September 15, 2012: I'm nearing the end of a Saturday afternoon mountain bike ride, going down a hill. Wearing eyeglasses instead of my usual contacts and sunglasses. I hit a tree root, loose control of the bike, flip over the handlebars, land on my head (thank god for helmets), break my eyeglasses, and break a rib. My quest to run my 17th marathon is over for 2012.
September 15, 2013: I set off on a 23 mile training run (20 on unpaved trail), unaware that it's the one year anniversary of my accident. For some reason I decide to run in my eyeglasses instead of contacts/sunglasses. I'm on my eighth mile and I trip over a tree root. I flip, bloodying my knee and leaving scrapes on my back and hands. No broken glasses, no broken rib. I continue and complete my run. As I'm running, the date dawns on me, and it also downs on me that both falls were probably caused by burst of sunlight peering out from the shaded trail, hitting my unprotected eyes and blinding me for a split second, enough the make trip and fall.
That's my story. Anybody else training for Fall Marathon? Baltimore is only 26 days away for me.
