falling from grace (or being less than graceful).

i have fallen more times than most when running.

the first time was in college, it was a bit traumatic actually. it was the anniversary of the friend's death that had first motivated me to run and i wanted to run in his honor. even though it was the middle of the day i began to get followed by a white car. distracted by that and a house for sale i didn't notice the lip in the sidewalk. somehow i ended up on my stomach facing the opposite way i had been running.  bleeding from three major joints, i continued to run.

i spotted the creeper twice before i realized it was time to cut my losses and head back. i tried to out-smart the guy by running down one-way streets where he couldn't follow. i was glad to get home until i realized i didn't own a single band-aid.

fast forward a few years to my weekly wednesday night group bridge loop run on a particularly dark night. another lip, another trip. i got up as quick as i had gone down.

only twice you ask? oh no, my friend. the very next week i doubled that count, in one run.

it was a particularly windy day. my sneakers came with extremely long laces which had never bothered me before. well the wind blue up one bunny ear, the other shoe got caught in it. hog tied, i slammed into the ground. on an already bruised knee. on the top of the bridge. running into oncoming traffic. with no barrier between me and the cars. not only embarassed but in fear for my safety i got up and got running.

it hurt. but i was determined to finish. i got to the end of the bridge. another gust of wind, another hog tie, and i was down for the count. this time i had an audience of runners passing me. embarassed yet again, i realized something was telling me to just go home. i walked the rest of the way to the group's meeting point where everyone wanted to tell me their falling stories and i just wanted to cry my eyes out.

this time i already knew i had no band-aids at home, so bloody, bruised and swollen i headed to the nearest cvs. i am now fully stocked for the next decade of falls.

because i'm sure that i'm not done falling yet. (why yes, this is a metaphor for life.)

this week has been one big fall from grace. it has hurt pretty bad. with all my practice, i know i'll eventually pick up the pieces, and continue running. but in the meantime, i have plenty of band-aids to patch me together.

especially the ones with buzz lightyear on them. they always cheer me up.