#@$!&* Ice!!!

Ugh. I'm not even going to bother with a day by day summary from last week. It went pretty well until I tried to run a 15 miler on Sunday night. I already wasn't setting myself up to have the best run. I normally try to do my long runs earlier, but I had been visiting my parents so I didn't get home until a bit later and then Joe was making me dinner for Valentine's day. So, I set off late, tired and with a bunch of food in my belly.

I noticed right away that it was a bit slick. It was a warm day-right around freezing. It was also snowing a bit. When I was about 1.5 miles away from my house, I did a very cartoon-esque fall. My feet flew out and I landed on the back of my head. My hat and right glove flew off. You might think that someone driving by would notice someone wearing reflective clothing and a blinky light sprawled out on the ice. Unfortunately, no one stopped to help. I have fallen several times before (on both ice and dry land, I'm ashamed to say). After some cursing and crying, I pulled myself together and started hobbling back home.

I went to the doctor today and my reflexes and optic nerves are good, so nothing is seriously wrong. Today I am pretty sore. My back, neck, head and abs hurt pretty badly. And then there's the nausea, which I'm told is fairly common with head injuries.

I did the 15 tonight on the treadmill. It was slow and awful, but it got done. At least I had the Olympics to watch. It's hard to wuss-out when you are watching world-class athletes. Tucker Fredricks, who is from my hometown and who I went to school with, competed in the 500m speed skating race. Due to a snafu with the ice machines, everything got delayed and NBC didn't show the race until a few minutes ago. It was so neat to watch!

I think I need to look into some screw shoes or YakTraks. I don't think I can run inside until the ice is gone, but I also can't crack my head on the sidewalk again.

Hopefully I'll have some cheerier news next time!

Happy Running!

Jen