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January 2, 2006
Dam*ed if you do...
...Dam#ed of you don't! If I wear my Yaktrax, I have excellent traction, but (I think) it makes my foot hurt. If I don't wear Yaktrax, my foot doesn't hurt, but I have to tread carefully on the slippery stuff and run slower in the process. And I'm more likely to bite it. I bit it big today! You may (or may not) recall the very public spill I took several weeks ago wherein I removed a chunk of skin from my knee while being observed by a gaggle of tourists. Well, the new skin has just barely grown back on that knee, just in time for me to fall on the other knee! Again I removed an equally robust chunk of flesh. I was all alone (with just my dog as a witness) on a dirt road this time, so at least my pride wasn't too wounded. Last time I refered to my injury as "cute," this time I'm merely annoyed at myself.
Earlier in my run, I ran along some newly snow-covered pavement, and was surpised to find frozen ice underneath the snow. I did an arm-wagging slide, but successfully stayed upright. After that, I tiptoed along carefully for a bit. Soon I went on a dirt road, on what felt like excellent traction. So I lengthened my stride and picked up my pace again. I was flat on my arse just a few minutes later. I sat there for a minute, feeling somewhat stunned, reflexively looking around (the wilderness that I was among by myself) to see if anyone saw me, and fighting off the dog empathy that I was receiving in the forms of panting, licking, and whining. When I gathered my wits about me and stood up, I looked at my watch to try to figure out how much time I'd wasted on the ground. I realized that my watch was stopped! In fine Scott fashion, I obviously had my priorities straight and clicked my watch off during the fall. This made me laugh, a lot. I was soon on my way again, tiptoeing along until I was on visibly bare pavement.
Oh well, so long as I (knock on wood) don't break anything in these falls, mangled flesh and shrunken pride are mostly inconsequential.
Aside from this, I also had an interesting experience getting home from my run. There were bison all over the neighborhood, and the roads were blocked by them in all directions. I ended up having to take a wide off-trail adventure hike back to my house, the only safe way back.
It's amazing how interesting a 5 mile run can become at Yellowstone National Park.
Posted by Meghan at January 2, 2006 7:06 PM
Comments
you poor thing! i imagine your legs probably look like mine. i have my share of scars...i hope it heals well.
Posted by: Audrey at January 2, 2006 10:44 PM
I live in a major, major Northeastern city and it does my heart good to read a sentence like "There were bison all over the neighborhood . . . " Sentences like that make me understand why I read and enjoy the blogs of total strangers. Thanks!
Posted by: Lizzie at January 3, 2006 1:14 PM