A Fall, a Hill, and a Long Drive Home

Last night, after Terry and I arrived home from our adventure in the city, my brother and Ashley were home to spend the night at my parents' house. We all chatted, enjoyed appetizers, and ate a delicious steak dinner. The "kids" also hit up my parents' hot tub; Terry and I were hoping to loosen up our muscles for our last long run, which was today.

Oh, and Terry practiced tying his new bow tie!

Today marks two weeks until our half marathon, and this long run wasn't actually on our training schedule. But we started training earlier than the schedule required, and we decided it would be ideal to squeeze in one more long run to build up our confidence for the big day. Our plan also only calls for six days of tapering (decreasing mileage for the week or so before the run), and we thought two weeks would give our muscles more time to heal. So off we went.

The first half of the run zoomed by. We both felt good, it wasn't too hot, and we conquered two small hills with no problem. But at mile 5 - I fell. Not just a little stumble, an all-out fall. It all happened in slow motion: my foot caught an uprooted chunk of sidewalk, and I felt myself flying forward toward the ground. I caught myself with my hands, but then I maneuvered into a serious ninja roll, hitting my right shin, hip, forearm, and shoulder. Like a champ.

Terry said I was practically on my feet again before he even realized what had happened, but as I stood up and sorted it all out, I felt a wave of embarrassment, panic, and frustration. Mostly, I was hurting, and I couldn't help but ask, "Who the heck falls down?! I'm an adult! Aren't you supposed to get to a certain age where you don't fall down anymore?" Obviously I was a delight to run with for the next few minutes, but I did keep going. Terry kept telling me how proud he was that I kept moving, despite a pain in my hip where I had fallen.

The run was all downhill uphill from there. Literally. Once we hit the halfway point (six miles), we turned around and ran the same route back. That's when we figured out why the first half was so easy--it was all a slight decline! So for about four and a half miles, we were trudging up a steady, slow hill. Every time we thought we had reached a crest, the other side was just more uphill. I wanted to cry. But my awesome running buddy pushed me through, and we finally hit 11.5 miles, which was our goal.

Upon arrival home, I got to better assess my injuries, and I'd say the most noticeable damage was actually to my forearm. It's a bit scraped up but very swollen, which Terry is calling a monkey bump (I'm sure that's the official term). My hip feels better now, but my shoulder is aching more as the night goes on. I'm definitely planning to take a rest day tomorrow, because even ninjas get days off.

Normally, my bones are in straight lines.

After stretching, regaling my parents with tales of our run, and a delicious breakfast, we packed up and  got on the road back to LA. Terry and I listened to the Harry Potter audio CD the entire ride home, and we didn't even have to stop for gas, but the ride took about an hour longer than usual due to traffic. Note to self: Ideally, try not to run 11.5 miles and then sit in a car for six hours. Movement of any sort will be extremely difficult after that.

Tonight Terry and I are just so excited to be home with Scout, who has very vocally announced his thoughts about having us back. We're taking it easy, ate Wahoo's for dinner, and eventually I will have a battle with the foam roller.

Oh, and watching The Lion King and pretending Scout is Simba. 

Hope you had a fantastic weekend! In case you missed it, here's the recap of our little mini-vacation in San Francisco.

What was your most recent fall?
If you want, I can give you some ninja-roll tips.