This morning was a tough one...I didn't sleep well, it was cold in the house (we're trying not to use the heat again this year), and it was a damp 33 degrees outside. But I did not hit snooze, I got dressed for running, and out I went. The schedule called for a 45 minute tempo run.
During the first mile of my run, these are the things I thought about, and figured I would write about today: the cold, how Fredo the Wonderdog even seemed cold, remembering to NOT overdress for a cold run, that people need to start thinking about taking their Christmas decorations down, that I'm glad the people who clearly had a grand old time with fireworks on NYE finally cleaned up the debris that was left in front of their house, that I loathe litterbugs...then came mile 2, and I tripped. Yup, foot caught on something and down I went.
Those of you who know me well will not be surprised by this, as I am quite clumsy. However, though I often stumble, I rarely fall down when running. Usually I slightly twist an ankle (which simply results in discomfort), I stumble but catch myself by throwing a leg forward (resulting in a strained ass muscle, but that's about it), or I bump into something. But I don't often fall. Last year I fell once because I caught my foot on one of those bumpy mats added at the ended of a sidewalk so people who are blind can tell the road is coming soon--it wasn't fastened down completely so my toe caught it and I did a spectacular tuck and roll. On a busy road for all to see, of course. The time before that was last February while trail running in Sedona. I don't really count that, though, because I am a novice trail runner and there were many rocks and hills to navigate (I fell three times in two days!). Before that I don't even remember the last time I fell, although I know I have.
So this morning's fall came as a complete surprise, especially because it happened so fast. I was up...I was down. Fredo stood there looking at me as if to ask, "What happened? Why are we stopped? Why are you on the ground? I guess I'll just wait here for you, Human." My first thought was nervousness about my neck and shoulder, which has been strained for weeks and felt pulled again as I fell. I got up, took inventory of how I felt, and then looked for the culprit that jumped up and grabbed my foot. At first I couldn't find it--then I spotted it in the street light--a little piece of concrete from the road, just a tiny little bump, and that's all it took. Well, enough of that, I set off to running again. Of course at first after a fall the adrenaline is kicked into high gear, but when that settled down I realized I was fine, the neck was a little strained but did not impact my running. After that I just tried to focus on the run (I noticed that I was picking my feet up higher for fear of tripping again!). Since this was supposed to be a tempo run, I was trying to pick up the pace and make sure I was giving it a hard effort. Although I was feeling fine, fall notwithstanding, I did not feel as if my attempts at pushing my pace were working. But I got into my groove and finished the run strong.
Once home, I did an assessment of the damage. First, the run went well. I ran 5.5 miles in 47 minutes, an 8:33 pace, which I am happy with. No aches and pains other than the usual. I stretched a bit to loosen the IT bands, started the coffee, then went to do the real damage assessment. Gloves were not torn, nor were the hands, but I felt a couple of bruises on my palms. No big deal. Elbow! Yup, some skin missing from my elbow, though I'm not sure if my shirt tore. No skinned knees, capri running pants in tact. Great! And then...the kicker...a dime-sized hole in my new running shoes! Argh!! They are lightweight shoes, not a lot of material to withstand the scraping on the asphalt. You know what this means, right? Time for new shoes?! We'll see. For now they will continue to work, but the hole is where my pinky toe is, so hopefully it won't push its way out and make the tear bigger.
So went my morning run...success with a little side trip, literally.
Oh you and your falling! I do recall a fall in WP a few years ago on the bricks (you not me). :) Glad you are okay and your FB post got me out of bed, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow. The fact that you were still able to get up and get the tempo run in is amazing. Good job. I've no been running for 16 months after taking more than 16 years off, and have fallen twice in very painful and dangerous ways, so I know what you must have felt. Last winter I was running too fast down Porter St (where the Manchester Road Race takes the downhill left at the top of the hill) and there was a thin layer of snow covering the 'black ice' that sent me airborne for a second and landed me flat on my back with my head snapping back and hitting the frozen road. It was 7 miles into a 9 mile run, my glove and shirt by my elbow were torn and I thought I was concussed. Still don't remember the last 2 miles I had to run home since nobody was awake yet at 4:45am to come pick me up. My head hurt for about a week after that, but it did prompt me to run more carefully in those conditions. My other wall was 20 miles into my last 'long run' leading into my Oct. 15 marathon last year, and the last 4 miles home were hell due to the fatigue that set in long before I fell. I was running Rails to Trails when my toe caught on a root I couldn't see and sent me sprawling to the ground, almost down the steep hill inches to my right. The lesson I learned from both those falls: always choose safety over speed...well, except when in a race.
ReplyDelete