Taking a deep breath

I'm feeling like it's time to stop, take a deep breath and see where I'm at in life.

Career: I'm half-way through my third travel assignment and I'm starting to feel a little burned out on the whole traveling thing. Mainly I hate moving (an unfortunate necessity of travel nursing) and I get very frustrated at never knowing how the system works. Simple things like where are the supplies? How do I page the doctor? How do I order this test? Right around the time I start to figure a place out, it's time to leave. I thought I'd absolutely love it, but honestly I find that I spend a lot of my time worrying about the stupid things which make me think that a long-term traveling career is probably not for me.

Right now I'm pondering .... wait for it ... MORE school! I always assumed I'd go to grad school (well to be more specific finish a master's - can't forget those 24 hours of credit on my M.A. in environmental studies long abandoned at U of I) so I'm thinking it might be sooner than later. I'm feeling the pull of being a nurse practitioner, specifically women's health care, and keeping myself in the maternal/child healthcare field.

Training: I'm four weeks out from my 2nd half-marathon and I'm actually on track with my training. I did skip one run this week, but in general I'm putting in the recommended miles and I'll be much better prepared than I was for Lewis & Clark. Don't know if I have a sub 2:30 in me, but definitely know I'll run a better race than my first one. I'm enjoying my training a lot more and it's not as hard to get my butt out on the pavement.

Now as far as tri training??? Yeah - there needs to be some serious thought about that. I haven't been in a pool since I left Columbia, and my bike hasn't actually touched a road since July. I do have the bike trainer and I've used that a few times but not in the past three weeks. If I'm going to have any chance of improving my performance at Wolf Creek (first tri I'm planning in June) then I really need to commit to training in all three sports.

So after taking a deep breath and smelling the roses it's time to make some goals.

1. Continue to follow my half-marathon training plan religiously! A well prepared Jenn will be very happy at the finish line in St Louis.

2. Join a pool here in Little Rock and get my butt in it!

3. Embrace the bike and go for a ride. There's a great 16 mile paved trail along the river - I have NO EXCUSES!

4. Put together a tri training plan, put it on the fridge and live it!

5. Explore my graduate school options.

6. Make some tough decisions on whether to keep traveling or whether to take a staff nurse position somewhere.

We'll check back in a month and see how I'm doing.