Pride Goeth Before A Fall - Literally

Soooooo........

I went out this morning. Did the five miles out-and-back on the Clear Creek Trail. That makes 21 miles for the week.

I was by myself, and really wanted to do it under 1:15:00 - less than 15 minutes per mile average. That meant I would have to run. So I did.

Started off with a 3:20 stretch. That's the longest time I've ever run without dropping down to a walk. That was cool.

I walked about twice that long (6:20) then tried running again. Managed 1:20 for that stretch. Walked a bit more, then did another 2:14 running. Usually, after I have my initial burst, any running stretches after that are between 1:00 and 1:30. Getting a 2:00-and-some running stretch after my initial burst is rare, so I was really feeling pretty good about it all.

I got to the trail head at Tapp Road, which marks 2.5 miles. Rested a bit, watched the construction, and got ready to head back. Since I'd caught my breath, I thought I'd just run as long as I could and see how I did. No goals. Just running.

By the point when I was getting winded and thinking I'd need to stop running and start walking again, I saw it...shining like a beacon in the night (except it was about 10 in the morning). The sign that marked the half-mile point from the trail head. If I could just...reach...the...marker.......

Yep. I did it. Ran a solid half-mile stretch this morning. A new milestone for me - something I never seriously thought I'd be able to do. And I ran it in 5:47. Not a stellar time by any means, but y'know what? This was ME running...and ME ran a SOLID HALF-MILE!!!!!

Before the morning's work was finished, I ran another solid quarter-mile and yet another stretch that was nearly a quarter-mile. (I could've done a quarter-mile at that point, too, but it was the end of the trail.)

Then, as I was walking back to my car, thinking about how awesome I was and how I was going to write my blog about running a half-mile stretch, I wasn't paying attention. AND the sun was in my eyes. So I closed my eyes against the sun as I walked, but got too close to the edge of the asphalt path...turned my ankle off the edge of the pavement...and went down...scraping my leg on the blacktop as I went down and banging up the heels of my hands from trying to catch myself as I fell.

I couldn't do anything but laugh at my own inauspicious end to a really great walk. I guess that'll teach me.

Nah....probably not.

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P.S. Keep my walking partner Sandi in your prayers, please. She had a rough round of chemo this past week, on top of the fact that her pain pills aren't taking care of the pain she has from the herniated disks (an after-effect of having tumors removed from her spine). She hasn't been able to be out with me at all this past week, which says a LOT, and I've missed her. Hopefully the doctors will be able to help her get back on top of the pain again soon.