AN EPIC FALL (TWENTY MILER #2)

Me, looking quite fat and happy. I think this is before the fall, around mile seven or so.

Notice that I said epic fall, not epic fail. The run this weekend actually went really well, except that whole "falling" thing. It was my second twenty miler of the training cycle and honestly wasn't a big deal. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my first twenty miler went and I'm even more pleasantly surprised at this one. A week after a sixteen miler that felt way too hard it was a nice shot of confidence. Overall it feels like I'm back in some sort of groove in this whole marathon training thing.

The run itself started at Mountain Hardwear in downtown Portland. I parked in my trusty Smart Park and rolled into the store right at 8am. I wasn't looking forward to this run but Glenn surprised me by showing up and running with the 3:30s, so that was cool. Overall the 3:30 group was really big, at least 15 of us, so it was a fun run. Lots of chatting and people kept pretty vocal the whole run. The weather might have had something to do with us feeling so fresh. It was kind of overcast and hazy (partially from smoke from all the wildfires blowing in) and it never got really hot until later in the day. So most of the run was in 70 degrees or so and not direct sun.

So, what you all came here for... around mile 9.75, right before the turnaround, I biffed it hard. We were running in new territory (everything after mile nine was new to me) and I was feeling really good about that. I was kind of floating along, making jokes about not seeing the same old shit again when I went down HARD on a set of railroad tracks. My most violent fall ever. I stumbled many steps, my face just a couple feet from the ground, thinking I could save it. After about the fourth step I realized I was going down. And I went down hard and with a lot of speed.

The next day... nothing too major in the end.

All my weight landed on my right arm (I guess I kind of tipped to the right). Since I tripped on the railroad tracks I got to smash into rough, really coarse gravel that surrounded them. Umm, owww. The whole group stops even though I'm toward the back because there is no way to miss this epic of a fall, I'm sure it sounded like a car accident. Like any good runner, the first thing I did when I came to a stop in the gravel was stop my watch. I then groan, roll over, and look at the damage. Arm is kind of torn up and bloody but nothing major. I pop up and give everyone a double thumbs up. After making sure I was okay, the group carries on.

The fall gave me a shot of a adrenaline that lasted for a few miles. Honestly I kind of just got back into the groove and forgot about it. Another girl fell just as hard around mile 14 so there was something in the air today. I kind of know what road rash fells like now though, the multiple scrapes with a bruise underneath and a burning sensation to boot. I cleaned it out real good when I got home and by the next day I couldn't really feel it.

My body felt pretty good those last few miles. A little better than the twenty miler before. All told it was an easier run than the sixteen the week before. Go figure! Due to a bridge lift detour the run ended up being 20.2 miles and I didn't even mind those extra tenths. We ran it at a 9:35/mile pace too, which was kind of nice. Probably my fastest twenty miler. All in all it left me feeling good about my prospects this fall. Get it, fall. Heh. I'll stop.