A Car Hit Me!

Last weekend my wife and I were hanging out around DC and we heard a commercial on the car radio that she did not want to hear.  It was one of those typical "call the law offices of..." commercials and despite how annoying those are in general, she did not want to hear it for other reasons.  You see I bike to work pretty much every day and this causes a bit of stress because of the dangers of biking in a busy city.  However, I wear my helmet and I always promise her I am careful on the bike.  I guess this is why when this commercial started off with "Every day 10 individuals are killed by motor vehicles while riding a bike", my wife just quickly turned the station and commented that she wasn't up to listening to that.  I laughed at her and told her not to worry because I would never get hit by a car while riding my bike.  To date, I was correct!

However, this week I got hit by a car walking home from the pool!

Last Wednesday I went to the pool after work and had a nice short workout.  I started walking home and as I turned onto N. Capital Street I started thinking about all kinds of nonsense.  I was about halfway home when I watched a car turn in front of me and then began to cross the street.  Within a split second I was seeing black and realized that I was lying head first on the hood of a car.  The car rapidly came to a stop and I slid off the car, thought to myself "HOLY SHIT" and stood in front of the car as George (the man inside) looked at me like a dear in headlights!  He got out of the car and was in complete shock as he stood there looking at me.  I had a cut on my lip and a small bruise under my eye (first black eye of all time) and a bump on my chin!  George came over and apologized and I did all I could not to yell at him.  I knew it was an accident and quickly forgave him!  It was freaking scary thought!  I am always amazed at how time happens so quickly!  I calmed down and realized I had no major damage and told George to go home and not worry about it.  I then proceeded home to check out my bumps and bruises.

I feel we were both blessed!  Our lives could have changed for the worst in that moment, but someone was watching after both of us.  I hope that never happens to me again, I thank God I can walk, and continue to look forward to starting my training on November 1st!   

Army Ten Miler

The last race of the season was a success.  I ran pretty well, considering the lack of training after Timberman and finished at about the same time that I had in my last 10 miler.  Earlier this year I ran in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and I finished that race with a personal best.  I was expecting to beat that time at the Army, but it wasn't meant to be.  I was happy with a 1:17 time, but I know I can do better next year.  I guess it is true that once you stop training you loose your mojo within a short timeframe.  I bet if I ran this race closer to Timberman I would have killed my time.  However, I was happy with my race and even more happy because this was the first team run I organized.  

Last February I started working in a new organization and I decided early on, as I met several runners within the group, that we needed to put a team together to run in Army.  I pulled together a number of experienced runners, but also enticed a few newbies!  It was so great to see three of our team mates finish their first 10 miler.  The smiles on there faces reminded me of my first race and it was so cool to see them excited to have met their goal.  It reminded me of how I felt when I finished my first 10 miler, sprint, olympic, and half.  I am so excited to get to Ironman and I know next year is going to be quite a journey.  Not only am I excited for my own work, I look forward to getting some other newbies to race in next year's Army.  I think seeing others succeed is just as cool as meeting your own goals.