A really dumb accident.

Took a few curve balls over the last 2 weeks which had me unable to keep up with my blog.  I thought about it every day though as it keeps me 'honest' about my goals and objectives for IM FL next year.

On relatively short notice, I had to go to NY on business for 8 days, including the weekend.  No problem, I thought, I'll bring 5 sets of workout clothes and not miss a beat.  I guess I caught 'workout arrhythmia' because not only did I miss A beat, I missed 4.  I got the chance to run ONCE.

I stayed in Rye, NY ... slightly north of NYC  .... and went for a run on Saturday morning when there was little to no traffic.  Temperature was great and I felt terrific over the 11 km tour of some HUGE houses with gated properties.

I was sent on a work assignment to NY a couple years ago, for a year, and we lived a little further north and one of the things I HATED about living in the region was the lack of shoulders along the roads and the high volume of traffic.  The region was established a billion years ago so the roads are winding, narrow, unlit, and really not safe.  I don't know how triathletes and cyclists in the region do it.  I rode only a handful of times in the year we were here and took my life into my own hands each time.  I never found it safe.

I worked in Manhattan the rest of the weekend and took this picture from our office building, looking south down Madison.  It is RIDICULOUS that it was Sunday, I had spent 12 hours there and the only time I got outside was to get a salad for dinner.

My days started at 7:30 in the office and lasted until 7 in the evening so any chance of running or a workout eluded me.  I refused to run in the area after dark, only because the roads are so bad and unlit.  I didn't have much reflective clothing or any running lights.

The other piece of bad news was that I had the most ridiculous accident at home on Friday.  I was heading to a small engine repair place and offered to take my IM buddy's snowblower in for a tune up given I was going anyway.  Long story short, I was walking backwards in my utility trailer while cleaning out the leaves and didn't realize how close I was to the edge.  I walked backwards, right over the front edge of the trailer and landed with my back on the vertical aluminum post before hitting the ground.  Had this thing have been pointy, I would have been 'skewered' right there.  Obviously, it hurt like hell.

Through adrenaline, I got up right away and hobbled 200' to the house.  I knew if I stayed there, it would be awhile before DW "found me".  Once inside, she looked at my back and said OMG.  She saw a huge indentation and scrape along my spine.  She said it looked terrible.  I knew, however, that that part was NO PROBLEM compared to the pain I felt in the muscle.  I couldn't walk - at all.  Every step sent a shooting pain up the right side of my back.  It was 'killer'.

I took some anti-inflammatories right away, which did nothing, and sucked it up for half an hour assessing my 'condition'.  We decided it would be best to get it checked out by a doctor so I got a ride to the hospital's emergency department.  There was a 2 hour wait but they saw me in 15 minutes.  After 3 sets of x-rays, urine test for the kidneys, and a shot for pain / swelling, the doc gave me the all clear.  The first thing she said was "Do you know how lucky you are?  You landed on the post on your muscle.  An inch to your left and you it would have been your spine.  An inch to the right and it would have been your kidney, where there is little protection.  While the muscle will hurt for awhile, it will recover.  The other two options wouldn't have been as easy".

All I can think about is how STUPID the accident was and how much this sucks right now.  2 days later and I can walk, but I can't bend over.  I know I was lucky, but it is still ridiculous for such a dumb thing to occur.  It's even embarrassing....this kind of thing doesn't happen to me (at least not often ;-)).

I'm taking things day by day, trying to stretch out and relax, and trying not to eat my way through this.  It's too easy to grab snack food and veg out.  I'm bored already.