Wipeout!!!!!!

You know those shoe reviews you read in Runner's World? Lucky us...Coach Paul from the track club is one of the people who rounds up people to test out shoes.

One of the many advantages of belonging to this particular track club.

So, this morning, I hauled myself, Mik, and Betty to the track club workout at 5:30 am because  Coach Paul had mentioned at Tuesday night's track workout that he'd have some shoes for "testers" to try out and write up a review for Runner's World...and he said he'd have a couple of women's size nine (my size!), but we'd have to be there by 5:45 to get a pair.

For free shoes? I can get to a workout early.

So, I got me a pair of New Balance RevLites. I think it must be a new model, because there's nothing that looks like it on the website...but pretty cool huh? I haven't tried them out yet in a run yet, but I spend most of the afternoon walking around in them. They are a super light shoe, and are very comfy. DramaGirl is coveting them something fierce.

Walter scored some new shoes too...so we'll see how these super-light shoes work for us. In exchange for the shoes, we were asked to run in them for the next 20 days, then send a review to Runner's World. I'll keep you posted.

Once the shoes were scored, we set out for our run.

This is one of my favorite routes...from Hospitality Point, through Ocean Beach, and out to the end of Sunset cliffs. It was a spectacular morning, and at the risk of just pissing off my north and midwest and east coast readers...here is what I had to put up with this morning.

I know. I know.  But someone has to live here

But karma's a bitch you know.

Running through Ocean Beach is always treacherous. The streets are uneven and after all the rains this year, they are pitted, and pot-holed all over the place.

As I neared the third water station, I took a little spill...

At 28 - 31 seconds is a pretty accurate representation of what I think I did...only I'm not a dude, but I'm pretty sure I bounced like that...

A lesson I learned from all my skiing years is that once you know you're going to fall, don't fight it. Just try to roll with it in order to minimize the damage. You can hurt yourself a lot more trying to STOP a fall than from a fall like this itself...

Basically, I tripped over a pretty big bump between where the road turned into a parking lot. The sun was coming out and it was getting sorta warm, and having run 7.5 miles, I was probably dragging my feet a little bit. I was excited to be nearing the water station, was thinking of something clever to say about the off-shore breezes and the distinct dog-poop smell emanating from dog-beach (locals know where this is), so I wasn't looking at the road, and before I knew it, I was stumbling over the bump.

I took one hard step and realized in a nano-second that I was going down, so I stuck my hands out to break my fall and slid as if I was stealing second base. Sadly, instead of a smooth slide, I bellyflopped and bounced a little, which isn't such a bad thing. In fact, I guess it helps to have a little bit of a jelly roll at times like this. Then, having slid to a stop, I quickly rolled over onto my butt and started assessing the damage.

Knees?  - Seem OK.
Expensive NEW CRX compression pants?  - All in one piece, no holes. That's good.
iPhone? -  In back pocket, so I didn't land on it and crush it...that's really good
Hands?

Hands?

Oh SHIT that hurt!

So the heel of my left hand was pretty torn up, and the right one, just a little bit. I'll spare you the photographic evidence. You can just take my word for it.

I don't think the guys at the water station saw me fall because as I was completing my acrobatics, a car passed by and blocked their view of me. Their actual view may have been a glimpse of me as I neared the water station from across the street, then I disappeared as the car drove by, then they saw me on my ass. (because yeah, in my mind, they were watching me run...because, yeah, doesn't EVERYONE).

What I know for sure, is that the guy behind me DEFINITELY saw me fall. In fact, when I was telling Betty and Mik about my fall when I finished the run, he was standing nearby. I asked him, "Did you see me fall?" He looked pretty sheepish and confirmed that, yes, he's seen it and yes, I bounced. He didn't say much else, but I could tell he was very kindly trying not to completely LAUGH OUT LOUD, because, seriously, once you know that someone isn't hurt from a fall, it is sorta funny.

In any event, after the fall, I pulled myself together, dumped a bunch of cool water over my bloody hand, and ran the last two miles back to the finish, where, for the first time ever, I got to break the tape at the "finish line."*

After reliving the events of the morning,** Betty, Mik, and I headed to Elsie's. She decided to run in her 'hood this morning, but sent me an email that we were welcome to come over for breakfast...so of course...we did. No mimosas this morning, but we had a a great time catching up.

Elsie also provided me with a bandage, some Neosporin, and some ibuprofen.

Best line of the morning?

Betty: So the first thing that my husband will say to me tomorrow morning is "He is risen; He is risen indeed"***
Alice, Mik & Elsie: REALLY? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Happy Easter everyone!

Happy Easter!

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* The marathon group ran their 20 miler today, so it is a SDTC tradition to give everyone a chance to break the tape because "everyone is a winner!" This may sound really lame, but as someone who would otherwise NEVER be breaking the tape at a finish, I have to say that I LOVED it! 


**Betty's best story is that she had a close encounter with a rastafari who tried to convert her, or something like that, I wasn't paying attention because my hand EFFING HURT...but having a close encounter with a dreadlocked dude would not be an atypical event for a morning run through Ocean Beach...it's a rather eclectic place that is sorta, permanently, stuck in a time warp of peace, harmony, and probably way too much weed.


*** yes, I know this may border on blasphemy and I hope I don't offend as this is, in many Christian churches, the way the priest or minister announces that Christ has risen on Easter morning, and yes, I took it out of context, and yes I may be going to hell for this...but it sure was funny because Betty almost NEVER slips up like that.