"Oddest Weekend of Training, YET!"

Seriously, I am thinking this weekend goes in the record books at the "Oddest Weekend of Training, YET!"

First on Saturday was a 5K run with Team Z at the Arlington Science Focus 5K. It was a hilly course that raised money for the Arlington Science Focus Elementary School. The run itself was pretty uneventful and hard with the constant hills. I ran a 36:40 and I'll take it since the first two miles I held a solid sub 11:30 pace - not melting or slowing until near the end of the last mile. I also got a chance to meet a few more Team Z Ladies, thanks to Priscilla. There was Christine, Mary and Alison (who also did the Princess Half Marathon!!) Go TEAM Z!

The ODD part of the day was the "Swat Team" and Police that were down the street about 2-blocks from the school in a gun-stand off. Of course, I had foolishly parked down *that end* of the street (along with some other runners) and we had to wait about 15 minutes after the end of the award ceremony to get access to our cars.

Now let me tell you about THIS MORNING:

So like a good little dedicated Ironman-distance triathlete in training, I got up today to go out to MD to do my long ride with Team Z, despite the rain that had been falling all night and was expected to continue to fall all day. At 6:30AM I left the house on the hour drive to the ride start. I was ready for a long day in the rain, knowing based on my trip to Lake Placid last season to sign up, that there could be rain - all day - on race day.

Apparently, riding of any kind was not in the cards for me today.

About 30 minutes into the drive, as I took the exit ramp off I-495, I felt the Ford's wheels slip a little and I did my best to correct it, as I remembered from the few track days I have been on (very few) but as the wheels finally caught pavement, I probably over corrected and the Ford decided to take me for a ride - into the guardrail and then for a few spins and a very UNNECESSARY bit of rocking which scared me clean out of my mind since I know Ford Explorers have a low center of gravity and therefor are known to roll. There was some rocking but no rolling and no airbag deployment.

Luckily nobody else was around so the only things that got hurt were the aforementioned guardrail, the driver side of the Ford (some bumper and side panel damage), the right front tire (rolled off the rim and flattened), my Garmin 305 and me.

At some point during the Ford's "WILD RIDE", my bike came out of it's holder and decided to take a look at the view closer to the front. Jim and I can't determine if it was my bike or if it was a cooler full of water bottles - but one of those two things came forward from the back and smacked the back of my head, hard enough to leave a huge bump ( I think they call it an egg on your head) and cause a serious headache. The ER DR said I can expect to feel horribly stiff and sore tomorrow and gave me and R/X for muscle relaxants and 600 mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours for a day or two until the pain is gone. I am under "observation" with my husband Jim by my side for the next 24 hours to make sure that I didn't suffer a concussion or other complications. So far, other than feeling progressively stiffer and more sore and having a sore spot on my head and a headache, I'm OK.

I'm thankful that nobody else was involved in my spin out and that the only serious injuries were the car and a bump on my head. I'm thankful for the good Samaritan who stopped and waited with me until the police, ambulance and my husband to arrive, to the Potomac Ambulance Crew who brought me to the hospital to make sure everything was okay and to the ER doctor who not only decided not to do a CT scan because she was concerned at exposing me to any unnecessary radiation but who also confidently told me that as long as I was not having any headaches or pain in 7 days, I was free to do the Kinetic Half Ironman next weekend. She smiled when I asked her about doing my race and asked me about how we fit two bikes in the Ford, I suspect I encountered a fellow rider.

Now as for this weekend, I am now on the couch - and staying here for the time being. It seems to be the safest place for me right now - at least until something else ODD happens (Can you be smooshed while sitting in your own recliner?)

Life is still good, at least I raced a hilly 5K. ONWARD!