The Trail Bites Back

Oh man did I start out this run like a cocky bitch.

Gorgeous day. Cloudy. Breezy.

Perfect for running. My new found love for running the trail eases my achy bones and keeps my mind calm. I started out confident and strong. Leaping over roots, avoiding turtles, and even circumventing a few scary bugs.

Y'all. This nature kid hates bugs. Did I ever tell you about my camping trip to Florida? No? Well long story short, finding palmetto bugs on the inside of your carefully placed bug net after you've already crawled inside to go to sleep is NOT fun.

Anyways.

After avoiding a particularly frightening bug, I descended down the trail, picked up speed, and caught my foot on a root. I tried to over correct, ran faster, but I knew my big ass was going down. Right now I'm blaming the bug for my misstep. It surely could not have been my fault.

I felt like I was going in slow motion. All I could think was: "Ouch. This is going to hurt." There may have been some choice expletives running through my head as well, but we won't worry about that.

Then I went all GI-Joe and Superman mixed into one. Instinct kicked in, I tucked, put my shoulder down first, and completed a masterful roll/flip and popped back up so quick, you would have thought I did it on purpose.

Now when I fall on a regular run (I have to admit that it's happened more than once) boy does it hurt. I usually go straight down, bust my hands and knees, and my ego hurts the most of all. This time? Instead of looking around ashamed, hoping that no one saw me, I looked around and wished that someone saw my masterful feat.

I only had a small cut on my knee, and since I was already standing again, all I had to do was brush off the dirt, and finish my run.

So thanks trail running. I'm now able to add on another reason why I like you so much. When I fall, my body and my pride doesn't hurt so much.