December 27, 2013

Medium

I woke up sometime in the night last night, and thought, "Oh, yay, tomorrow is a rest day!" and then I realized that it was actually my long run--12 miles. With the kids being home from school, I knew I was going to have to do it on the treadmill, and I was totally dreading that.

I did find a new show on Netflix to keep me occupied for a while, though--Medium. I never, ever would have thought that I'd like that show, because I don't believe in paranormal stuff. But it's another crime-drama, like CSI or Law & Order, only the main character is a suburban-mom-medium (she can communicate with the dead). I watched one episode and was hooked!

This morning, however, I just wanted to relax. I decided I'd just use today as a rest day, and run my 12-miler tomorrow. I took a shower and got dressed to go visit Mark at the hospital. I've been going every other day, which seems to work out well; my parents go on the days that I don't, so that he has someone there every day.

My mom watched the kids for me today so that I could go up without them. I stopped to pick up Mark's cards from the post office (about a hundred more!) and bought him a strawberry milkshake from McDonald's before heading to the hospital. Mark was still at his radiation therapy downstairs, but he came in about 10 minutes after I got there. He was in a really good mood, and very happy to see me (especially when he saw that I brought him a milkshake, of course).

I brought a map of the United States this time, something I'd been meaning to do for a while, so that I could show him where his cards were coming from. I brought some star-shaped stickers to stick on each state as we read a card from that state. I sat and read him all of his cards, and by the time I was done, there were very few states that weren't covered! There were a few cards from other countries, too: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and England.

As I got toward the end of the bunch, Mark was fighting to stay awake. They usually give him morphine right after his treatment, which makes him really drowsy. So I got his CD player set up for him to listen to, and I went home. He didn't seem to be in a lot of pain today, so it was a nice visit!

I left the hospital at around 1:30, and I found out later than at 4:30, they moved Mark to a nursing home. Nobody had any idea they were discharging him today! He'll be staying at a nursing home near the hospital, so that an ambulance can transport him to and from the hospital for his radiation treatments. He has six more treatments, and then hopefully the doctors will know more about where to go from there--likely hospice care, but his nephew may choose to go with chemotherapy. I just really hope that he's treated well at the nursing home. My parents are going to visit him tomorrow, so they'll see how he's doing.

On the way home, I was thinking about how I should just do my long run today, so that I could relax all day tomorrow. After I picked up the kids from my mom's house and came home, it was 3:00; I hardly ever run in the afternoons, but I wanted to watch Medium, so I figured I might as well get my run done while I watched.

I set the speed and 6.5 mph and didn't touch it until I hit 12 miles. It felt like forever! I kept thinking, "Maybe I'll just quit at 8 miles..." but I knew I'd be mad at myself if I cut it short for no "real" reason. I got through two and a half episodes of Medium, and as soon as I hit 12 miles, I stopped the treadmill. I was so happy to be done!


Running for nearly two hours just seems kind of crazy, doesn't it? When I think of 12 miles, it really doesn't seem terribly long; but when I think of it in time, it feels like an eternity. I felt really good when I was done, though, and I'm happy I did it today. I really hope I'm able to run outside next Friday, but the kids are off school all week, so I'm not sure if it'll work out.

When I got off the treadmill, I was starving. I had eaten breakfast, but I was at the hospital during lunch time, and all I had was a couple of pieces of candy from Mark. I heated up some leftover lasagna for dinner, because I wasn't in the mood to cook. It was only 5:00, but I changed into my most comfy pajamas and plopped on the couch.

No plans tomorrow, so I'm hoping to have a pretty low-key day!

5 comments:

  1. You should be so proud that you actually followed through with your 'long run' day! I think they're going to have to devote a room to Mark's cards in the nursing home. ;o) Hopefully they'll be as good to him there as they've been in the hospital. I am praying for and talking about him to my family constantly.

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  2. Yay for getting your long run done today!

    I do that too... I keep thinking that runs that are 8+ miles isn't really that far until I realize how long I'll be running for... I just need to work on being ale to run those "short" distances faster lol

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  3. I loved Medium! I'm a huge fan of the cast and it's just a really good show. Glad to hear Mark is getting so many cards, I'm working on getting one sent, but I'm REALLY bad at getting to the post office!

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  4. Sometimes I struggle to chose which day of the weekend I want to do my long run on. Which seems like a better "rest day"

    Finding a good show to watch on the treadmil is a great idea! keeps your focus on that rather than the miles or time! Nice work!

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  5. I LOVE Medium! One of the things I really like about that show is how their marriage is actually REAL. You know how on some shows they never argue or get mad at each other and on Medium it is like they are a real couple with real issues and real problems. (Minus the fact that Joe is surrounded by Mediums) LOL.

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