't really show well.  But there aren;ttoo many places where one could actually run one mile on the flat.  So it's really challenging for someone like me who is rediscovering milage!  I thought it was so funny when my trianer looked at me and said, "Did you notice we have hills here?"  As if I could have missed them!!!

I'm swimming 30 mins each work out, and doing an awful lot of strength work.  I've got some new exersises and have been introduced to some old ones.

Least favorite: The resurrection of the Capitan's chair AKA the Roman chair

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This exersise just kills me.Trainer  thinks it odd, I have no problem with the moving of the legs and ab muscles, but i have a lot of trouble just holding myself up in the chair....

Most favorite  a little thing called pickpockets by my trainer.  Take a 6-8 pound ball,place yourself in a V position and move  the ball left and right.  Sounds easy.  It is easy, at least to do, requires very little coordination.  But it maxes out my heart rate immendiately.

So,I can not figure out...I'm doing the work.  but I feel like I am getting no where.  I am hoping this week is the wierd hump I need to get over before things get to be a little bit more fun....because right now its mostly just alot of sweat!

Of course,I continue.  I'm so excited by the amount of Donations I've raised for my Marathon!   Look to the widget on the left for more info!!!!!!   or   you can  look here!!!! Yaaaay... already over 600 dollars raised.....They don't know it, but if they did, they'd say Thank you...

So, I get to keep running!!!!

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I had a long but nice day at work today.  When I got home and finally got my shoes off, I noticed that my left foot was hurting a little.  I sort of ignored it for a while, but then I noticed that it really was hurting when i moved the toes.  Now that I've moved off the couch, I do have a bruise there.  Can not imagine why.  I seem to vaguely recall something that hurt it, possibly the dog standing on it....but not really sure.

More concerning is what this means.  Do I run on it?  Do i rest it.... for the moment I am planning on running some more tomorro....I have a training session tomorro.  I;d hate to ask trianer to look at it, but I think i might. It hurts, but it isnt really that bad, just totally wierd.

Two days ago, I went to Target and happened to see some C9 gear on sale.  C9 seems to be Target's line for sportswear, there are running shirts, leggings, shorts and running skirts.

I've been intrigued by the running skirt since I started running.  Some people feel like they aren't for women who want to be taken seriously as runners, but, triatheletes, runners and Irongirls of fairly high calibur like Nicole DeBoom are wearing them, and selling them, so, clearly they are the "it" thing for the moment.

My hesitation with the skirts has been that they are retailing for about 70 dollars US. With tights and shorts costing 30-40, they are clearly the better deal.

But...Target had a sale.  The skirt was was on sale for 9.99.  Since its in the mid 90's Farenheit now...I thought hey why not try it out for 9.99.

So I got one in royal blue.

I ran in it today.  It was definitely an interesting experience.

This is Target's description of their product.  You may note that it says mid thigh.  Hmmmm.  The skirt which does fit properly in a Medium, stops at the end of my butt.  My actual shorts extend longer than the skirt.  One reason the skirts are so popular has been that ladies say they provide a little more coverage than shorts alone.  I guess in this case, not so much!!! I am short also, so, usually stuff like this is longer on me than others....so I am wondering about this.

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I decided to go ahead and run with it anyway, as it was early in the morning.  The undershorts turned out to not fit as well as regular shorts would have.  They tended to ride up a little and actually twist about.

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I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a surprise because even in the photo, you can see that there are some wrinkles in the short part.  It must be hard to make a short fit properly, with an attached skirt fit nicely as well.  Although the shorts part are a little loose it did not interefere too much with the running.

So...not so sure how I feel about the whole running skirt thing yet.  I think I might have to spring seventy bucks for one that is better constructed before i completely make up my mind.  As for the C9 skirt, I'll continue to run in it.  I actually like the shortness, but I would like to be in a bit better shape before wearing it in public.....

I have decided that I am emphatically in LOVE with The National Training Center.  In a lot of ways, it is just a typical gym, in fact, it's smaller than some typical Bally's or other mega gyms...but there are some really special things about it. 

The Pool is astounding.  this is actually not the pool.  The NTC pool is actually BETTER.

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They have a moveable bulkhead, which can be expanded or shortened.  It is so wide that they can put lane lines width wise, or length wise.  When they are length wise, I feel like I am swimming forever and can not find the end of the pool.  It's an outside pool, but it remains supa-supa clean.  In fact, never have I seen anything except water and lane lines floating in the pool.   

