Happy Thanksgiving!

Decided to skip the Turkey Trot this morning. I've had a strange week. Forgive me, I need to have a little whine with my turkey.

It started out well, I met Steph down in Boulder on Sunday and we spent the afternoon walking around and just hanging out together. We picked a random intersection, Broadway & Spruce, and walked around from there.

I found this cool Buffalo Crossing sign, and decided if it wasn't too expensive I would buy it. Steph and I shared my Buffalo story with the salesperson in the shop. I was a Ram (Colorado State grad) in Buffalo territory, but because I am the "Mom of Buffaloes", or "buffmom", everyone always thinks I have kids at CU, or I work out a lot, both of which are partially true.

My girls are smart enough to go to CU, and I do work out a lot, though I certainly wouldn't describe myself as "buff". But I figured the sign was a great start to decorating the woman cave, which is now in the process of getting insulation.

On the way home from Boulder, the sky and views of the Front Range were breathtaking.

I made it to 40 miles of running last week. The ankle still acts up when I do too many long runs back to back, but it is improving. I will probably cut back a little this week since it's been a weird week, and then continue to boost my mileage through December.

I had a lot of brain fog this week. I slept fairly well, too, which makes it even weirder. I did wake up early on Monday morning but still got a good 7 hours of sleep. And Monday night I slept 7 hours again- even with waking up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Monday I had one of those "off" days. Couldn't hit a vein if it was a mile wide when I was starting IVs, couldn't multitask, couldn't focus. Kept banging my leg into the side of the chairside tables. I hate days like that, it's awful when your brain doesn't work right and you're dealing with people and complex situations. Fortunately I got to go home early from work.

Except as I was getting into the shower Monday night, I smacked my toes on the edge of the bathtub, hard enough to make me wonder if I broke something. I sat there for a while, rocking back and forth holding my foot until it stopped throbbing. Then I saw the quarter-sized bruise on my right thigh from multiple hits on the tables. I'm a danger to myself!

Then Tuesday at work I felt better but still a little "off", and it was a long, busy day. And Wednesday, my first day off, I had my usual post-two 12 hour shifts "work hangover"- where I'm just fatigued and brain fogged and absolutely worthless for the whole day. I didn't run or write or do anything requiring brain work- just walked the girls, shopped for food, and basically stared into space at home all day. My annual physical is coming up and I'll get my thyroid and everything else checked out. But I'm pretty sure that it's hormones.

This perimenopausal stuff is really annoying. Sometimes I think, I want to yank these things out of me- I don't need my ovaries and they are driving me crazy! But I would only do that if I needed to in order to save my life. Plus it would only make everything worse- abrupt menopause would surely be worse than this slow, natural process.

That's another one of those things about nursing- when I get on my soapbox about the nursing profession in general and it's need to get a grip on reality. The average nurse is female and in her mid-forties. We are having to function for 12 hours or longer at a time, at a time in our lives when we don't sleep well, and experience all the things that go along with sleep deprivation and hormonal fluctuations. And don't even get me started on the equipment manufacturers who make little medical devices that require great hand strength and dexterity, plus being able to read small print, all of which many of us are losing at this age...

I should stop my RPB ranting though, because it is Thanksgiving Day and instead of whining about my brain fog, I am thankful that I have a job, which many people do not, and that my job is more than a job, it's an opportunity to help people and be nice to people and do things that make a difference in the lives of those who are struggling in so many ways.

So this morning is Thanksgiving and I feel more clear-headed than I have all week, and I'm almost ready to run and cut up a big bowl of fruit- we're having dinner with Austin and Melissa, which is always fun.

I chose my first race for 2012, the Cornbelt 24 hour run in Iowa in May. I figure it will qualify as speedwork. I want to focus in 2012 on getting a little faster, and doing a number of 24 hour-ish runs. I do have a plan for an adventure run, too, of about 5 days this summer, but the details remain to be worked out, as it's not an official race. It will be a gathering of a few friends who can manage themselves on the road for that long, and we might even end up being self-supported with baby joggers.

I plan on ending the year with a multiday run of some sort, most likely Across the Years. I'm hesitant to plan for too much if my ankle continues to be an issue. But as long as I remain pain-free I will keep moving forward with plans. At this point, if all goes well, over the next year I'll be focusing on preparing for my next race, the 2013 Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race in New York City.

It feels great to be making running plans again!