The best friends a girl could have...

well, at least the best friends a single mom can have. my running shoes. I love them. Seriously, if I could, I'd marry them. I'm not joking. They hear every thought. They've been with me through hundreds of miles. I know that not everyone will love the same shoe. However, I for the last three years, I've been rocking my Brooks Adrenalines. The last two years, I've had the 10's, I just bought a pair of 12's today. So far, I'm still in love. I tried a Nike shoe, but its just not the same.

I'm looking forward to all the miles this new pair of shoes will show me.

Giving up things

You know how sometimes when you give things up, you just want them even more?

I was becoming quite the Diet Coke fiend. I drank it all the time. Morning, noon, and night. Caffeine has never had that much of an effect on me, so I never saw a reason to give it up. However, a running buddy of mine mentioned how he stopped soda altogether. I figured, I'd give it a shot. So, a few weeks ago I cut down to one a day...didn't matter the size, no more than one. Then I went two days without it and didn't really notice a change so I kept going. Its now been almost two weeks.

What I've noticed in those two weeks is when I'm craving some DC is when I'm stressed out. The kids are frustrating me, yelling at each other and I'm not able to calm down at night because of the aforementioned situations.

Other than that, the going without hasn't been too bad. I've started drinking more coffee. For those that know me, I'm a once or twice a year coffee drinker. I had about a cup a day the last week. I still don't like it. I find myself drinking more water, although not nearly as much as I should...but its better than nothing, right??

Granola Bars

So kid #2 has constipation issues. I've been trying to find fiber/granola bars to, uhh...help the issue. Some recipes I'm considering trying:

Homemade Granola Bars 1
Chewy Granola Bars
Homemade Granola Bars 2
Homemade Granola Bars 3
Homemade Fiber One bars

I'll update later my baking success/failures.

The Dreadmill

I have a love/hate relationship with my treadmill. I've only had it a little over a month. First, I hate being confined to the indoors when I'm exercising. I would rather be outside no matter the weather (rain, snow, wind, etc...). Case in point, I ran 4 miles outside in 19 degree weather this past weekend, that's 19 degrees before wind chill. All because I wanted to be with my running group.

I love that I  can run/walk at any time of the day because of the treadmill. Having three small children makes it difficult to get outside for any sort of exercise. Instead of sitting on my rear watching TV, I am able to make use of my time and walk while watching TV or a movie.

I hate that, for some odd reason, I cannot go fast on the treadmill at out. I will clarify that I am in NO way shape or form a fast runner to begin with. However, I am used to running around a 13 min/mile outside give or take depending on my energy level that day or the weather. On the treadmill, I am lucky to be able to run a 15 min/mile. I keep telling myself...its all about getting the distance in. The time it takes does not matter.

Me, Myself, and I

I've been inspired by other friends who've been blogging. I've never been a good blogger, lets just get that out there. 

About me

• a recent graduate of nursing school and licensed as an RN (registered nurse)
• single mom to three crazy kids
• training for my first half marathon
• I cook/bake as a stress relief
• the term Running Nurse came from a friend in nursing school who felt as RN's we should be role models to our patients

I started running years ago as a stress relief and for quiet time when things were getting bad with my ex-husband. Running helped hide the pain. I never really stuck with it more than a few months at a time. Almost two years ago I was getting more serious about running and had a series of injuries that weren't running related. I gave up on it for almost a year and this past June I started back into running with Couch To 5K. It wasn't that hard for me, but it was good to have a program to follow. I found out that a friend from high school was also doing it in another state, so we kept encouraging each other. I never ended up doing a 5k race like he did as I couldn't find any that fit my schedule. But on with running I went. I started the Bridge to 10K program, but found it didn't really work for me as well as C25K did. I just kind of did my own thing. I started running with a local running group. Watching a friend train for and complete a 200 mile relay race (she didn't run the whole 200 miles!), a half marathon, and then a full marathon while in our last semester of nursing school really inspired me and I registered for my first half marathon, which will be on March 31, 2012. With just shy of 7 weeks left in training, I'm getting a tad nervous. However, I've had two runs over the course this weekend (4 miles yesterday and 8 miles today).

Nursing. I have always wanted to work in the medical field. I've always been fascinated with how the body works. I worked for a dentist in high school and seriously considered medical school to either go into sports medicine or be a dentist. However, science is NOT my thing so I decided to go against that route. I ended up getting my B.S. in Athletic Training. I did consider changing my major to nursing halfway through my undergrad years, but did not want to prolong my graduation. My older, wiser (ha!) self looks back and wants to kick my younger self in the teeth. I graduated with that degree almost 8 years ago now. I started back to school for nursing 3 years ago. I took the scenic route and turned the 18 month program into a 30 month program. Throughout most of school I worked as a nursing care technician (basically a CNA) at a local hospital. I am still employed at the same hospital, however they have not hired me as an RN yet. I'm still job searching and hoping that search will end soon.

Cooking. I've always been more of a baker than a cook. My dad taught me almost everything I know about baking. I still call him with questions today. All of my fond memories of growing up in the kitchen with my dad still make me love it today. However, with having kids, I have also had to learn to be more of a cook. I find I enjoy that as much as I enjoy baking. I've been venturing out and trying a lot of new recipes.

So that is me in a nutshell. I will attempt to update on my training, my job hunt and my new adventures in cooking as my schedule sees fit.