Fall Risk made me go to Arm Day at PlayFITStayFIT yesterday.
So everything that follows is a direct result of her directive.
And this…
…is what follows.
It was a beautiful day yesterday. I wanted run. (Also, I’ve got races I’m untrained for since Beautiful Beastie abandoned me for a whole month, so I really HAVE to run.)
But Fall Risk wanted me to go to Arm Day.
So we compromised and agreed that I would run to PlayFITStayFIT.
She even offered to drive me home after. Which I obviously refused. (Because I can’t be a burden to people. And not because I don’t want people to know where I live…)
So I shut work down at 4pm. And headed out the door.
And about a mile or so in, I came to some train tracks.
There was no train coming. From either direction. No flashing lights or warning signals. No horns. No chugga chugga sounds.
And yet…
As I started to cross the tracks…
I panicked.
I don’t know why.
It just happened.
My brain said to my legs, “We’ve gotta move! A train could come any second! We’re not safe!”
Which made my legs panic. And start arguing about which one goes first.
And my left leg forced my right middle toe to slam straight into a track.
And supermanned me across the remaining tracks.
Slid across on my right knee. Before flipping. Slamming onto my left hip and elbow. And sliding a bit further on my left thigh.
I’m certain that for alll of the cars watching. All ten or so of them. That it was a tragically impressive fail.
A woman in a minivan stopped on the tracks to ask if I was ok.
Psht. I’m cool. What?
Obviously I jumped right up and took off running again.
To escape the humiliation.
And imaginary train…
That minivan woman would be the last. And only. To ask me if I was ok.
I ran for another half mile or so before glancing down. And seeing blood running down my right leg. And left arm. And road rash just all over my left thigh. And a burning in my left hip. And my poor middle right toe…
Which is the point at which I sent the pic to Fall Risk and Rogue.
And waited for Fall Risk to tell me not to go to the gym. To just turn around and go home.
She did not.
And because I am fully compliant. And dedicated. I kept going.
And as I was running down the greenway. Just dripping a trail of blood as I went. While wearing my “Body by PlayFITStayFIT” shirt. In a really solid advertisement for my gym. Which now has a hole in it. From my train track debacle. Not one person. Not one of the many, many people that were out enjoying the greenway yesterday. Asked if I was ok. Or even just if I was running from some danger. That they should be worried about.
And I asked if there was a first aid kit at PlayFIT. Waiting for another directive to just go on home. But I was assured that there was.
What J-Vicious handed me was a few tiny bandaids and some really thin not quite sticky tape.
These items were in no way pepared to handle the large territory of raw skin on my body.
So Fall Risk, my medical provider, took me to the bathroom and made me pour peroxide over my open wounds. And maybe I cussed a little. And then I wrapped myself up in paper towels. And not quite sticky tape.
Nah, that looks totally effective.
Initially, we all agreed that I wouldn’t be able to do my push ups on my knees. I’d have to do all 5,000 of them on my toes. But after the first 20 or so my brain kicked in and said I could put just one knee down. Because I’m a survivor. I’ll find ways to adapt.
Fall Risk did insist on drive me home after. Rather than letting me hobble home. On the streets of Vinton. In the dark. Dripping all of my DNA behind me as I went. And largely unable to defend myself.
I spent most of last night trying to keep my body positioned on my right side. But I need variety. And kept waking myself up in the worst way every time I rolled over onto my busted left hip.
So, I’m in really good shape headed into tomorrow’s Explore Your Limits 10k.
And I have to go to the gym today so that my medical provider can bring me medical supplies. Or at least to get more paper towels and not quite sticky tape to wrap around my wounds. So I don’t bleed out all over my sheets again.
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