Mental Pause

The fog outside must have worked it's way into my head. Either that or it's dementia.

I had my week all planned out as of yesterday. I was set to do my morning workout, then run in the evening with Shannon. I went to the grocery store and did a real grocery shopping trip, which I usually avoid. I finally gave into my green chile craving and bought all the ingrediients to make New Mexico green chile stew, and had the pork shoulder roast cooking on the stove.

The plan was to do my long run today, Friday. I had all my stuff together to set up my little aid station at my car and do my loop course. I was settling in for the afternoon, about to do some studying for my upcoming certification exam.

I had a great a.m. workout of 8 x 1/2 mile with very little recovery, on a rolling stretch of the bike path, all of them well under 7 minute pace, including the uphill sections. I must have recovered well from the hard run last Sunday.

I saw the message light on the phone around 2:45 pm when I got in the door from taking the girls for a run, and didn't think much of it, probably a political survey or telemarketer of some sort. I kept doing things around the house for 20 minutes or so and then decided to see what the message was about. I didn't even bother checking the caller ID.

It was our charge nurse, asking where I was, hoping everything was okay, since I was supposed to be at work at 1 pm! I looked in my calendar quickly- but there was nothing in there about working. I called her back, thinking it was weird that she didn't call me at 1 when I didn't show up. Apparently my 1:00 patient didn't show up until 2:30, and that's when they realized I had not come in to work!

I guess that's what happens when you work with a whole crowd of women going through menopause...

She said they were doing fine, I had time to take a shower and get a little food before going into work. I got there at 4 pm and it didn't get busy until 5, and I stayed until closing.

I signed up for so many extra shifts this month that I must have spaced out this last one and not put it on my calendar. Anyway, all is well, the paycheck will be nice. But it threw all my week's plans into a tailspin.

When I woke up this morning I realized the route I've chosen for my long run is going to be muddy and waterlogged, and will need a few days to dry out. So I've changed my plans to run long on Sunday, even with the resulting brain fog that often sets in the day after. I'm hoping a nap in the afternoon Sunday will help with that before I go back to work.

Today I will just do miles with some strides and pickups. It's foggy out there. Good day to stay inside, finish cooking the green chile, maybe I can finally get some studying done!