Sunday, October 21, 2007

Blood, Sweat and on the Verge of Tears

Today I added two new words to my vocabulary: stacked and proprioception.

If you're a runner or a cyclist, you've probably already figured out that I learned these new words the hard way.

To stack is cyclists' lingo for falling or wiping out. Proprioception is a person's ability to envison how their body will move next.

Here are the words used in a sentence, Spelling Bee style: A lack of proprioception will cause a person to stack.

I learned these two new words while spending the second half of this morning's team run in the first aid van. Yep, that's right. I stacked. Big time.

Nothing about this morning's run was typical. We started from a new location because we were going to run 10 miles of the Seacoast Half Marathon route. We didn't have the warm up loop or the regular stretching. We were shuttled to Brackett Road, where we ran our way toward the ocean.

It was a great day for running along the ocean, even if the warmer-than-usual temperatures made us all sweat a bit more than we normally would. For the first four or five miles, we made our usual chit-chat, talking about the upcoming races, children and pets, and any other topics to pass the time.

Then it happened.

Around Mile Five, as a group of us made our way along a narrow road, my shoe caught the edge of some broken pavement. I could feel myself going down. I saw the ground rapidly approaching my face. There was nothing I could do to stop it.

Based on my injuries, my left knee took the brunt of the fall. But I somehow also managed to hit with my right shoulder and chin. The palms of my hands were scraped. Dirt covered the front of my tank top.

I sure wish I had a video of the fall. I'm certain it wasn't graceful. Arms and legs everywhere, with a finale of my face hitting the pavement.

It may have been a YouTube hit.

The group run came to a screeching halt while a picked myself off and brushed off. Was I okay?

My first instinct was to laugh -- and I'm sure I did. Did I really just fall on the side of the road? How many people had seen it? I think my ego was more bruised than any part of my body at that point.

I took a few steps. No shooting pains or anything extremely uncomfortable. The scrapes burned, though, and blood was running down my leg. We walked briefly to make sure I was okay. Our team mentor, Dave, who was running next to me when I stacked, asked if I wanted to continue or wait to be picked up.

I felt fine -- except for the burning scrapes and blood -- so we picked up running at a slow pace.

I really did feel fine even as we started running. I knew the water stop at the Old Mobil was not far away, so I could get cleaned up there and continue on.

As we turned into the Old Mobil, our run coach, Jack, and other TnT volunteers jumped out of their cars and shuffled me over to the First Aid Van (also known as the van that carries Gatorade, plays motivating music at certain points of the route and holds the extra layers of clothing that we peel off as we get hot).

Bob, who is trained in first aid, and Jack cleaned up my wounds and prepared an ice pack to combat the impending contusion on my knee. Every team runner who stopped for water, checked in on me and asked whether I was okay.

We also documented the injuries and treatment via camera phones. Here's your blog topic for today, someone said.

I weighed the thought of continuing on, but as my knee started to throb a bit more, I decided not to push it anymore.

So, I bandaged up the ice pack and rode around in the front seat of the van with Bob and his dog, Marley. We drove the route checking on runners and offering water.

Today's run was the Big One for the Seacoast runners. They finished 10 miles today.

I'm sorry I couldn't join them. I drove away this morning feeling a little disappointed that I only did about five miles. But, hey, it was still five miles -- a heck of a lot farther than I was running just a few weeks ago. And there's plenty of time for me to do a 10-mile run.


Plus, I'm coming away with a few battle scars to remember this experience.

I literally put my blood and sweat into this morning's run. At least I didn't have the tears.

REMEMBER, I'M DOING THIS FOR A GOOD CAUSE. Have you donated to my fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society? If not, please consider doing so. You can donate online at http://www.active.com/donate/tntma/Teresa. Please pass this link to everyone you know. Every dollar helps me get a little closer to the Disney 13.1!

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3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. "are you injured or are you HURT? If you are injured you can't play, if you're hurt; you can play" Coach in Varsity Blues.

    "first learn walk, then run, natures rule Danielson, not mine" Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid

    "put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking cross the floor..." Kris Kringle in Santa Claus is coming to town.

    There's some movie quotes for ya.

    Things to think about while running:
    Does a gallon of water weigh the same as a gallon of gasoline?

    WRONG- a gallon is a measure of volume not weight.

    incidentally, the H2O does weigh more.

    O Canada is not motivational music.

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  3. Have a nice trip...see you in the fall...

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