Dance Moves.

Last night, big drops of rain fell from the sky. Lots of big drops. That, coupled with the fact that everyone has their sprinkler systems set for 5:30am, could only mean one thing--mud caked sidewalks. It probably could mean more than one thing, but for now, we'll just stick to one. Most sidewalks are uneven, by nature, and when it's early, and you haven't had coffee, your percentages of slipping and falling are pretty high. Higher than usual. I don't want to brag, but this morning I incorporated some pretty sweet dance moves in an effort to keep from turning an ankle, or a knee, or some other leg part that doesn't need to be turned. The streets I run on are busy. Especially busy for a residential neighborhood. Most drivers are fairly observant and move over into the next lane when I'm running their direction. Some won't move until the last second, and others won't move, period, which sends me jumping up a curb and onto wet grass, which can lead to the aforementioned sweet dance moves. I'm thinking that maybe I should choose a different 6 mile route next time. One that doesn't induce injury or near-death scenarios.

Speaking of injury, I recently joined the ITB Syndrome Club. It's a fairly common injury, as most runners know, and it sounds like a little bit like a test I took back in elementary--the ITBS test. It stood for the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. My injury, the ITB one, does not. It stands for Illio-Tibia Band syndrome, and it is a mother. It can sideline you for up to a year. Fortunately, I caught mine early, and it only kept me out for 2 weeks. Or maybe I didn't have it to begin with--all I know is I had all the symptoms. Pain on the outside of the knee cap is the most common trait. Thank God it's going away. I tried to run on it a few weeks ago and saw the vision of completing my first marathon going down the proverbial tubes. And heck, it still may. My longest post-injury run was only 8 miles. Last time I checked, that was a lot less than 26.2. So I've got a long way to go. I'm on week 7 of Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide (Novice 1), which means I'm 11 weeks away from The Rock. Pray for me. In the meantime, I'll be doing the robot.