NICU round-up

last big push!
today is call #7/8, and i consider it my last real call because on sunday i get to high-tail it out of there after 24 hours and pass off my patients to the next victim. plus, i get my ‘short day’ and a day off once i survive this call so really — the hardest part will be over. it has been quite a whirlwind month, and i am ready for some serious resting up to begin.

since i’m nearing the end, i think i’ll do a little recap on how i’ve done with my goals for the month.

mindfulness and attitude
some days i’ve been great with this — really focusing on one thing at a time despite chaos swirling all around, with good attention to making my work interactions with others as nice as possible. but at other times, i think i was just too fatigued and overwhelmed to really be able to go through my day with this kind of grace under fire. overall, though, i think i’ve done MUCH better with this compared to during my PICU month. while i’ve been tired, i haven’t been miserable and i feel like my relationships with nurses and other team members have been about 90-jillion times nicer and more productive than they were in august. in particular, i think i have done a great job with the mindfulness mindset during my clinic time. it’s so easy to get tired and frustrated (yesterday of COURSE my last patient at 5 pm needed a pelvic exam!), but instead i think i did a good job zoning in on the moment and really trying to do the best things possible for my patients, and as a result the experience is more enjoyable all around.

running
the objective data
week #1: 28 miles + 4 miles elliptical cross-training (5 workouts total)
week #2: 27 miles + 4 miles elliptical cross-training (4 workouts total)
week #3: total bust — 10 miles total (probably a record low for me at a time when not injured!)
week #4: so far so good — 2 workouts down (and 12 miles) + 3 to go . . .

so overall: i’d say i’ve done ok! i will not run a PR race next month, but i have managed to keep in decent shape and maintain running in my lifestyle even with the crazy hours. i don’t regret my lazy week last week one bit — i think i really needed it at the time and it revitalized my excitement and energy for my workouts. in fact, i will make a mental note to do a planned ‘easy week’ every few months or so. preferably during a hard rotation like this one.

reading
um, oops. i completely dropped the ball on this one! i forgot how impossible it is to spend time on work at home when there are precious few hours to do ANYTHING (including sleep, cook, run, and actually interact with my husband, all of which i consider absolute necessities). to make up for it, i will plan on incorporating some of my NICU readings into next month when i will have gobs more time on an elective.

overall survival skillz
decent! i think i actually did a commendable job at making time for relaxing (when there was any time!). i managed to finish my murakami book, see some movies/bad TV, and spend some much needed time on the couch on my saturdays off and on friday afternoons.

so, here’s to a decent month! i will definitely be celebrating with some non-virtual champagne when it is really over!

ps: it snowed yesterday! fine, it was only for about 5 minutes, but woah.
pps: tomorrow is my half-birthday! holla! very appropriate that i will be able to spend the second half of it in bed.

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11.18.08

run: i think i have my mojo back! 7 miles total, 0.5% incline while reading the dec/jan rachael ray and listening to the bird and the bee . . .
– 1 mile warmup @ 8:57/mi
– 5 x 0.75 mi @ 7:53/mi pace with 0.25 mi recovery jogs between each
– 1 mile cooldown @ 8:57/mi