Never take the same path...

Earlier this week I thought I was going to have time for a long run this morning. That was before I found out that I was going to be chauffeur for one daughter at 6:45 and for another daughter at 7:30. No time for 20 or 30 miles with that schedule! Oh, well! Another day perhaps. I still haven't had time for the longer runs I really want to get in before I run my 100-miler. We'll see what next week holds.

This morning's run was going to be a little loop out in the country, but ended up being more of an out-and-back sort of thing. I started running and decided to go north rather than run west down School Street. I hate being predictable. Louis L'Amour's heroes always got ambushed when they used the same trail too many times. I ran up to Maple on Lawrence, then turned east to head out of town.

I ran to Highway 61, ran in the middle of the highway for a little while and then ran off onto the left hand shoulder like a good little runner. I ran south to Highway 54 and headed east again. I ran out to the first dirt road with plans to run up to the next mile and back to town that way. When I got a quarter mile or so up the road, I realized I wasn't going to have time to make breakfast if I did that loop, so I doubled back and ran back into town.

When I got to Wal-Mart, I turned south and picked up my speed. I hadn't run fast in a long time and it felt good. Not that sub-8:00 is that fast. It does feel lickity split when you've been running 9:00 or slower though.

I ran down past the trailer courts and then up by the hospital on my way back to my starting point. My goal for my final mile of this 5-miler was to do the whole thing sub-8:00. I missed it by four seconds. I was pleasantly surprised when I uploaded my workout to see that my fourth mile was 8:05. Not bad for an old man running with an injured left shoulder. (garmin data)

Rainy run...

I woke up to gentle rain this morning. I stepped out the door and enjoyed it as the raindrops dampened my hair. It was a beautiful 61 degrees.

I walked over to School Street knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to write the word "rain" with my route. I started my Garmin and started drawing.

I met very few cars in the four miles it took to run the "rain" out and back. My feet splashed in a few puddles. It was a fun run. Wish all outings could be this fun. (garmin data)

Back at it...

I'm back. Sort of. I ran today for the first time since my bike accident. I wanted to test my shoulder to see how it held up. It did pretty well. There was a little stiffness and a few "shots" of pain here and there, but for the most part it wasn't bad.

I ran west on School to Main with plans to just run down to Sixth, across to Howard and back home. I decided just before Howard that I wanted to run longer than that so I went out farther and ran some strange little streets that ended up giving me a nice picture of an old boot.\

This run put me over 800 for the year. Last year I ran just 826 miles, so sometime soon I'm going to run on past that and make 2012 my biggest year ever. My goal is 1000 miles by year's end. Shouldn't be too hard since I'm running 100 miles in one day in a little over a month. I sure hope I can get ready for that in time. (garmin data)

Cataloging injuries...

Ugly scrapes and bruises cover my body right now. The black and blue has slowly been appearing over the past two days. The "left knee" discoloration wasn't even visible on Saturday. It showed up Sunday afternoon. The blunt force of the sidewalk pushed the injuries deep. Ugh! Can't wait till I'm not stiff and sore any more.

An abrupt end...

I have had so few crashes on my bike over my lifetime that I can remember all of them.

My first was a great one. I jumped off a driveway ramp on my brother's BMX bike to impress a girl. My feet left the pedals mid-flight and I came down hard, stomach first, on the seat. Knocked the wind out of me and taught me a lesson. Don't try to impress girls!

My second and third wrecks involved loose asphalt at high speed and locked up front brakes in that order.  I left skin on the road, but no serious injuries from either of them.

I had my fourth memorable accident this afternoon. I had ridden back to my office after lunch and was trying to enter my office when the key broke off in the lock. I called a friend who had a spare key to make sure he was around and then rode to his office to pick it up.

With the extra key in my pocket, I headed back to work. I was approaching approaching a traffic light and had moved my hands out to my brakes when I heard a friend shout a greeting. I waved, then decided to ride over and chat for a second. I looked over my shoulder. No cars were coming, so I shot across the street and rode to the curb. As I jerked up on my handlebars, I had one of those Aha! moments. My hands were still on the brake levers. The lifting motion pulled them tight locking up my wheels just as I hit the curb. I was slammed hard to the sidewalk.

I was in immediate and severe pain. My left shoulder, my neck and my left cheek were screaming. I looked around, saw my friend and said, "I think I'm alright." He said, "No, you're not." A few seconds later, when I tried to stand, his opinion proved to be the better of the two.

I stepped into his office with some help and sat down in a chair. I held my arm to my body and tried hard not to move while my friend pulled my bike inside. When he came back to look at me all he could say was, "I think you should get that checked out." I wasn't convinced. I was pretty sure I could ride if I had just a few minutes to rest. I'd shake it off. Then the pain got worse. I changed my mind again and let my friend take me to the ER. My commute had come to an abrupt halt.

I spent a few hours on a hospital bed. My elbow and hand were cleaned up. I hadn't even noticed those injuries for the first few minutes. My shoulder and collarbone were x-rayed. Thankfully, they showed no breaks or dislocations. After what seemed like an eternity, I was told it was likely a major contusion or a minor tear in a ligament and released.

My plan for the next few days revolves around ice, ibuprofen and lots of sitting around. I won't be running to my girls' volleyball tournament as I had planned. Hopefully, I'll be well enough by Monday or Tuesday to resume training for my 100-miler.

Mostly dirt...

This was one of those workouts that makes doubt grow. My legs felt like led. My everything was sore and complainy. I can't imagine running 100 miles in 24 hours right now. I know this feeling will pass, but grrrrr!

I ran mostly dirt this morning or maybe it was close to half and half. I ran up north of the college again and this time ran straight east till I hit the four mile mark. I turned around and retraced my steps back home. I ran past the house and did a few little turnarounds to get to eight miles, then quit. (garmin data)