Blood, sweat, and trail dust,

Last Saturday morning, I was cruising down the Figure 8 trail probably enjoying it a little more than usual. After all, the temperature was an awesome 65 degrees. I was also zipping along a little faster than usual. The coolness of the air added some zip to my legs.

Of course, nothing ever goes too smoothly for me. I was descending this one particular steep section when I toed a rock with my left foot. Before I even realized it, I was down, rolled over, and setting on my rear. My left knee was burning, and my right side and shoulder were also burning. I pushed myself up to my feet, and I reached around to rub my hand along shoulder and back. Pulling back my hand, I didn’t see any blood but ugh, it was burning. Looking down at my left knee, it looked like I took all of the hide off the knee cap. Ok, I was a little battered and bruised but otherwise, I seemed to be alright.

This was just a mile in to my run so I still had another 21 miles to go. After couple of steps, I slowly went back to running.

Somewhere in the next mile, I glanced down at my knee. Now, it looked much worse. Not only was it bright red with blood but the blood was starting to run down my leg. But at least, the pain had gone away.

I spent the rest of my run being a little more careful. I was banged up, and I didn’t need to add to it.

Later when I got home, I was able to look in the mirror. While I nothing bleed on my back, I had abrasions from my shoulder all the day down my back and hip. I think it stung even more cleaning it.

My knee is just starting to scab over. Luckily, it doesn’t hurt running but each time I touch it; I am reminded that I need to keep my attention on the trail and to not let my mind wonder even for a second. 

Kickin’ up trail dust,

The Cool Down Runner