Doh!

I can't believe I've never run on the Wildwood trail before. I've often lamented the fact there are so few trails to run where we live, and that I'm forced to run on the roads.

I got up early this morning and drove through the fog to find the trailhead of the Wildwood trail on Newberry road. I actually managed to run 18 miles without hip pain, and felt really strong. I was feeling so graceful at about mile 17.5, thinking something like "this has been great, and now, thanks to God helping me heal, I've had a great run". At that moment, as I took a drink from my water bottle I lurched forward, throwing my water bottle down the trail and planted my whole self directly on the trail with a thud.

I had been distracted and made the classic mistake of not paying attention to my footing on the trail, when a root I hadn't seen seized its opportunity and took me down. I muttered "crud" a couple times and started spitting the dirt out of my mouth. I tried wiping the trail off my face, but it was sticking to the sweat on my arms and I quickly ran out of clean arm real estate with which to clean my face. Of course shortly after this I happened on a family with young kids. The dad gave me a strange look, no doubt wondering just how I had gotten so much dirt on my face.

Anyway, I liked the trail quite a bit, and I look forward to many more weekend runs on it. The mist weaved in and out of the trees all day, and I ran in a canopy of fir and oak with lush greenery all around. It was great!