Darn ice!

So I went out for my regular run last Thursday, and was really enjoying the fresh snowfall, about an inch or so, and was about 3 k into my 9+ k run. The snow muted the sound of traffic, and I was hoping to see some deer in the woods. It was truly a lovely day, until I hit some smooth ice on the trail, buried under the snow, and immediately went down, landing on the left buttock, shoulder and wrist. I said some words of excitation, got up, and decided that it would be a good idea to turn around and head for home, since most everything hurt. Nothing seemed broken, however. Just a few hundred metres from my house, still in the woods, I did see a deer loping alongside the trail just ahead of me.

Coincidentally, I was having my yearly physical check-up later that day, and by the time I arrived at the doctor's office, there was just some stiffness in my shoulder. They concluded that nothing was broken, just bruised. A whole bunch of Advil made things better, much as I dislike taking anything like that.

I had to pass on my weekend runs due to being part of the organizing committee for my writing group's annual Book Fair www.oiw.ca and was busy with that all weekend.

The shoulder is still sore, but I headed out this morning, knowing that the mild weather would have melted the ice. As I got close to where I fell, I saw three majestic deer standing by the trail, two on one side and one on the other. I started talking to them, "Yes, deer, yes deer," just as I say to my wife. They stayed there, checking me out, until I was only about 10 metres away, and then gradually ambled away. Maybe they were hoping I was breakfast.

I took it easy on this run, not trying to set any pace records. So I was a couple of minutes slower than usual, and it did not bother me a bit.