12 Days and Counting – Monday, December 26th

After a weekend of being cooped up, I finally got out and went running. It was cloudier than I expected, but it wasn't too cold. I went to Clarendon to start my run. Unfortunately my gym was closed, but I went running anyway. It wasn't the greatest run because I kept stopping. I spent the first mile trying to get the speed and distance thingy that Al bought me to work. Eventually I gave up and took it off. Then once I got to Iwo Jima I really needed to pee, so I stopped to use the Port-a-Potty. Ewwww. But then I felt now I'm on my way, but stopped again to chat with some tourists near Arlington Cemetery who wanted to know about running trails in the area. After chatting with them for a while. I finally crossed over the GW Parkway and felt now I'm on my way again. I ran along the waterfront towards the Key Bridge. Somewhere along the wooden path right before Roosevelt Island, I'm running along listening to my iPod when all of sudden my clumsy ass trips over one of the wooden planks and landed face down on the ground. Thank God for the Nike gloves that Tricia gave me for Christmas (even though they're too small) or else my hands would have been severely bruised as they slide across the damp wood trying to stop my fall. Both my knees hit the ground and I thought thank God for the multiple layers I was wearing or else I would have seriously scraped my knees. All along I'm thinking "Dammit, I'm injured." But I didn't want to lie on the ground too long because more than my hands and my knees, I think my ego was bruised as well. So, before I had time to process my injuries. I popped up and kept running. Surprisingly I wasn't really that hurt. I finished my run by crossing the Key Bridge into Georgetown where I took a break to stretch then doubled back across the bridge to Rosslyn to finish my run with the uphill climb back to Clarendon. Despite my fall and all the stopping, I had a pretty good run. I covered 7 miles and still felt strong.

- See you later Alligator