Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Still working...

Just hopped off the trainer for a short spin on the Trek. Life has been more than hectic. I grossly underestimated how hard it would really be to work 80 hours per week and try to stay motivated for anything other than sleep! I have survived a month of surgery night float and a month in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University. Currently working medicine wards and about to start a 102 hour week working the graveyard shift at the county hospital. The bonus of working nights is the added training you can get in riding your bike to the hospital since it's always when the sun's still out.

Training has been pathetic, I'm afraid to admit. Things will turn around, for sure when I get to my on-service (emergency) months. I can't wait! I just happened to be very front loaded with my schedule. The bonus of that is I should be able to race early next season! I end my year with 4/5 months in the emergency department where we only work 60 hours per week. Yay!!



With my time off (we are mandated to have at least 4-24 hour work free days per month), I've tried to do a lot of cross-training. My workout of choice has been hiking. Two weekends ago Roger and I did 18 miles of hiking, climbing a couple mountains in Rocky Mountain National park. It was awesome!



This past week I had to take Maddie to the vet (found a 24 hour emergency vet) because she had developed what I thought was a swollen anal gland. Turns out it was a solid mass and I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the pathology. I'm terrified it's cancer. So over the weekend I took her out to Indian Peaks on a hike. She liked it so much that I think we're going to climb Bierstadt (14,000 feet) on Saturday if she's feeling up to it. I'm hoping to get ahold of the new Timex Expedition series to test it out. It looks sweet and even comes in orange!



Well, that's all I've got for now. Just trying to keep my head above water as an intern. I never fail to be inspired by my teammates at Timex ripping it up this year. I'll be back to the races eventually!