Work is as lovely as ever. Lately, there hasn't been as many overtime shifts, so I've been working normal 40 hour weeks. Which has really helped with my sanity. ;) We have been incredibly busy almost every shift though and that made getting homework done nearly impossible. Yesterday and last night there were some bad wrecks and a pedestrian vs. car that didn't end so well. We were dispatched around midnight this morning for a injury accident. Reading the notes it said that two patients were ejected from the vehicle. At that moment, I was thinking, "Yeah, right. Surely they weren't going fast enough on that road to be ejected." Anything is possible, and the pickup with our patient (and two others) rolled several times. The only one not seriously injured in the accident? The guy who was intoxicated. Even though the scene reeked of alcohol, we never smelled it on our patient. For having been ejected, she did not have very many noticeable injuries besides a few abrasions. We knew she had a brain bleed and we found out a couple hours later that her back was broken completely in half. I found out when I got to work this afternoon, that she had died. The other guy that was ejected is still in critical condition and was not expected to live very much longer either. Sad to think of the phone call those parents were getting early this morning. Be in prayer for these families and the pain they must be going through.
And now that I've probably made you all thoroughly depressed, I'll tell you about a very happy drunk. :) When we got in the back of the truck, my partner told him that if he were good, I would ride with him, if he were bad, he would have to ride with him. The happy drunk's comment was, "I'll be good, cause she's hot! I love her. She's the best Columbia has to offer!" Lol, after a little bit of this going on, my partner told him to behave because I was mean. Of course, the patient already knew this and stated, "Oh, I know! I saw it in her eyes." Amazing, you can see the meanness in my eyes. I've tried so hard to conceal it and now everyone can see it in my eyes! Oh boy, what will I do now. ;-) Yeah, I pretty much laughed on that entire call.
Well, I have completed my first ever 8 hour adventure race and I'm now totally addicted! Like I thought I wouldn't be. ;-) When I finished, my response was, "That was the most awful, fun thing ever!" And it truly was awful and fun. I had not biked nearly enough and was not ready for the millions of hills (I'm pretty sure they were little mountains) that we had to go up. I walked up most of the "hills"
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Wouldn't you hate me if I had just posted that up without finishing? ;) It took me several hours to write that small little post, since I was writing reports and going on calls. My plan was to go ahead and finish it off once I got home from work, but then I was so tired that I went straight to bed. So now, I'm trying to finish it up. :) This morning we were busy with calls and then I desperately needed a nap this afternoon, so I got one and now that it's 1530, I'm ready to finish this up! ;)
So....where were we.....hills. Ok, so yep, I walked up most of the humongous "hills" that were very steep and seemed to go on forever. Seriously. I'm not even really joking. The guys biking up were barely going any faster than we were walking. And they were burning way more energy by trying to bike. BUT, best part ever? Coming down. =D Now that really gets your adrenaline going! On the paved roads, we got going really fast and it felt soo awesome! Besides being a little chilly. ;) The ending of our race, we were biking more on the trails, going up a ton more hills, and then coming down! If you've never done mountain biking, then you should. The last mile or two of the race was all downhill and that was extremely freaky. My bike chain came off once, but it was a quick fix and we were flying down the hill once again. Just imagine trying to ride really fast downhill, with tree roots sticking up, rocks at odd angles, people in your way, hairpin turns....and you get the general picture. ;) There were so many times that I thought for sure I was going to hit one of those roots, my bike was going to stop and I was going to go flying.....and probably break my neck in the process. Thankfully, that never happened and we all made it safely to the finish without injuries. I think it was the adrenaline from it all that made me love it so much. ;)
So, a breakdown of the race.... We got to the park around 6 and proceeded to hang out by the start line, pretty much freezing to death. ;) Kenny, (2nd from right) kept saying, "Man, this really sucks. Why are we doing this?" We were all excited, nervous, and cold. The night before we had figured out the route we were taking to get all the checkpoints and so in the morning we had to figure out where we were and where the first checkpoint would be. We were allowed to get the checkpoints in whatever order we wanted to, but we had to make sure to get the right checkpoint marked on our passport. The checkpoints aren't marked as to whether they are 1,2,3etc, you just have to know which is which. Thankfully, these guys were awesome with direction and we never once got lost. So, for 3+ miles (not sure exactly on the mileage) we ran/trekked through the woods. Once we got all 9 checkpoints, we ran back to the start, picked up our bikes (well, not literally. We rode them;-) and we biked for 14.5 miles and picked up 11 other checkpoints. We then got off our bikes and trekked/ran 2 more miles to find 3 other checkpoints. Then we got back on our bikes and went 3.5 miles to where the canoes were at. There we had to put our bikes in the canoe with us and paddle 6 miles, stopping for 2 checkpoints along the way. Once we finished that leg, we had a gear check (you lose checkpoints for anything you're missing from you bag) and then it was back on the bikes for 5.5 miles and 7 or 8 checkpoints. It was a hard, fun race and I'm so planning on doing another before long. I'm being convinced to do a 12 hour race....we'll see about that. ;) I felt like I had to be holding the guys up the entire race, but they never said it and just told me that I was an "animal" (lol) and that I could race with them anytime. I guess I didn't do too terrible then ;)
There was Papa John's pizza after the finish which was really awesome. =) I wasn't very hungry, but I think the guy's were starving. Then we left soon after that and I made the little over two hour drive home. That is one of the hardest things about racing a few hours from where you live. Sitting for over two hours after that much of a workout on your legs, is quite the killer. That evening was extremely painful. My legs felt hot and they ached so bad when I tried walking that I felt like crying. (lol, and you're thinking I'm crazy to want to do another one;-), but by Sunday, I was doing a ton better and only had a few sore muscles. :) And by Wednesday, I was ready to sign up for another race. There's something really awesome about being so tired and worn out after just doing a big accomplishment. It feels so good even if it hurts like crazy! If you've never had this experience, then you're seriously missing out on a lot. :) So, now you all need to go sign up for a race! ;-)
Alright. I think that's all I'm going to write today. :) I'm gonna hope we don't get a call so I can call my mom. Aren't mom's just the best thing ever? I love mine. <3 br="br">
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