Passed!

Not a gallstone or a kidney stone, not chicked or sharpei'd, but the OCN exam.

That's the certification exam for oncology nursing. I started studying for this at the beginning of the year. I had several months where I didn't study much at all, but I needed to get it done. And now it's done.

I haven't had much running news to post this week, I only ran 40 miles and from the looks of it, that will be it for the week, as I go back for my work weekend tomorrow.

But I am so relieved, I studied so long for this test, I don't remember studying for anything this long except for my Ph.D. comps twenty years ago.

Woke up early this morning, and stopped off to get something to eat, and was on my way out of town and saw Wheaties Boy out on his morning run. He's always out before dawn. I didn't honk because he looked like he was in the zone and I didn't want to startle him, I hate it when people do that to me when I'm running if I'm totally lost in my own world.

Driving down I thought about how I could compare this to any race for which I'd trained hard. I had a job to do, I needed to focus and get it done.

I was nervous about this one because I've heard horror stories of nurses having to take it two or three times before they passed. The amount of material I had to study was crazy. It made my critical care certification test look like kindergarten. Cancer is a BIG topic.

The sunrise this morning was amazing over Denver and the foothills. I got there early and got checked in to the exam. It took me two hours, but about halfway through I realized I was doing better than I thought, seemed like I was confident about most of my answers.

When I finished the test and reviewed all the answers I wasn't sure of, I had about 40 minutes to spare, but I wasn't going to overthink it, so I finished the exam and a screen came up and said "Result: Pass" and I let out this huge sigh of relief.

After I got out of there, I had to sit in the car for a few minutes before I was ready to drive home. I was drained! I got on the road and when I got home, Dennis had taken the day off and we went out for sushi to celebrate. Then we came home and I took a nap.

I took a few days off running this week, after running long on Monday and just 10 on Tuesday. I didn't want to be tired going into this exam, I needed to have a clear brain, no brain fog. I have enough trouble these days between waking up hot flashing and the hormonal brain fog I get, plus topping that off with workday fatigue and being tired from running.

It worked out well, as this week is my work weekend and I don't have as many days to run as I usually do. So I'll call it my back off week, and the next two weeks I can hit it hard again, and then back off a little before Across the Years. I'm not going to taper much, just get a little extra rest the week before.

I am actually looking forward to the work weekend, I like our weekend crew, we usually have fun, and it feels good to have that huge weight lifted off me. And after the weekend, I can have more of my life back instead of always having to study. I look forward to getting in some good miles over the next few weeks. And we're due for snow and cold...but on December 31, I have another fun job to do!