Nursing School: A Peak Into This Semester

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I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peak into what my 2nd semester as an Accelerated Nursing Student. I have 2 more semesters left after this one and that is CRAZY to me! I’m just starting my clinical rotations at the hospital this semester, which is both equally scary and exciting. It’s very similar to starting a new job- anxiety-producing, lack-of-sleep nerves, exhilarating, terrifying, etc. Going into my first clinical (I have Medical-Surgical this semester), I don’t feel prepared at all for it, but I felt that same way during my labs this Summer!

I also have my Medical Surgical (focused mainly on Older Adults) lecture as well. It came with the BIGGEST book, which was pretty intimidating. I’ve heard great things about this professor and am excited to have it accompany my clinical.

I am also taking another lecture focused specifically caring for Older Adults and then one on Mental Health (the lecture portion). I will have my second clinical with Mental Health focus during the Winter semester. I liked the idea of doing the lecture and then having the clinical be my sole focus afterwards.

I’m taking a total of 13 credits, which feels a whole lot better than the 18 credits I took over the shortened summer semester. I’m still in that beginning part of the semester where I’m struggling to find a schedule and have my first exams this week (ah! stress! give me all the chocolate!)- I know that things will calm down in a few weeks (like it always does!).

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7 Things

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Happy Monday! I had a great week of running last week and am getting excited for my first 20 miler of the training cycle with a half marathon in there on Saturday. This past weekend we had planned to go camping, but the weather was super rainy and gross on Saturday so we hung around the house instead. I got a bunch of reading done, including this one that’s part of one of my classes.

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We got hot cocoa on Saturday at The Met in town. Stella was a fan of the whipped cream!

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We took some photos for my social media pages & to update the blog!

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We visited another wedding venue option. This one was pretty great and it fit within our budget. Hopefully we can get something finalized shortly!

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Brady has been naughtier than ever.

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I’ve been rocking my newest Oofos to recover faster post-run!

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And I’ve also been slowing down a bit more on my easy runs! It’s been nice to just enjoy the miles & I think it’s also helped cure my Plantar Fasciitis flare that I had around April/May!

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How was your weekend?

Whipped cream- how much do you like on your cocoa?!

Favorite recovery things post-run?

Lessons Learned: Seventh Marathon

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I wish I could say that I’ve got it mastered from my seventh marathon. I know when things will hurt, how to push through them, the secret sauce to power through to that finish line, but I don’t. This marathon was part of my 50 miler training, so my ultimate goal was to still not get injured (among I also thought that getting a sub 3:40 really wasn’t too far off). Oh, how I still have so much to learn!

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You can’t train for a bad day. They will happen and it’s just a fact of life.

You also can’t train for stomach issues. You should still try to take gels in (I didn’t until much later in the race, when I should have tried to take another one sooner).

Be proud of your effort through the race and beyond. There will always be things out of your control. Show up to the start line knowing you gave it your best (or being realistic and knowing that you haven’t) and give it your best that day.

Training on hills is necessary.

Don’t slack on marathon paced miles. I slacked on these a bit (they were HARD) and paid for it.

Don’t rely on an awesome half marathon PR to pull you through on the marathon. I got a big half marathon PR 5 weeks out from race day and maybe had too much ego (that I will get my time goals) leading into the full.

Finding out what works well for you (nutrition-wise) the days leading up to the marathon is really important. I’m still working on this one.

We’re all up to date on my marathons! Cheers to 6 more weeks of training before my eighth marathon! Also shocker- I’m not using this as a build-up for anything else! It’s all marathon-focused over here right now.

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What works well for you for fuel before race day?

Anyone else find marathon (or race pace) miles super challenging?

Lessons learned from your past races- tell me what they are!?

Lessons Learned: Sixth Marathon

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After getting a big PR during my fifth marathon, I was hopeful going into my sixth that maybe I could break that elusive 3:50 mark on 26.2. I also had another goal during this race: not get injured. I was using it towards training for MS Run The US Relay the following month. This was also my hilliest marathon to date. I came across the finish line really proud of my race and my effort. I also felt extremely fit for this race (fit enough to drive 5+ hours home post-26.2 . ha. NOT recommended).

I learned that when you work really hard on something, it will pay off. Training on hills through the winter also really paid off for this hilly race.

Find your fuel. I ended up switching-up how often I had my gels and that made a big difference for me come race day.

Don’t be scared to cut-back your mileage if you’re injured. I ended up going to PT during the last few weeks before my marathon because I was having some knee pain (actually stems from tight hips). I scraped some runs, but showed up to the start line healthy.

This was the first marathon where I finished and still had gas left in the tank -> the most amazing feeling ever.

Also another amazing feeling? Passing people in those later miles of the race. I wish I had remembered this lesson during my next 26.2, but alas there’s always new things to learn!

Switching up your sneakers during training runs = necessary. I think I rotated between 3 or 4 pairs and it helped a lot.

Don’t be afraid to change around your training runs or break up your longer runs. I did my last 20 mile run as two shortened runs. It’s not the best practice for someones first or second or third marathon (I truly believe in the power of training your mind/body to be on your feet for long periods of time), but this wasn’t my first rodeo ; )

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What are some ways you’ve switched up training runs on the schedule?

Ever ran a hilly race? How’d it go?