Sunday, October 23, 2011

I Fought the Asphalt and the Asphalt Won

I played tennis in high school. One summer I went to tennis camp at a local university and just one or two days into the camp, I rolled my ankle so badly that the doctors weren't sure if it was broken or not. I was so swollen they couldn't read the x-ray. The doctor concluded it was not broken. I will now, gracefully, disagree as it clicks and pops every time I walk or move it and it has been weak and a sign of trouble for my running ever since then.

******

Friday was supposed to be a swim day. I had packed all my gear and brought it to work with me. But on my way to work, while thinking about the swim, I thought, "Hmmm, I don't think I packed a swimsuit." And sure enough, I didn't. Thank goodness I discovered that before going all the way to the pool and beginning to change my clothes. So, I decided to switch gears and run after work. I invited Dave to ride his bike with me and he agreed.

I've been going to physical therapy for my back and it's feel TONS better, but despite all that, my running still feels a little off. I just don't have very much strength on my right side and it feels like I'm kind of dragging that foot a little. The run was going well, though, if not a little slower than I liked.



(Don't I look fat and slow?! And that abrupt change in scenery in the video....yeah, that's Dave getting his jeans caught in his chain.)

With just over a mile until we got home and the run was over, my right ankle rolled, and down I went. Fast and hard! I rolled over and sat in the grass for a minute. My ankle was throbbing but okay. My knee and hand however, were a mess. My hand was killing me and my left knee was oozing blood all over the place. I got up, dusted myself off, and started to cry. Not because I was seriously hurt, but because it just seems like things went from great to horrible in zero time flat. I was riding high leading into Cedar Point and then everything went wrong. In the several weeks since the race I've had food poisoning (during the race), hurt my back, got really bad saddle sores, caught my first cold in 18 months, and then this. I feel like the universe is trying to tell me to hang up my bike and move on.

Back to reality, as soon as I got myself back up and began my sob story, Dave got a phone call from friends we were hoping to make plans with. So here I am bleeding and limping my way down the sidewalk, while Dave is on his cell phone. A car stops and the man says, "I saw you fall, are you okay?" How embarrassing!!! I'm sure he was worried Dave was calling 911 and I had was a deep cut on my knee.



By this time it was past dusk and getting quite dark. I was wearing all black and my sidewalk was about to run out. I still had one mile home and only the road to do it on. Dave too didn't have any lights on his bike. I decided it was time to finish the run instead of walk home, so I cut through a park I was sure was going to be darkdarkdark and muddymuddymuddy. To my surprise, part of the park had been paved between our neighborhood and the road so there was no mud and now I never have to run the roads again!

Two days later, I'm still a mess. I can't get to the pool to do any swimming because I really did a doozy on my knee. I took off so many layers of skin that it has yet to scab and is still oozing yuck. My hand is painful and bruised but manageable. At least among the last couple of times I've fallen (here and here), this one was quite mild.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm so sorry to read this Meredith! Ugh. No fun at all!

Unknown said...

Ugh... I've so done this... to the point where someone stopped because I was bleeding so bad. Talk about ego killer!

Hang in there - things have been rough for you and you've handled it all like a champ. :)

Velma said...

I hope you feel better!

rhino said...

With a pretty rough 2011, just think how awesome 2012 is going to be?!! I'm seriously, not too many additional things can go wrong--way to get'em out, so you can get back to kicking ass!! You are one tuff chick Mer! (and Dave's pretty bad ass too)

Unknown said...

So sorry )-: dude you need to start draping yourself in bubble wrap when you leave the house!

Katie said...

OW! you poor thing. what a suck fest.

Susan DeBruin said...

Hang in there!!

GoBigGreen said...

Maybe its better by now but try Tegaderm on that knee.It will allow the area to breathe but wont let any water in. Super good for road rash ( ick i know)
Hope things start looking up soon!

Unknown said...

wow, quite the knee wound. I had something similar when i bailed on my bike at the end of my first really long right (20 miles was long back then), and i slide on sand and got a small stone stuck in my knee. Cleaning and care will go a long way.

Things will get better. Be patient with yourself but keep plugging away.

Unknown said...

1st. OMG I just saw your butt! (bc I clicked through to your other "i fell' posts)... too funny..

2nd. I'm sorry you fell and busted yourself up. SUCKS. I know.

3rd. No you did not look fat and slow. Fat should not be in your vocabulary.

4th. I'm truly sorry that you have felt so off since your non-race. The universe may or may not be telling you something... but I doubt it is telling you to hang it up. Maybe to go easy on yourself. Take a break. To understand that not meeting goals is all part of the process. Learning to deal with that and push on.. move forward. Which I know you will.

5th. You are one tough cookie. don't forget that!

That is all! :D