Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Boy, Do I Feel Stupid

So, I'm pretty far into the half-marathon training and I've been starting to worry lately that I'm in over my head. In my runs of late, I've been extra slow, I've had to take a lot of walk breaks, and just in general my legs have felt tired.

This week, I was thinking of cutting back my mileage somewhat to see if that helped. Yesterday I cut my 5-mile run short because of non-running related feelings of crappiness (more to do with pizza and pop overindulgence the night before). So I decided that today I'd attempt my scheduled 7-mile run before work and see how it goes before deciding about tomorrow's 5-mile run.

Over the weekend, Keith and I had bought some extra running gear—water bottles designed to be taken with you on long runs. Keith got a "hydration waist pack" and I got a water bottle that fits to your palm and is held to your hand with a strap. I figured I might as well try it out on my 7-mile run this morning, and get used to it before my scheduled 11-mile run this coming weekend.

I gotta be honest with you: it didn't work out so well. My legs felt great. About halfway in, maybe a little further, I was still going strong. I was feeling a lot better about myself, and the training plan, and ready to tackle my long run this weekend. And then I tripped.

To be fair, it was not yet 6:30am, so it was still pretty dark out. But, to be honest, I have to admit: this isn't the first time I've tripped, and I really wasn't watching where I was going. So I bit it, hard, and couldn't catch myself ... because my fancy new water bottle was strapped tightly to my hand.

Assessing the damage afterwards, I saw that my left palm had a huge gouge out of it, and the fingers on my right hand—my pinky in particular—were already swelling up. They'd been bent back pretty far by the water bottle. Funnily enough, though, my legs felt great! I walked for a while and then started running. Because, well, I had to get home somehow.

Luckily, Keith waits for me to get home from my morning runs before he leaves for work. (And now we know why!) One quick trip to Urgent care and the grocery store later, I was home with:
  • A left-hand swaddled in enough gauze to pass for a mummy
  • A broken right pinky in a splint
  • Coke, Halloween Oreos (my favorite!), and doughnuts
So yes: I managed to trip and fall while running and break my finger. But I maintain that there were extenuating circumstances. Circumstances notwithstanding, Keith has forbidden me from running in the dark until I have the use of my hands back. I think that's pretty fair.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

OW OW OW!!!

Cringeworthy... and in my opinion that's as good a reason as any to give up running altogether! Although you are probably uber healthy and I am a sloth who would use ANY excuse!! My current one is weather ;) I'm sure that the coke and oreos will help you in your training too hehehehe

Anonymous said...

Well, I think you just topped my sneezing-while-running knee injury. I didn't get Oreos though; I just got mocked. Good luck in the half though. I slept through my 5k last weekend.

Jonathan Beckett said...

You're making me feel even more planetworthy - I havent been out running in months now.

Good luck with your weekend run!

Anonymous said...

I've never been a fan of running although I really enjoy brisk walking.

Compared to running I find it less stressful and much easier on my body but still a healthy option and so much better than doing nothing at all!

M. Lubbers said...

Thanks for all of the sympathy! I've decided to pretend that this will give me a nice break from my training, and actually make me better prepared for the race. Sometimes denial helps;)

Now that the Coke and Oreos are gone, I'm thinking about running again. It's the stubborn streak in me—the harder it is to achieve something, the more I want it. I WILL run that half-marathon!;)

I'll let you know how the 11-mile run goes this weekend, and if I manage to stay upright.

Stephen—after this race and through the winter, I think I'll be taking a break from running. I walk my dog quite a bit, in addition to the running, so I'll just take longer walks with him. He'll be happy about that!

Amy said...

Well, I locked my keys in the car while Cathy and I were out for lunch yesterday, so I had to call Sr. Linda to get a ride back to the office. How's that for stupid?

Thankfully she deemed her backseat too messy and sent Susan to get us instead, otherwise Cathy was going to call "Not Shotgun!" and make me ride up front.

I ended up riding up front anyways, but it was a lot less cringe-inducing than it could have been.