Sliding Into 8th!!!

This morning started off with a really hard leg workout.  Maybe it wasn’t really that hard, but after taking 2 weeks off of working my legs for the NWM it seemed ridiculous.  By my last set my legs were super shaky.  So what do you suppose I did next?  I geared up and headed out for a run.  I knew it was going to be a slow run but I missed running so very much last week that I was just happy to be out.  Plus it’s supposed to SNOW tomorrow and Thursday so I wanted to be outside.  I only look at my Garmin (Lou) when it buzzes me, after every mile it shows me my average pace for that mile.  So I watched as each mile got slower and slower.  I just kept telling myself that I was in the “fat burning zone” so all was good.  The last 1.5 miles of this route are pretty downhill, which is always a good confidence booster ;) 

Now this is the part where I share my secret for keeping a good running buddy, wait for it….

If you are brave you can give this a try but I wouldn’t really recommend it.  You have to either, fly off a treadmill or trip and slide across the road.  It will make your “buddy” laugh so hard that she/he will be counting down the hours until your next run.  Now just to clarify, Holly was laughing WITH me not at me, as she later told me!  Truth be told, she didn’t laugh about it, at least out loud, until I did.  I know you are dying to know how I pulled off such a stunt.

I hit mile 8 and my Garmin buzzed me, I had to see how fast I could run down that hill.  Now please understand that it was DARK, okay it was starting to get light but just barely.  Anywho, I looked down to see my pace and all of sudden a freaking construction sign jumped out and TRIPPED me!  WTHeck ;) I’M NOT A HORSE!!! (Sorry I had to add that because Holly and I say it every time we have to jump over or run around an obstacle)  On with the story, I stumbled about trying to save myself not really knowing what the heck had just happened, before I knew it I was sliding across the ASPHALT!  NOT FUN…funny, maybe, but not fun!  Holly had apparently heard me trip on said sign and turned around just in time to watch my gracefulness.  I felt like such an idiot!  I hopped up real quick like and started running again.  We were at an intersection with about a million cars stopped and watching as I slide across the road.  I’m sure I gave lots of people a great story to share about the stupid girl who slid across the road.  We always see Mama Jex on her way to work, as we run down this hill, but she must have missed my act because I haven’t heard from her. 

My hands hurt REALLY bad but weren’t bloody at all, I still haven’t figure out why they hurt so much.  I am grateful for my “sippy cup” cause I’m pretty sure it saved my hand.

Thank you little sippy, thank you!

When we stopped running I pulled up my capris to see that my knees were a little roughed up. 

Not as bad as the Thanksgiving Day Disaster of 2011 :)

It made for an exciting run and one that I won’t soon forget.  I have seen many blog posts as of late about running in the dark.  I think most people are afraid of getting hit by a car or getting attacked by man or beast, but please DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE the power of a construction sign!!!  I’m just grateful I didn’t bust a hip or something!!!

In closing I would like to caution you against EVER looking at your Garmin, running in the dark and most importantly...those blasted construction signs are near invisible when faced the right way!  You just may thank me one day...you're welcome!!!

Have you ever tripped/fallen while running?

Today was my first…correction, today was my first time falling on an OUTSIDE run!

While running in the dark do you wear a headlamp, run with a flashlight or pray for good luck?

I have a handy dandy flashlight that was sent to me while I worked at 26.2 Running Co. but McKenna took it and I can’t find the ding dang thing!