The fitness equipment is regular.  I do like that they keep the aerobic studio and the spinning studio open when there aren't classes.  I'm able to duck in there and do a bunch of exersises that i wouldn't normally do in a public area.  So, it's a huge bonus to me...it's also good to have the full length mirrors to look at to see exactly what I am doing. 

There are towels for all members.  Some gyms like to charge for that, and while I can easily bring a towel, its nice to have fresh ones, isn't it?

There are really elite atheletes training there.  There are also really un-elite atheletes.  The elites are rather intimidating and inspiring at the same time.  An example is swimming.  I swam  most of my life on a swim team.  So, I can swim pretty well, but I am by no means a competitive swimmer at this point.  i just tool up and down the pool.  When i swim, there are often champion or wanna be champion swimmers in the pool with their personal coach, working on stroke mechanics etc.  For some reason I have decided I must do flip turns, just like the pros.  they are probably good

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for me in some way or another.  I haven't done them in years so I am consistently misjudging the wall, and getting water up my nose. 

When I am doing strength, I get to observe people of all ages who are really in super shape...it inspires me and also makes me wonder what exactly I think I'm going to achieve.  I've found the guys to be, as usual, friendlier than the girls.  Since my face tends to get really really red, people sometimes make comments regarding how hard I must be working, I've gotten several of these comments, paired with encouragement from the elite guys...Sadly, my face turns that color even when I am not working that hard...and no matter how good of shape I am in.  it's alarming, but its apparently the way my body works.  I am consistently tempted to dunk my face into a bowl of ice water. 

Locker Rooms are really super clean.  There are enough showers and so far, all of them have decent shower heads and warm water.   There's also a nice private, curtained changing area, which is great as several people bring their male (and female) children into the locker room, and while thats fine, I've heard several make comments including "Boobies!!!!"  and worse.  Children are curious, but I am really uncomfortable with being the object of curiousity, so the changing area is great.  I know the idea of a clean locker room seems silly but in the gym I most consistently used last year, the showers were always grungy (like you'd see other ladies hair stuck to the walls) and paper towels all over the floor were common. 

And my trainer is super.   I am not really sure why i think so, she has not really done anything too exciting...except to add some new things into my routine.  I'm looking forward to being strong enough to run for her.   

Right now, i am still running short distances.Trying to decide if I want to work on running the hsort distances faster or increasing distance.  The official rule of thumb has been that when you run distance, eventually you speed up....For me that hasn't been true, soooo....I'm considering other things.  See trainer later this week and if I remember and have enough breath, I'll ask her. 

It's a little bit pathetic, but i really love going to the gym.... 

now marathon training begins in july....

I ran again today and at mile two my left leg got a cramp, which turned into just a bit of pain.  I stopped at 2.75, and rested. Eventually, I headed over to the gym.  I thought I would lift some weights, use the ellipitical and swim.  Well.  the Marines are using the pool for some sort of water exersises.  So I skipped that, and ended up finding the ellipitcla a little trying.  So, I actually ended up doing a fairly good strength workout.  I am amazed that I actually enjoyed it.

Bosu ball squats, crunches with the big ball (for some reason really painful to my back), "Pick pockets",  chest press, biceps, triceps, lat pull down, "running arms", and even the horrible farmer lunges.  I really hate doing lunges I don't have good balance, and when I do them across the gym, I feel like everyone is watching me.  Today I found the aerobics studio was open and no one was in there, so I found that doing the darn lunges in there made sense.  And now when trainer girl asks me what I've been doing this week, I can actually say I did do some lunges.

Tomorro, I need to continue to rest the leg...so swimming, if I can beat the Marines to the pool, the ellipitical instead of running...and probably should do some more of those entertaining lunges.

So, I'm really back into training.  it definitely is a welcome addition to my life,  but it is a bit painful and intimidating.

My trainer is alright.  She is nicely focused, and pays attention to whats going on.  My only complaint is that she tends to be a bit enthsiastic when i finish a rep or something.  I know that some people like to be cheered for, and I really do like to be cheered for, but not for finishing a regular rep of weights.  I did give her a few funny looks, and she has toned the cheering down.  I hope by our next workout, she stops that entirely.  I can not figure out a nice way to say hey dont do that, but she does seem to be getting it with 'the look".  I also can not imagine she really enjoys cheering for a slightly chubby woman who has finished one rep of lat pull downs. Really...

