Oooooh We're Half Way There

Nothing like a little old-school Bon Jovi shout out on a Monday morning! This is start of week 10 of training for the Chicago Marathon. 9 weeks down, 9 weeks to go--half way there! Last week was a "step back" week and looked a little like this:

Week 9
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 3.5 miles (aforementioned toe issue was bothering me so I stopped early)
Wednesday - Sick
Thursday - 4 miles
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 11 miles
Sunday - bike ride (cut short by a crash)

It was weird that 11 miles, once a big deal, felt like a short run. I returned home with all kinds of energy and proceeded to do some work after cleaning up as opposed to falling back into bed immediately. I'm psyching myself up for the next two weeks of mileage push 17 and 18 mile runs. I'm feeling confident!

All of that was momentarily called into question yesterday. I took my bike out to Grant's Trail for a little cross-training bike ride. It'd been almost two weeks since I'd had the opportunity to take Ruby out, so I was excited for a nice relaxing ride. I was enjoying the hot breeze in my face and the general lack of traffic on the trail when a kid, probably 10 years old, came riding towards me. Moments before he reached me, it seemed as though he decided to turn back in the other direction without looking to see if anyone was coming. He started to turn directly into my path. I yelled, braked, and swerved to no avail. Just off the trail on my side was a gravel parking lot with concrete parking stops. The combination of hitting one of those with my tire and the kid slamming into the side of me sent me off the bike and onto my right knee and wrist in the gravel. The kid and his bike landed on my other leg that was still straddling the bike. The kid was terrified but okay. His knee was scraped but otherwise he seemed okay. Although no parents were anywhere in sight and he wasn't wearing a helmet. Seriously, parents, manage your children. I asked him three times if he was sure he was okay before he sped off. My knee, on the other hand, was scraped and bleeding all over the place. Some nice people I'd passed earlier caught up with me and stopped to make sure I was okay. I was shaken and dripping blood but the scrape wasn't deep. And, my bike appeared to be in working order. So, I rinsed off the blood using my water bottle and headed back for my car. I could already tell my knee was swelling, so I decided to call it a day.

I showed up at home bawling, not so much because I was in pain but because I was afraid 9 weeks of training could be screwed up by one bike ride. Fortunately, I don't think that's the case. This morning, my knee is a little sore and swollen. The thing that hurts worst is my lower back...I feel a little like I've been in a minor car accident, scraped and sore in weird places but otherwise okay. I think I'm still going to do some light strength training this afternoon and my runs for the week as planned unless some new pain develops. Having a bike crash has been my biggest fear (right after accidentally catching a bug in the mouth...no, seriously I think about things like that). It sucked, but it could have been much worse. So, next Sunday, I'll suck it up and get back on the proverbial horse...er bike.

Happy Running!