The culprit.

I found it today on my Wednesday run - the culprit - the thing that tripped me up on my run last week.  Here it is:

All it was, was a little bump in the road.  This bump in the asphalt has been there a long time.  I have run past it countless times and never noticed.  Last week, I noticed it.  My toe caught it at just the right, or wrong, spot and I fell.  I fell hard and I fell slowly.  I saw every bit of it coming.  It was not fun and was quite scary.  I have healed well and quickly, which has been a great relief, as I have a marathon coming up next month and want to be as ready as I can be to do my best.

The toughest part has been getting back out there.  Luckily, I was no where near my car when I fell.  I was 3.5 miles out, on a 10 mile run.  I was just scraped up and a bit shaken, so my running bud and I decided to keep going.  I am so glad that I did.  I think it helped me to keep moving.  The next couple of days after the run were busy, so I didn't really have a chance to slow down - again, I think that turned out to be a good thing.

Then, yesterday morning, it was time to get back out there.  I didn't really want to, but I did.  Then this morning, it was time for my weekly run with my other running buddy.  We took off on our usual route and came upon that spot.  I thought it would be a great picture of the day.

It's been a great reminder of a life lesson - we will all stumble and fall, that's inevitable.  Sometimes we don't have any control over those falls.  We do have control over how we react to the fall, the bump in the road, and what happens afterward. 

If I focus on the fact that I fell, on the fact that it can happen again and I can't control it, I can easily panic.  I could easily decide not to run because I could get hurt.  I could let fear overtake me and decide that I am safer indoors.  I could give into the fear. 

Or.....I can chalk it up to a little bump in the road that did not stop me from reaching my goal.  I can keep getting out there and working towards what I want.  I can accept that there will be bumps and I can and will overcome them - some I'll step over, walk past, or not even notice and some will trip me up.  I will decide now to roll over, get up, dust myself off and keep going.  It's the only way I'll ever get to where I'm going!