Let's just say...

I'm not wearing my red Nike running shorts anymore when I run outside!  I just got back from a recovery run that didn't go as planned.  I am blogging about this because I can't tell my husband or my family.  If you are my friend on Facebook, you would know I left work early today to come home and find my glasses.  I misplaced them last night and couldn't find them anywhere this morning!  So I was stuck wearing my sunglasses at work.  Well, that didn't go so well, so I headed home at lunch to look for them.  No worries, I found them almost right away (in the pocket of my sweatshirt mind you!) and decided to head out into the pretty fall weather to get some quick recovery miles in.

About a quarter of a mile into my run, all of a sudden I hear coming up from behind me a car and then breaks and tires squealing!  I screamed and jumped just as this woman's side-view mirror clipped my butt!  OMG!  I screamed!  She pulled down the court right where we were!  I freaked!  My ass was burning!  I was on the brink of tears!  Two times with in a week!  And now someone actually clips me!!!!

Some boys who were in their backyard heard the squeal of the tires and me scream.  They hopped the fence and came over to see if I was alright.  I was.  Just really, really shaken.  The woman has now gotten out of her car and is coming towards me.  I yelled at her not to come near me.  I didn't want to see her, I was afraid I would smack the shit out of her and I didn't want to do that.  I just wanted to collect my nerves on my own.  I was okay.  I wasn't hurt, just scraped.  The teenage boys kept asking if I wanted  them to call someone for me like the police or something.  I told them no, that I had a phone and that I would be okay.  Meanwhile, crazy bitch lady comes walking closer.  I realize, this is just as traumatizing for her as it is me.  I let her know I am okay, just scraped on the ass. 

She almost starts crying and apologizing like crazy.  I let her know it's okay and that I am fine and not to worry.  I really was.  I was shaking from head to toe, though.  I knew right away she was really frightened, too, and that we both had to know that all was alright.  It was a chance for me to teach her a lesson and let her talk to me.  She explained that she had looked down for a second and then bam there I was.  I know this all too well.  We'll all have these moments.  Come to find out, she has her 89 year old mother in the car who is just as shaken.  Then she asks me if she could hug me.  Actually, I really wanted a hug, too.  I know weird, but I had just had this near -fatal accident and I was shaken just like her.  She kept saying she was sorry.  I showed her my red bum that had slightly flared up and she started to cry!  I really was okay.  It is so cold out that the swelling wasn't really hurting.

Then crazy bitch lady asks me to go and let her 89 year old mother know I was okay.  Why not, she had also gone through this, too.  I go over to the car and she is holding her chest asking me if I am okay.  I reassure her I am and then she asks me if she could hug me!!!  Why the hell not!  We're on the side of a busy road, this doesn't look weird at all!  I ask them both to please pay more attention when driving down this busy boulevard.  It is busy.  Three lanes going north, three lanes going south with a giant median in the middle.  There are side streets and courts (my house is down one) and a lot of major stoplights.  She was soooo sorry and promised to be more alert.  I told her we all need to be, I need to be, too.

This exchange lasted no more than five mins.  By the time I let them pull away, all I wanted to do was run.  I was okay.  I was alive and I was renewed with the awesome feeling that life is good.  That God is good and that we all have a lot to be thankful for.  Let's just say the next mile and a half were not really recovery miles.  I was running 7:20's no problem.  When I started out, my legs were heavy.  But after my brush with death my legs were light as feathers!  I finished up my three miles and just got home.  Life is good.

So, that is two near hits in a week.  Both times I was wearing my red Nike track shorts.  Maybe people are drawn to my big red ass?  I don't know, but those will now be saved for trips to the gym or on my home dreadmill.  I am still a bit shaken.  It's funny, I wanted to call Ari right away, but then I thought better.   I don't want to give him anything to worry about when I am out running.  I really am okay and I am always paying attention.  I think that if I had had my iPod on higher, I wouldn't have been able to give myself as much warning to jump onto the sidewalk as quick as I did.  I probably would have been hit worse.

I am sitting typing and my ass is sore.  It will be fine, no blood, just probably a heck of a bruise.  I will say though, I am for now on not going to go with traffic in that direction any more.  I usually am only going that direction for a half mile before I hit a stoplight and cross the street to go against traffic on the other side.  No more for me.   I am going to head out of my court and go south against traffic and do my loop backwards.  I learned my lesson. 

In other news, my body is feeling great after Sunday.  I probably could have run farther, but I know that I don't want to push it - especially after today's adreniline rush that didn't help my recovery speed.  My quads are still tight and so are my hips, but I am stretching and rolling like a mofo.  My hubbs was also the sweetest guy ever last night.  He came home with a jewelry bag with a diamond necklace in it for me!  To celebrate me meeting my goal of qualifying for Boston.  I tell him if I had know there would have been a diamond necklace at the end of this I would have run faster a lot long ago! Ha!  And let me tell you, this is really out of the ordinary for him.  He had actually forgotten our anniversary just a month or so ago so really, this was a surprise.  But I am lucky to have the best running sherpa ever.  He holds my water, carries my gu's, helps me with my form, and gives me beautiful jewlery after I run! Hahaha! 

Thanks for letting me share this.  Really, I couldn't have told Ari or my fam.  They already worry enough.  But please, please, please be careful out there peeps.  I think that this week I am going to stay on the dreadmill at home.  But I can't do that forever.  And when I do head back outside, I will definitely not be wearing my iPod and will be going against traffic.
Happy Running!