Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I Run Hard...

...so hard sometimes that I fall. Today was run #3 at the Rose Bowl and I decided to push for 6 miles. I'm getting ready for a half marathon at the end of April, so I figured I should start breaking out of my 3 mile comfort zone. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon for running. Great weather, not too crowded, and I felt motivated to keep going no matter what.

Now I have all these different mental games that I play with myself when I run - little mantras, scenarios, etc - and sometimes near the end of a run, I get crazy and decide to sprint as fast as I can. Well today I had one of those moments where I was about to do something great and then tripped on a reflector and fell HARD on both my knees. After shouting a few expletives I got up said thanks to those who asked if I was ok and sprinted to my car. Emergency towel served a greater purpose today. Here's the damage:


Above: right knee; below: left


What do you like to do for physical activity? Ever run a half? Whats your best "embarassing" sport injury story? Share it here on the Dealio!

18 comments:

  1. Geez, Auntie, that looks rough. I think I've got you beat on embarrassing sports injuries, though... :)

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  2. Ouch, that looks painful.

    Never ran a half marathon, and, since I broke my leg a few years back, running has been trouble for me.

    The most embarrassing 'sports' related story happened to me 7 years ago: I had just bought myself a Hard Rock Specialized Mountain Bike and I went to Santa Monica to bike around the city. When I got to 3rd Street Promenade, I was soo full of adrenaline that I was cutting corners and past people pretty damn fast.

    When I got to a 3rd and Santa Monica Blvd., I cut across the street before the light turned red when a girl on roller skates cut right in front of me. Now--because the bike had new disc brakes (i.e. motorcycle like breaks)--when I went for a stop, I flew over my handle bars and ate poo in the middle of the street.

    As I laid there in middle of the S.M. Blvd. and 3rd St. Promenade, with every tourist pointing and taking pictures, the light turned red and the cars started to honk at me--causing ever more attention to my exhausted body.

    Pretty embarrasing and I'm sure some Japanese, German, or British family have a picture of Mr. Z sprawled spread eagle in one of their family photo albums.

    -Z

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  3. wow mrZ!!! did you break anything??? You're lucky you didn't get run over!!! I'm afraid to ride a bike on the streets out here...the drivers are crazy!

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  4. Leah,
    No, didn't break anything... my dignity took a pretty harsh hit though. For me, biking is fun in any cityscape... but then, I enjoy feeling the thrill of nearly getting run off the road by an upper-middle class yuppy. Sadly, that bike was stolen two weeks ago--so no more biking on the streets for me.
    -Z :)

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  5. I ride a bike to commute to work and home, about 8 miles round trip daily.
    My most embarrassing sports injury?? Either spraining my ankle in flag football running away from a girl, or getting hit in the mouth with a ground ball in baseball so hard it knocked a filling out of a tooth.
    Those will make nice scars, and you should try jumping rope to supplement your running, it is a great thing.

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  6. Playing basketball in high school at practice, came off a pick. Ball hits me right in the face knocks two of my brace off. Wire and brackets all up in my gums. I also had a chunk of the ball in them as well. Not fun! Those knees ouch, did anyone laugh at you! Sorry always kinda funny when people fall. Not sure why!

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  7. you poor thing. Ouchies. My worst sports injury happened when a bunch of us were racing on bikes. I was behind so I decided to kick up the juice. I peddled as hard as I could and one of the small neighborhood kids wheeled out on his little bike right in front of me and I plowed right into him. I flew over my handle bars and smalled my face into the street chipping a tooth and bruising my ego more than my body. Luckily the little guy got away without a scratch.

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  8. that's pretty impressive. good thing you have that emergency towel.

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  9. You keep an emergency towel? Sorry about your fall. I run too, mainly because it's cheaper than going to the gym but it's too cold in the winter. I also like to stay in my 3 mile comfort zone. I use my iPod to keep me motivated during a run. A robotic voice tells me at regular intervals how far or how long i've run. I can't wait for the day when they'll upgrade it to celebrity voices so Mr. T can say "You're running too slow fool! Pick up the pace! Hahaha!"

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  10. My sport is going to work on bike everyday whatever the weather or time of year is.
    The most embarassing one is falling off the bike when it's stopped....

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  11. Remember the time you jumped off the back of the school bus with your backpack and fell to the ground.

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  12. Remember that time you ran down the street and fell flat on your face and skinned you nose....

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  13. hey anonymous...those are my stories to tell...don't steal my thunder.

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  14. well hope you are OK :)
    You know I do some Bow hunting and hiking.
    My certainly most embarrassing story of hurting myself is not from the sports sector: I tore my meniscus when I turned on a computer...
    second place gets the falling down a waterfall in Canada

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  15. Most embarrassing was tripping over a soccer ball when I went to kick it during an intramural game in college.

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