Okay, to be fair, 99.9% of my run this morning was perfectly wonderful. There was just that brief moment when the sidewalk came rushing up to meet my face that was the sucky part.
I was running along, minding my own business and thinking about the half marathon that I’m planning on running in February 2015. I was sort of noodling out a plan for the year and where I want to be pace-wise in the next few months. I’m pretty sure that’s why I fell. People! Running and math don’t mix!
I felt my toe hit the perfectly flat sidewalk wrong and I had plenty of time on my way down to think the following:
“Oh, shit! I tripped! Am I falling? Yes, I seem to be falling. Is there anything I can do to stop myself from falling? It doesn’t feel like it. Well, then – don’t hit your head!”
And to my credit, I didn’t hit my head, but I did fall the exact wrong way you’re supposed to. I landed smack on my hands and knees – well, one knee – instead of my forearms and belly. I’ve watched my kids practice falling skills in karate for enough years that I know how it’s supposed to be done, but that didn’t translate into actually doing it myself.
I dropped a big, loud F-bomb and had the wherewithal to pause my Garmin while I laid on the ground. That did not feel good. But nothing was broken, so I got back up on my feet and started walking. Oh, the tears wanted to fall! That was probably more biology than emotion, though. I really didn’t hurt so much as it scared the crap out of me. I thought immediately about the time last year when Big Boy was tripped less than a half mile into a 2-mile race and he got right back up and kept running. If memory serves, he ended up placing third or fourth overall in that race. I told myself, “Big Boy gets up and keeps running. You can, too.”
Big Boy was born with his mother’s balance and coordination, which is to say that he falls occasionally while running. He says “all the time,” but I’m trying to be kind here. Thankfully, even with my genetic hindrance, he got his father’s mental fortitude. That kid – really, both boys – have more mental toughness than I can imagine. I hope I emulate at least a little bit of that strength and courage, because I know that someday they’ll look for the qualities in a spouse that they see in me. So I want them to find girls who push themselves and who get back up and keep going when they fall down.
Honestly, I want them to find girls who run.
Marcia says
Knock wood, I’ve fallen once. On a trail in the last 400m of a 20 miler. I caught a root and belly flopped. And dropped the F-bomb. You kind of have to.
Kate says
I’ve fallen on the sidewalk. Man, that hurts. I haven’t had a bad running fall for a while, mostly little trips, but I had a hard MTB crash this spring that threw me off my game for a while. I get back up and keep going, but I’m pretty tentative after a fall.
Sorry you had such a rotten part of your run!
Coach Dion says
I am a trail runner and spend my runs on rocky root fulled single tracks, so the other week we are heading back to the track for a session when I decided to leave the path (to miss the stairs and take a little trail down…) well I hit the dirt. (I think I was watching the lady in front of me!!!)