GREAT RUN (Except For When I Got Hit By A Car)

Bad news: I was hit by a car.

Good news: There is no “gross foot photo” in this post! I promise!

I’m fine. Don’t worry (Mom). Here’s the story:

Yesterday, I thought I’d go for a 10 mile run, as I’m building up my miles for the Winter Carnival Half Marathon in 2 weeks. I planned on running a regular route. I wanted to do this route, then turn around and head back the exact same way:

So, late-morning, I was ready to run. I checked the temp. It was 1 above with a 13 below wind chill:

Nice temp for a long run. (Seriously, it is.) I quick had a second breakfast (2 servings of oatmeal), stretched for a bit, and took off.

I did better at running easier on the way out. One reason why my 9 miler (3 posts below) got so tough at the end was that I went out too hard: my first 3 miles were 20:29 on a slippery surface. Yesterday on my 10 miler, my first 3 miles were actually a little faster, but the surface was better to run on (we got a little snow recently, and the new thin snow-pack was GREAT for running in YakTrax).

About 4.6 miles into my run is when I got hit by a car. I was coming up on a quiet intersection. I had the right-of-way, as the cross street had a stop sign. As soon as I hit the cross street, I saw a car coming WAY to fast up to the stop sign. She slammed on her brakes, and she was sliding fast towards me. My eyes were wide, and I hit a sprint as fast as I could on that snow-pack. Right as she was about to hit me, I started high-stepping like a wide-receiver trying not to get tackled. (That’s kinda how I felt too...) She slid fast past me, and her bumper hit my rear leg (right leg) as I was trying to get the hell out of her way. It didn’t knock me down, but it spun me around hard so I was now facing her. I gave her a “What-the-heck-was-that?-Slow-down-on-the-ice?” shoulder shrug. She gave me a “Holy-shit!-I’m-glad-I-didn’t-just-kill-you!-Totally-my-fault” wave over her shoulder. I know (Mom) that I need to watch it out there. But she was moving WAY to fast in those conditions. I think she drove along side of me for a bit, making sure I didn't pass out or decide I wanted to sue her. It was respectable that she was concerned, but I just kept going. I didn’t even stop for 2 seconds - I was quickly back to my run.

Later, I thought that maybe my YakTrax scratched her bumper. Hopefully they did. ;) That sounds mean, but I have to admit that it DID run through my head. Ha!

Anyway, I hit the turn-around at mile 5 in 34:53 (6:59/mile). I was feeling pretty good, and I already knew I’d have a hearty negative split.

With 3.5 miles left, I was feeling better than I did near the end of my 9 miler a few days back, so I started picking up the pace even more.

With about 1.5 miles left, I could feel that I had been picking up the pace. I was hurting, but still going strong. My knee and my heel both still felt GREAT! Sure, I was hit by a car, but this was turning into a great, strong run!

10 miles
34:53 first half (6:59/mile)
32:35 second half (6:31/mile)
1:07:28 total (6:44.8/mile)

I got home and snapped a photo (of course):

I got in the house, and I as took off my hat, it stuck to my head. A cashew-sized ice chunk had formed near my right temple.

When I zoomed in to the photo of me just as I wrapped up, I could see the ice. You can see where it goes from my hat to my glasses to my temple:

Here’s the ice highlighted in red:

Getting clipped by a car yesterday reminds me of a few weeks before Ironman WI 2007 when I was attacked by a dog. A German Shepard lunged at me while riding my bike full speed, and I had to punch it in the face to stay alive. I said something like “If I was ready for THAT, then I’m ready for Ironman.” Maybe getting hit yesterday (and then finishing the run with a great time) was the sign that I’m ready for this half marathon!

Recently I’ve been questioning if I’m “PR ready” for the half marathon in 2 weeks. I looked back on some numbers from training for the same half marathon last year. At this same time last year, I ran a 1:06:31 9-miler and a 1:13:45 10-miler. This year, I just ran a 1:02:02 9-miler and a 1:07:28 10-miler.

Umm... yes. I think I’m ready to order. I’ll take the PR please. With a side of blisters, and a cup of cheese sauce for dipping.

(p.s. You'll have to check back on Monday. I'm working up the short story of how I got into running. It's pretty good. And there are embarrassing old photos. You'll get a kick out of it.)