Day 4,573—Today and the Rim to River 100 Part I: Sharp Rocks—

 

       I haven’t finished unpacking, but I knew this week would be like this. I have Parent-Teacher Conferences tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday. I have one for my daughter, so I won't have a break after school until Friday, but that’s okay. This morning I made sure to wear my gloves because I didn’t want to rebust my hand open, but unfortunately the gloves didn’t protect my hand that much. I was being careful in the area I fell because I had fallen there before. The sidewalk is uneven, and right now it is covered with leaves, so I still fell despite being careful; I was shocked, sat on the sidewalk for a beat, and took this picture of the leaves.

Yesterday I went through the video and picture footage of the race, and it is good! I know I still need to make the other video, but this one might come out first while it is still fresh in my mind; my goal is still to do both.

The Rim to River Part I: Sharp Rocks

        On the morning of the race, I realized I needed a headlamp for the first hour, and I didn’t know where it was, so I looked for as long as I could but eventually gave up and settled for a small handheld flashlight as a backup. I always keep at least one tiny light in my vest when I am racing, which has been a good policy because I have already had to use it. Before, I would think I could use my phone, but since my phone's battery is always a question mark, it isn’t smart to depend too much on it, and I already use it for my GPS file backup.

        I drove down to the start from my tent and parked about .2 miles from the start. When I got out of my car, I immediately dropped my sunglasses and spent the next few minutes trying to find them, but I gave up on that too after a while. I was worried about being cold, so I was dressed in my latex gloves, plus regular gloves, and I was also carrying the hand warmers that I used in my tent last night.

        The guy didn’t count us down when we got close to the start time. I don’t know if he even sounded a horn or anything. I remember we all started, and I was running with my handheld flashlight, which wasn’t ideal, but I figured it would only be for an hour or so. What harm could it do? I always forget how much my balance is dependent on a couple of key factors, and what I am holding in my hands always matters when it comes to balance, so it wasn’t long before I started falling and first busted my knee, but even though I was bleeding, I could barely feel the pain.