After a 2-week break, I am back to running. You see, 2 weeks ago yesterday, I went out to do a 3-mile run with Bart the Dog. We were just 3 blocks from home and 3 blocks into the run when he turned and went across my path and stopped. I unavoidably stepped on his leash which pulled him even closer to me and I went over him, landing on the sidewalk on my left side. It was the left side of my left thigh that struck the ground and, in the pocket of my shorts on that side I had my Minolta 16p camera which dug into my leg. I rolled onto my back and knew I was in trouble. I tried to get up under my own power but couldn’t. A man and woman in a truck stopped and helped me to my feet and also offered me a ride home. I thanked them but figured I could “walk it off” and maybe even complete the run so I declined the ride.
I walked along Colton Ave. to the next corner and turned up Sunnyview. I took one step toward running and knew that wasn’t going to happen so I hobbled back to home where I laid down with an ice pack on my leg and Bart the Dog alongside me. He knew I was hurting.
It was 4-5 days before I could sort of walk again. Bending my left knee was tough as that stretched the tissues in my thigh but I did it anyway to keep things from tightening up too bad. By the 8th day, a Saturday, I was feeling lots better and did a 5-1/2 mile walk with the Rim Runners. The next Tuesday I did a run with Jerry but due to the weather, a big storm coming in, we only went out for 3 miles. In the meantime, I hit the pool at the gym and that felt fine.
I have a big bruise on my thigh just below the hip where I struck the ground. It’s about 3x5 inches. What’s really interesting is on the inside of the thigh, just above the knee, I have a larger bruise, at least 4x6 inches. Then, a few days ago, I noticed another one, about 3x4 inches behind my left knee. I guess I really did some damage.
Oh, on the upside, the camera sustained no damage.
That brings me today. I headed down to the Y for the usual Saturday morning run and there were 5 walkers and me. Yes, I was the only runner. I hadn’t made a route map but knew a course I’d been saving for just such an occasion. I headed west to Division and then onto Lewis Ave. I kept things simple and ran Lewis to 24th Street West, which is 24 blocks which is 3 miles. I headed south on 24th to Broadwater and took that 24 blocks east to Division where I turned north and back to the Y. 6.85 miles. My pace was slow, partially because I’m being easy on the leg and partially due to the accumulated snow and ice.
About the snow….the law here says that residents/owners of properties are supposed to have the snow cleared off the sidewalks in front of their property 24 hours after the end of the storm. It’s been over 48 hours and only about half of the sidewalks are cleared. Along Broadwater it was really bad and there were long stretches where I could tell if there was a sidewalk or not but know there is. I’d run in the street when I could but Broadwater is a busy 4-lane street so I’d have to hop back into the snow quite frequently.
I felt pretty good the whole way but was ready to be done at the 6-mile mark. Here are the stats and some photos:
This is what the side walks should look like. Some people have it figured out.
These people after this place are right across from a school and couldn’t be bothered.
Running in the street is an option but it’s packed snow and slippery.
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