Poor Wachel

Let me give you a little background here. A couple months ago I hadn't run in like 7 years. Then I came to visit my parents, and all 4 of my siblings & father ran races (some a marathon, others a 3 mile) that weekend. So I decided I should take up running again.

I got into a really good routine in Utah. MWF I would run with Molly while pushing my jogging stroller with Katy in it while David & Ryan rode their bikes. We started out going about 1.5 miles total (I walk the first & last 1/4 mile), and increased gradually to almost 2 miles total. Then TThS we would walk 3 miles with my friend Gayelinn. I was totally comfortable running around the neighborhood with the whole gang because we had sidewalks everywhere and big straight places where I could see the kids when they went ahead.

We've been staying with my parents for 3 weeks now, and I'm still trying to find my groove. The kids don't have their bikes & I only have a regular stroller (not my jogger), and I wouldn't know where to go with them anyways. So I've been running on the treadmill, which has gone pretty well. I like knowing how fast I'm going, and letting the kids just play next to me. The only problem - and it's a pretty big one - is that Molly doesn't get exercised. And that big black dog has so much energy, she can't afford to not get some of that energy out! My mom has taken both Molly & Sadie a couple times, but it's pretty hard to do.

I've also been concerned about knowing my distance, which is a part of the reason I hadn't gone for a non-treadmill run yet. My mom recommended running by time rather than distance, and I decided that that'll be a good solution. That way I can just increase a minute or two every week or so.

So today I left the kids with my mom & drove to the Soos Creek Trail to run on with Molly. So I warmed up by walking for 5 minutes, then started jogging. My plan was to jog for 5 minutes, then turn around and jog back for 5 minutes, then walk the rest of the way to the car. But only a minute or two after I started jogging I saw a .5 mile marker. So I thought I'd probably make it to the 1.0 mile marker around 5 or 6 minutes, then I'd turn around there instead.

It got to be 6 minutes and I was looking for the mile marker. And suddenly, I was on the ground! My big black pup had run right in front of me with no warning, and I tripped over her! And somehow, I managed to simultaneously scrape up my shoulder, elbow (how do you do both of those?), both knees, and the palm of my hand. And my cell phone. Rude Molly! I was doing this run for her, and she got me lots of owies!

It's hard to take a picture of your elbow.
This doesn't look too bad, but it was stinging so bad! I like having my skin, and now it's missing!
This is my knee, in case you can't tell. The scrape stings, the bruise hurts. Ow.

Poor, poor Wachel.