Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run

This morning was the annual 4 mile Thanksgiving Day run in downtown Fort Collins, and the morning turned out to be just about perfect running weather. It was breezy, partly cloudy, and maybe 48 degrees at the start.

It didn't seem nearly as crowded as it usually is, I'm wondering if the turnout was a lot lower this year. There were about 2000 runners.

I woke up 3 minutes before my alarm went off, drank a quick cup of coffee, and got dressed to go downtown. It was incredibly easy to park this year. After warming up, I decided to get brave and run in my fast shoes.

My Brooks Adrenalines...

I looked for people I know from the running club and lined up at the start with the ones who were going to run close to my pace. I was shooting for sub-30 minutes, I wanted keep it under 7:30 pace. My legs felt tired after last week's 90 miles, and 30+ over the last 2 days including tempo on Tuesday night.

I went out and held myself back, which was a good thing because my first mile split was 7:16. Second mile, 7:28. During the third mile, I was HURTING. My legs were burning so badly I thought they were going to fall off under me. I consciously tried to hold back so I'd be able to take advantage of the fast final mile down Mountain Avenue. My third mile split was 7:45. Uh-oh. I dug into my burn and used gravity as much as I could, and crossed the finish line in 29:39. 7:10 last mile. Not bad.

After the finish I saw a number of running club people and we all talked for a while, I ran into Shannon (Wheaties Boy) who was looking for his wife in the crowd, and I went upstairs in the Beach House Grill to look at results, and found out I'd placed third in my age group. Holy crap! I won a HUGE pumpkin pie. Bigger than my butt.

photo credit: Shannon Price

I had to go because I had to be ready to go into work, in case they need me to come in. So my friend Steve Cathcart found my pie and gave it to me because I couldn't wait around for the awards.

Mini-rant time: I had to go since I am on call for work today. I got downstaffed, which means it wasn't busy enough that they needed me, but I still have to call in every 4 hours to see if they still need me. Yeah, I know. Bullshit. We don't even get on call pay for this. I resent it. Very much. It's the principle that bugs me, not the money.

I think it's shitty that even on a holiday they won't compensate you for being on-call, which is what this amounts to. If they can't tell you yes or no then you're on call. It sends a message that nurses are not respected or valued by the HMFICs. Which is sad, I think, because my employer has always done a good job of treating their nurses well, until some recent changes where we've basically merged with several other hospitals.

I get tired of staff nurses always having to be the ones to absorb the cutbacks. We're the ones who work in the trenches. We're the ones who wipe butt, clean up body fluids, and comfort families and people who are dying on Thanksgiving Day and other holidays. I don't see any publicized efforts to cut back on management perks and pay. Maybe they have, but we haven't been told about it. Certainly uppermost management haven't told us about any reductions in their pay, benefits, or bonuses. But then, we are the little people, we nurses. We are pawns, we are scum, and we are the true turkeys this Thanksgiving. But what else is new in the world of nursing. End of rant.

But, that said, I am truly grateful for all the good in my life this Thanksgiving though...I am lucky to have a job, and my husband, family, my beautiful Buffaloes, and good health, and the ability to run, and all my friends, runners and non-runners alike.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!