Yesterday I wasn’t feeling great, so I decided to forego running with the gang. Some of us were doing a pub crawl yesterday, so I offered to drive to our initial destination, with the intentions of leaving my car there and running back to pick it up today.
It was absolutely gorgeous today, so I was looking forward to the run. Since I had 18 miles to do, I packed up my camelbak, grabbed my iPod and headed out.
I took a meandering route, so my car was 4 miles from my house. The plan was then to run out 7 miles from that point, and turn around.
As I said, it was a gorgeous day to run! 42F and sunny. I was listening to the Phedippidations Podcast about “Who do you run for”, so I was thinking about my Mom, who I inspired to start running. I felt strong, and I figured it was going to be a good day. I brought along some GUs, which I haven’t used in this training cycle, and at close to mile 5 I was thinking I’d stop at mile 6 to take one. The next thing I knew, I was pitching forward. My hands out in front of me, and I had time to think “uh oh” before my head hit the sidewalk. The sidewalk had been uneven and I hadn’t noticed until my right foot got caught.
Obviously, I’m ok. I told myself “Ok, I’m done now” and I picked myself up and walked back to the car, doing a mental check. I put my hand up to my cheek, and felt blood. Uh oh. My left glove was torn. I looked at my right shoulder and realized my shirt had been ripped.
I’m not entirely sure, but I think the camelbak may have contributed somewhat. The extra weight on my back probably slid forward and caused my shoulder and head to go down.
Naturally, I cut my run short. I’m not really physically sore (just a sting), just shaken up. My first thought as I did my physical check was “I REALLY need to replace my RoadID“. My second thought was “and ensure my loved ones have some too”. I was ok to head back to the car (and I’m really glad it was less than a mile from the car when this happened), but what if I’d been that 7 miles out?
I know I may be overly anxious right now: thinking about all the miles I’ve run (385 this calendar year!) and this is the first time I’ve tripped like this. Generally, I don’t distract myself with my iPod while on the road. When it comes down to it, I’m really not hurt bad at all: I’m actually toying with the idea of going to the gym, although because I DID hit my head, I want to be careful. I am just thankful I am ok, and want to be able to know that had things not gone so well, I would be taken care of..
