...but if your mind's neglected, stumble you might fall...
This morning I was running along, listening to The Bravery on my iPod, when all of a sudden, I felt it catch. My toe, that is. On a crack in the pavement. Now, I'm normally kind of clumsy, so early on when I started running I had sort of mapped out all of the large cracks in the sidewalk in my mind. Potential hazards, things to avoid. I know there's one on my home stretch to my apartment, and another down one of my favorite hills. I even know which puddles to avoid because they make the pavement slippery and hazardous. But this particular crack was not on my list.
As I felt my toe catch all I remember was thinking "ohhhhh #*%^" (expletives deleted). I tried to aim my fall -- which was pretty pointless -- over towards the grass and off of the sidewalk. I landed pretty hard on the heel of my left hand, my right knee and my right shin/calf. And after landing? I may have skidded a bit. I don't exactly remember. All I know was thinking "well...there goes wearing a skirt tonight to the game."
I surveyed the damage, and saw that my hand was in pretty good shape, as was my knee -- both were bleeding a bit, but not too badly. Nothing felt broken, so that was also good. My shin, however, was a completely different story. It had already started to turn a lovely shade of pinkish purple, and I could tell most of the skin was rubbed off. It didn't hurt too badly (endorphins, much?) but I thought, "I have to get home to clean this up." My thought progression naturally went from "get home and clean up" to "running will get me there faster." So I ran the rest of the way home (albeit a shorter course than normal). Along the way, I passed an older gentleman who made some sort of comment, but I didn't hear him because of my iPod. It could have been something along the lines of "yuck" or even "get thee to a hospital" but I didn't care. I got home and cleaned up my wounds, and although they still hurt (a bit more than I thought they would) I'd say I'm in pretty good shape. My leg isn't the prettiest thing to look at, but I digress.
Note to self: look for more cracks in pavement / be more alert when running. Kissing the sidewalk is not fun.
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Friday, August 31, 2007
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9:08 AM
