Friday Fitness Fantabulousness

I have a confession...I had not run or done any type of formal exercise since Monday. In the informal range, I had to pump out the water from the flooded basement twice this week--it's rained every single day, and apparantly living on a hill does not make you immune to flooding. My coworkers thought it was weird that I described it as "Zombie-Water" since my backyard is a graveyard. So I'm morbid--I would think after 7 years of working with me they'd know that by now!

I also got to mow the lawn that grew 4 feet with all the rain (OK, so 1 foot), which means the neighborhood got to see me huff and puff and push the lawnmower. I feel like such a bad-ass when I'm mowing and running the weed whacker--maybe because as a child I wasn't allowed to do it since my stepbrothers were sure I'd cut my feet off or something. Anyway, I was strong, powerful Marge out grooming the lawn yesterday! I wish I'd have taken pictures! By the end of the mowing and pumping water, I was covered in dirt, water, and grass clippings. Then I promptly fell asleep (after a well-earned shower).
Let me rewind: I am a Crisis Mental Health Counselor, so I get called in to talk to people that are suicidal, homicidal, or psychotic. I work a lot, and it's very high stress, since I decide who needs hospitalized, either willingly or not, and set up all necessary services and safeguards. I interact with physicians, law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and other mental health professionals, as well as individuals and families dealing with mental health crises. It can be exhausting. In addition to the "normal" workweek, I work two overnight shifts during a pay period. That equals one 24 hour shift every week. So Wednesdays are my 24 hours, and this week's started at 9am Wednesday and ended 9am Thursday. I was the only Crisis Counselor covering 3 counties, and was out most of the night. So after my homeowner duties, I laid down to nap, and woke up 6 hours later!
A couple other tidbits: I also do a gig with counseling at the regional jail for a few hours every couple of weeks, and sit on a board that works with law enforcement to identify individuals with mental health issues and divert them from jails into the mental health system if appropriate.....
Anywhoo, so today I woke up and knew that I'd run. I got on the treadmill, knowing I wanted to figure out how fast I am running, just for reference. I ended up running a mile in 13 minutes, and a total of 2.35 miles in 30 minutes (the second was run/walks between 3.5 and 5 miles/hr). So now I know where I am and can keep track of myself.
I love how encouraging you all are, and I will be trying this weekend to get caught up on stalking your blogs. I don't have any running friends here in Ohio (other than big brother that lives a couple hours away and is a MACHINE!! (I'm still waiting to hear how he likes the Garmin I splurged and bought for him!!) So having the inspiration and encouragement from you guys means a whole lot. Thanks!!
And so now, I will go wash the sweat off and get on with the day!

Marge