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I did a 5 minute jog on the treadmill and she noted right away that I have a swing in my right leg.  Once she mentioned it, she said, "well now its gone" because I was able to correct it.  I think I only do it on the treadmill, but I am unsure.  So, one day we have to go down to the track and I get to run for her. I like that she picks up on stuff rapidly and immediately says something rather than watching it for a while. 

other than that she said I was really easy to work with because I won't break form even when the reps get hard.  Brendan trained me to not break form, and it is nice to see he trained me well!  SO I think i should get a discount, because for the most part she is telling me, OK, now we are going to do this...have you done it before? Yes, well...do it.  She wants me to run with the thursday running group, but I'm not really up for that.  She has added some new drills which i had not done before that are really a blast, soooo I am enjoying that.

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So, i am back to running, lifting and swimming.  running pretty slowly, but its fun.  the pool is wonderful, though I am now getting quite a sunburn.  i keep putting on the waterproof sunscreen, but i am not sure its waterproof when you are submerged.  I now have actual strap marks all over my back, which I have not had since I was about 14 and doing laps for the swim team all summer.

Registration for The other Half in moab in october is open now.  I am trying to decide about it. I'll be doing a Half sometime in Sept/October, but it doesn't have to be at Altitude.  Probably I should ask trainer about what she recommends.  Or the resident runners here on Vox? 

It was noted by jeffandrew916 that I've really had a string of bad luck lately.  This does seem to be true especially where my health (lungs) are concerned.  But today I had a pretty darn lucky day.

I had my fit test today with new trainer.  I also had to get my membership situation situated.  Apparently they dont normally do temp memberships, so they didnt know what to do.  I was really not wanting to pay for a 6 months membership, since I have no clue where I'll be in 6 months.  Initially they tried to tell me as long as I was training I could use the facility only training days.   That didnt really make me very happy, so after some finagleing she talked to the manager of training and the gym manager, and they agreed to charge me the regular gym rate for 3 months only as long as I paid it all up front.  I was pretty happy with this.  Lucky times one.  So then, I discovered they have a rather steep "Initiation" fee (I do wonder what for..but I am sure it's for profit.)  Oddly, they are having a bit of a special on this as well, and the nice girl up front asked me to pick a number out of a hat to see what percentage I might save on the initiation fee.  I grabbed one, and it said 100%, so, I didn't have to pay the initiation fee. Lucky times two!.  And they are having a training special so I was able to buy a 20 session package at the member price plus 20% off.  So, in the end, I have access to a super gym, a decent trainer for the next ten weeks, all for less than I was paying in Wilmington.  So Lucky number three!!!  nice to save cash.

fit test was not the best.  I have gained a few pounds.  I can still hang out in plank position for a good long time, so that was good.  I did a few push ups, which I am not fond of and barely able to do, and a timed step test.  By the end of the step test, I felt wheezy and coughy, but...it really wasn't hard.  my heart rate was a little wacky...128 after the test, but she noted that my heart rate was essentially plummeting and recovering well...We then did some weights, and that was it.  It wasn't much, but I am embarassed to say I felt a little tired afterwards, and then oddly spent an hour coughing and wheezing.  I am looking forward to doing a lot more exersise and increasing my time back up to a more normal time.    I do keep wondering what has happened to my lungs...and why were they replaced paper bags?

So, it's been my lucky day.  Hopefully this can continue.  :)

This morning when I came in to work my charge nurse teased me saying he had put a pink slip in my mail box....

He is a natural kidder, so I knew that there wasn't a pink slip in there.  All the same, because I am the way I am, I had to at least look, right???

I found 2 envelopes in there...one a note from the charge saying that the other charge RN had been "singing my praises" etc....  The other a note from the Manager of the department saying how pleased she was with my work and that I was a "good fit" (which is a key word in the industry...).  In both envelopes were coupons; one for the cafeteria and one for Panera Bread....

Initially I thought this was what they did for everyone.  But  then the other traveler I was working with noticed the envelopes and charged off to her mailbox to look for her goods.  Nothing in hers. ooops. I feel pretty happy to be recognized.  One thing that was really nice is that the manager makes handmade cards, and the card she gave me was very very pretty which made it a bit more special...

So, all's well.

Still trying to decide what to do next.  Spoke for 15 minutes with H. tonight and was reinvited to come out to Santa Fe,  but was also suggested strongly that if I was doing well with training, I should probably stay put in Florida. 

I have to register for The Other Half  in May, and its at altitude, so I need to make some choices soon. I could do a different half, but Moab is fun, and Santa Fe could be really fun in the right situation....

choices...choices...choices.