The alarm went off this morning at 4:30 am. I jumped out of bed, washed my face, threw on my running clothes. I had some water and some Honey Stinger chews. It was sadly a little too early for my digestive tract to get things moving… I was out the door and running at 5:05 am. It was dark and cool out and it felt great. I wore my GPS for distance on my left wrist and my Road ID and my Timex on my right. I set the Timex up to beep 4:1 run/walk intervals. I figured that if I want to run them at IMC I better set my watch to beep them.
There is some road construction happening outside of my neighbourhood. New bike paths and intersections have been built. I was crossing the road, 20 minutes into my run. I’ve ridden over this sidewalk and curb recently and have thought, wow, that was poorly constructed! The curb is pretty high. I must have been a little tired and not picking my feet up properly. I must have caught a toe on the curb. All I knew was that all of a sudden I was falling.
I’m falling…why am I falling? I don’t want to fall!
Thud.
I sat there for a second or two, feeling thankful that it was so early in the morning and there were no people driving by to witness my humiliation. I surveyed the damage.
Road rash on my right forearm. More road rash on my right hip (but the squishy part, not the boney part), bruising on my right arm where my watch must have been pushed into the skin on impact. I got up and there was no pain.
Alrighty then, run on!
Things went well for the next 10 minutes. But then the activity had gotten my digestive system moving… I ran past a Husky gas station, but at that time in the morning the lights were off and no one was home. OK, 10 minutes away is an Esso station and a Mac’s in a shopping complex. Hopefully one of those would be open. I wanted to cry tears of joy as the Esso came into sight and the lights were blazing! I think the guy working this morning was a little surprised to see me come in that early, but after a quick stop and the purchase of a bottle of water I was on my way.
The 4:1 intervals were great. On every walk break I would take a sip of Infinit from my Camelbak or water from my newly purchased bottle. And it just happened to be recycling day in the neighbourhoods I was running through so once the bottle was done I was able to put it in someone’s recycle bin. 2-1/2 hours in my legs started to feel a little creaky and I was losing steam but I think that was a combination of feeling like I should really be getting to work soon and the fact that I was running out of nutrition and it was heating up. But there we go, 3 hour run done! Now here’s hoping my road rash doesn’t sting in the pool too much tomorrow!
16 comments:
Ouch!! Glad to hear there was no major damage. It is always nice when no one is around to witness those moments of grace ;) . I can recall one of my first outdoor rides of the year. I was coming to a red light and I realized I was still clipped in just at the moment I stopped. Needless to say I did a nice gradual fall over to the side. I was hoping no one saw it and that hope was crushed when a SUV pulled up beside me, rolled down the window and asked if I was ok. They were laughing almost as hard as I was.
oofa I hate it when you take a spill, but congrats on getting your long run in. Can't wait for your Ironman.
I'm sad to say I have never had anonymous falls... If you're feeling really low at ironman you can picture me falling on my bike downtown at lunchtime and then my water pouring on me as I lay there stuck in my pedals. It's always nice to have a laugh!
You're getting so close!!!
Ow! That sounds awful! Glad you didn't hurt yourself, also glad you only suffered private humiliation.. Good on you for carrying on the 3 hour (3 HOUR!) run for all that time - keep it up!
Is the humiliation worst than the actual fall?????
Dude, that's big time impressive. I don't know how the heck you can run for 3 hours before work! I'm so not a morning runner! That sucks about that curb coming out of nowhere...i know when i've fallen within the city running the first thing I do is look around to see who was watching hahaha. :)
Wow - a three hour run in the morning before work - you are one motivated lady!
Yikes! Sorry to hear about the fall. That is no fun at the start of your run... or ever, really! Glad you were able to keep on going!
Sounds like the 4:1 intervals are working well. I tried a few long runs earlier this year with a friend doing 4m:35s sets. It's not for me, but I did find that I was able to fuel and hydrate better with the frequent breaks. Of coruse that will be key for you at IM!
Oh boy! So sorry to hear about your fall, glad it wasn't more serious! Falls can be really scary. I know my good friend fell during the IM and it really shook her up.
Oh no! I hope you are okay!!
it does totally sound like something I would do though! ;)
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your fall. You are a machine for running that early in the morning for that long!!
you kept going?!? for 3 hours? yeah i wiped out once ~1.25 miles into a run... and promptly turned around and limped home! i needed to clean up the blood... that was my excuse :)
Poor you!! I hope your road rash didn't hurt too much at the pool!
All that falling and pooping and running....LOL!!
You are one tough chica!!!!! :)
A three hour run before work? Wow! Hope the road rash doesn't hurt too much!
Owie! Hope it doesn't sting tomorrow.
the title of this post is why I don't ride.
Glad you are okay.
'shudder'
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