Early Morning Walk: Still Learning to Use my Feet

Here I am, nearly 50 years old (shuddering in horror) and yet I still haven't learned how to properly use my two feet.  You'd think after all those years of walking, particularly in the past 5 years where I have been consistently walking several miles a day, I would have learned something.  Sadly this is not the case.

Today I had no kid to rush to school (hurrah!) so I had some extra time to walk.  I figured I could go a little further, if not necessarily a little faster.  Yes it was dark out when I started (around 4:40 in the morning), but it quickly became light.  (It has become apparent to me over the last week that the longer days of summer are rapidly approaching.  I love seeing the day come as I walk along.  It used to be if the sun was up it meant I was running late, but now there is plenty of light before I am even halfway through.  It's a wonderful thing!)  It was important to get out this morning, as I knew it was going to be sweltering later in the day.  While earlier in the week I needed a sweatshirt along with my shorts, today, like yesterday, was a t-shirt kind of day.  (Even that was sticking to me halfway into it.)

I was moving along at my regular clip; not unusually fast or slow and when I decided to go left instead of right.  I figured I'd walk a little further that way (which was a miscalculation according to my walking tracker).  Wasn't going uphill or down (which I almost always am) when I lost my balance.  I don't know if I tripped on something or missed a step, but I knew there was no way to stop myself from falling.

The hand weights flew out of my hands (obviously) but my phone stayed safe in my pocket (no damage to it; the radio didn't skip a beat).  I did a beautiful skid across the cement sidewalk on my left side and somehow managed to end up face down.  How I managed to scrap my upper lip and the area under my nose, but NOT my nose is a mystery (or some feat of unspeakable sorcery.)

I picked myself up, gravel embedded in my left arm/elbow like a kid who has just fallen off his bike.  I grabbed my hand weights and kept going.  Right past my doctor's office...which was not open at that early hour.  I need to better coordinate my walking schedule so that if I make a mess of myself again, the office would be open!

I was on my way home at that point anyway, but I was still a mile plus away.  And of course, at this point it was all uphill! That climb was harder than usual, but what was worse was the blood which seemed to be pouring out from my upper lip.  I kept wiping it and it kept bleeding.  (There must be a lot of little capillaries under the skin there.)  I kept wiping and as a result my arms and shirt were covered in blood.  (A lovely visual I'm sure.  The only good this is that my shirt was tie-dyed so the blood splotches did make much difference.)  I'm sure I was a lovely sight!  Sweaty and bloody I did my best to avoid people.  (Thankfully there are still not that many people out before 6 AM).

Managed to make it home and cleaned myself up.  By then my husband was up and he was appalled at my appearance.  (My look is better for Halloween rather than Memorial Day weekend.)  With a little ibuprofen and lots of gauze and Band-Aids, I am doing fine.  (Although the bandage under my nose/above my lip makes me look like a blonde female Hitler.  Talk about embarrassing!  And while I realize that plump lips are all the fashion right now, I don't think this is the way to go about it!)  Bruises seem to be randomly appearing too, but a little black and blue will match well with the tan I will hopefully be getting this weekend.

If you see me, pardon my appearance.  I'm not pretty, but I'm still going to keep going.  Even if I still don't know how to use my two feet properly after all these years, I'll still keep walking.  Even if it is a little slower until the scrapes and aches go away!