Searing Pain

Searing pain. I might be exaggerating a touch. But let me just say, I can’t move without pain originating from some part of my body. Mostly my legs. During my much-needed and far-too-quick sleep Friday night (ok it was Saturday morning technically – I went to bed at 5:30 AM) I woke up in the middle of the night (morning) with a Charley horse beyond belief. Fortunately, I was so tired it seems like a very vague memory or horrible dream.

But the pain in left calf persists. And Saturday, on roughly 4 hours of sleep, it was beyond gorgeous out for the first time in who knows how long. And my mind said, “I must run. I must run with the dog who might run away and try to eat a bird. Running will help my leg.” So, after mixing up my very first batch of croissant dough and setting it aside to rise, I ran with Gracie – our gorgeous 2 year old Golden Retriever that we rescued in November.  Gracie normally pulls and pulls and pulls on walks, but she was surprisingly good on a run. She stayed close enough and only got underfoot a handful of times. Unfortunately, before one of these times on the last hill of our run (I could see my house), I thought Gracie might enjoy if we picked up some speed. And then it happened. It felt like an eternity as I wobbled and tried to catch my balance on the way to the ground.

It was probably only a few seconds as I flailed, still holding on to the leash (Gracie’s a runner) and saw the asphalt pavement getting closer and closer. I somehow landed face down (fortunately not on my face this time) on my left hip, right knee and both palms. As I tried to regain what little composure I had once hand, I checked my knee and my hands – a little blood, but nothing too damaging, I looked up and saw Gracie’s terrified face. Laying by my side in deep concern and panic.

So now, I’m still sprawled on the ground, saying “we’re ok Gracie, we’re ok.” And we were. We finished our run. We even did a cool down walk, until I noticed the blood dripping down my leg and thought I ought not to traumatize the neighbor kids. So, we walked back home and after my mom wiped the horrified look off her face asked my dad to snap a pic (see below).

Accident prone as always. But, croissants are delicious. And now that all of my legs and body parts hurt, the only solution seems to go for a short jog tonight on the treadmill. (Which I have also been known to fall off of.)