Morning Run Misadventures

I woke up early to get in a run, thinking it would be about 4 or 5 miles, mostly flat.

Just after 5:30 am, I headed out the door, with my Garmin GPS on my wrist and my IPod on my arm.  I felt slow, but that was okay -- it was my first run in about a week as I was resting from a shin splint injury -- but I felt good.  I ran up the hill to the Hollywood Reservoir to run the flat, scenic roads around the reservoir.  Unfortunately, the gate was locked, possibly due to the rain, or possibly because the sun was not up yet.

I turned around and ran back down the hill, not sure where I would go.  I ended up taking a few twists and turns up and down some small hills, then ended up on the main street.  I felt energized -- instead of my short loop up and down the hill, I 'd do my longer loop.

But, I had never done my longer loop backwards, which is what I would be attempting to do.  It was still dark out, and I was just over two miles into my run.  I started up one of the canyon hills, on the sidewalk, when I tripped on a piece of uneven sidewalk, scraped one of my knees and both of my hands.  I rested for a moment, hoping I didn't tear my favorite running pants, got up and continued up the hill on the road instead of the sidewalk.

Running uphill felt good.  And I kept going, and going, and missed my turnoff.  I realized that I was not where I should be when I looked down on what I thought would be the canyon and saw a beautiful sunrise over downtown Los Angeles.

I kept running, now five miles in.  I didn't know exactly where I was, but if I kept running in the direction that I was running, I would eventually hit a street that I knew.  And I did. 

But then I took another wrong turn, which led me to Mullholland Highway, which I had never knew how to get to.  Somehow, I managed to trip AGAIN!  I scraped both my knees and hands and hit my left shoulder.  This one hurt even more than the first fall.  Now, keep in mind, I maybe trip on a run once a year, and now I've tripped twice in a single run! 

As I get up, my knees are sore and blood is dripping from both hands.  But I keep going -- I have to get home so that I can get to work in a reasonable amount of time, and somehow in spite of the pain I still feel good!  I don't know quite where I'm running, but I find another road that I've never run on, with a sign that reads "Scenic Road 1/4 mile".  I looked down, and wow, what an amazing view across the canyon!  And just above me is the Hollywood sign.  It was just amazing.

Nonetheless, it was a wrong turn, and after I again figured out where I was, my bloodied and bruised self was home.  Instead of my flat 4-5 mile run, I had run nearly eight miles of hills!

As it was far later than I had anticipated, I very rapidly showered, rinsed off my bloodied palms and kneecaps, and headed to work as quickly as possible.

I still feel great -- a good long run, and some new sights to see!
Image from visitingdc.com