Do (Do) You Got A First Aid Kit

Well, I spent yesterday morning trying to patch up a wound. Several wounds, actually. On my Thursday morning run I caused a little damage to my knee, my hand and my forearm when I took a tumble at the end of a sidewalk.

It was right there in the first mile, I was kind of distracted and thinking about work when I came up to an intersection. At the last minute I tried to quickly turn behind me to see if any cars were turning onto the road when BAM. It took just a second. My body was out of balance the instant my foot caught the end of the sidewalk, and all of a sudden I was down on the ground. Pain shot through my left arm and my right knee as my water bottle slid into the middle of the street. After screaming several obscenities and gathering myself off the ground, I continued on. At that point I was more embarrassed than anything. I had skinned a little bit of the palm of my left hand, but hadn't really got a good look at the rest of my wounds. I can't miss a run, I kept thinking. You're not hurt that bad. Keep going. When I finally finished I took a moment to check everything out. My forearm was actually skinned pretty bad, and by that point blood and sweat was kind of running down my elbow. My knee had some scratches, but didn't seem too bad until I started trying to stretch. My knee was not happy. It was stiff and painful and bruised. Damn it. This isn't what I need.

So this morning I had to run again. My training schedule requires I run four days a week, so the running days come back to back on Thursday and Friday. I tried to stretch out as best I could, but my knee was still giving me problems. That first mile was rough. My body really wanted me to stop, but I had to push through. The rest of the run went OK, but I probably didn't do myself any favors. Tonight my knee felt so sore. I had to shoot high school football tonight, and those trips up and down the bleachers were not fun. I really want to get in one long run this weekend. I need to. I have yet to run over 8 miles outside. They say if you can run 10 miles, you can run a half marathon. I'm not sure I believe that, but I need to try. Hopefully by Sunday I'll be able to run without pain.