Tripping Over Molecules

This past Monday, September 8^th, I decided I was going to run 3 miles to the gym, run four more miles on the treadmill and then run the 3 miles home for a nice ten miler.  The weather was glorious.  The sun was out, temperatures in the low 70’s with a light breeze.  I was feeling good too.   I walked for five minutes and started my interval timer and began to run.  During my second run interval, I turned my head to look at a house that is being renovated and all of a sudden I realized I was falling.  Falling is always an interesting experience in that it seems like time goes into slow motion.  I recall thinking “oh no, how can I stop this” as I bounced off my left knee and skidded to a stop.   As I lay prone in the street (luckily it is a quiet street) I thought “I hope no cars run over me” and then “I better get up and see if anything is broken”.    I still don’t know whether I tripped over molecules, tangled my feet or ….

I slowly got up and looked down to see that there was a divot in my left knee, blood running down my leg, road rash on the inside of my right arm and on my left palm.  Nothing hurt that bad but walking was not good.  I quickly got out my cellphone and called the Voice of Reason (new name for my husband) who said he would be right there.   I then hobbled over to sit on a fire hydrant, access the damage and wait for the Voice of Reason.

Knee Divot and Bruising Already Starting

I love runners.   As I was waiting, two middle school age boys walked by on the opposite side of the road.  They noticed me but said nothing.  They were young boys; I didn’t expect them to say something.  But within minutes, one of them came out of the house with their father, a man I had seen on a number of my runs.  Turns out he and his wife are both runners too and he offered all sorts of assistance.  The Voice of Reason was already on the way so I thanked him but I was really delighted he had stopped.

In a few minutes, I saw my white Prius heading down the street and the Voice of Reason pulled up, popped the hatch and pulled out bandages, seltzer water and other first aid items.  He quickly cleaned out my wound, took me home, and got me all bandaged up.  Peroxide on wounds stings.

Now, four days later, I’m healing well but likely have a bone bruise on my kneecap or surrounding bones.  This is going to take some time to heal but I will be back.  I’m so thankful for cellphone, other runners and the Voice of Reason.