Off-Roading It

I have told you before about how I really am not all that fond of running.  About how I would rather find many other things to do, including swimming, but that this is the one thing I've been instructed to do to help to stabilize my back.  There are no back twists in running that could cause me to be stuck at a funny angle for the rest of my life.  There is no arm movement in running that would pull my shoulder and render me unable to lift anything.  There is no sudden sidewise dance step in running that would scare my pelvis into rebelling against its carefully established alignment.  In other words, other exercise is ok, but running is the thing.  So yesterday as I faced the disgusting heat we have been having I decided to change up my route a bit and took a fork in the path after about a mile onto a nature trail.

Something to keep in mind about me -- I don't wear glasses when I run.  I'm not blind without them, but I am nearsighted, which makes my vision very limited.  So I guess it should come as no surprise that between dodging cobwebs (should have been my first clue), trying to figure out if the dog who was clearly not supposed to be off leash was friend or foe, and realizing I had not eaten in about eight hours, I missed this very clear sign.

It seems I ended up in an old river bed because I suddenly found myself stopped dead surrounded by moss, dead ended by a little lagoon.  It was very calm and peaceful until what I'm pretty sure was a snake went into the water by my foot and I bolted back the way I came.

I made it back to the trail and found my way almost back to the path without incident until suddenly an evil root decided that I had grown too confident in myself and determined to put an end to that.  It rose up out of the ground in my path and tripped me, causing me to fall hard on my knee before sinking back into the ground with a rumbling chuckle.  I tried to resume running but it just hurt too much so I walked instead and called my mother who kept me entertained with tales of home until I could make it the mile or so back to my couch where I could put up my leg and ice it.

I had another long run planned for today, but I don't think I can risk it.  Instead I think I will take advantage of this golden opportunity and work on my Camp Loopy project.  Tragic, I know.