Thirty Days!

Yes, I did make thirty days of my Easter Streak – ran every day for the month of April.  I got out late morning on Wednesday, April 30, in the midst of a heat wave.  And I took off up Arroyo Trabuco Trail for the final run of my streak.

My Gateway to Arroyo Trabuco Trail (in the parking lot of a strip mall in Las Flores, behind a Taco Bell & some other establishments):

The best thing about Day 30’s run was that I got shade.  Lots of it.  Oh, the glory!  What would I do without shade?

I ran through cool, dark hallways of shade for about three miles.  My goal was to run around ten miles – that way, I’d hit my “pie in the sky.”  What, you may ask, was my “pie in the sky?”  The answer: breaking 170 miles for the month.  I didn’t want to merely hit 170.  I wanted to bust through the door.  I haven’t done that in a long time. 

The coolness of these trails helped me to get my groove when I thought I wasn’t going to get my groove.  And just when I felt a comfortable confidence on these refreshing trails amidst sweltering heat, I kissed the dirt.

Oh no!  That’s right.  I tripped on a rock while running slightly downhill, and I flew through the air.  Astonished that I was falling, I fought the fall, and it turned out badly.  There was no semblance of a roll.  No, there was only forward momentum.  Then a thud.  Then another thud.  And one more for good measure.

The few seconds of impact jarred me so much, I didn’t immediately hop back up.  That took another couple seconds.  And then I sobbed as I searched about for a place to sit.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to sit in the dirt.  I think that it was just too far away.  So, I wandered up the trail a bit.  The fall rattled my body and brain to an extent that I wasn’t sure what to do.  I needed to talk to someone.

About a tenth of a mile later, I found a log to sit upon and phoned my husband.  He’s received these calls from me before – not terribly often, but enough to get directly to the important questions.  Where are you?  Did you hit your head?  Eventually, he said that I should come home.  But . . . 170.  I wanted to break 170!

And so I ran.  When my husband texted me that I was a “badass,” I texted back, “Not Really.”  And I ran some more with an aching knee (but not too bad) and a throbbing arm.  What I wanted more than anything was to wash the wounds.  But my wounds were open, and I didn’t want to give bacteria in the streams direct access into my body.  I did take the time however, to “document” what I could with photos.

I ran Arroyo Trabuco on into O’Neill park.  Relief set in because finally, I was able to wash my wounds.  And they did NOT feel better after that.  In fact, it was just when I was feeling better that I went and washed my arms and legs with soap and water.  The dull aching immediately returned.  Oh well, it was time to suck it up.  I had 6.5 miles left on the back portion of my Arroyo Trabuco out-and-back. 

Arroyo Trabuco with a view of the Saddleback Mountains (not very shady here, of course as it would be, hot and sunny during the most painful portion of my run):

I made it back to my truck dinged.  I think I lost more than the usual amount of brain cells in this adventure.  I did though, get in a little over thirteen miles. The remainder of the day, I ached all over.

The next day, I felt as if I were in an automobile accident – like my whole body had lurched forward and hit the dashboard.  I thought about running, but then decided, that’s it.  I have accomplished what I set out to do – I ran every day for the month of April.  I had to fight an inner battle not to run on Thursday.  I went to the gym instead and worked-out on the elliptical crossramp.  After 5 miles, I said, “That’s enough of that!” and went home feeling achy, like I was coming down with the flu.

My arm wound felt warm all day, and that night I felt like I had a mild grade flu.  It was a wonderful night of celebration for the family however, as we all went to watch our son perform with his high school chamber group (our oldest plays violin).  Back home late, I continued to pick out tiny pebbles from my arm.  My husband poked around, as I winced in pain, for pus.  Then I dosed the hardening scab with hydrogen peroxide.  Finally today, so many, many hours later, I am feeling better. 

Thanks to all for reading the wondrous journey of my running for 30 consecutive days.  I loved it.  At the same time, I am just slightly relieved its over.

ps.  I hit 177.41 miles  (285.51 km) for the month of April.