Falling on Rocks

When you work four tens, you don't get to hike in the fall on work days.

 

Because your day starts in the dark, and ends in the dark.

It wasn't a bad week.  I ached to try trail running again, and thought about incorporating a "learn to run" program into my Roam Your Home initiative....you know, mixing work with pleasure:)  I had leadership training and busy days instead; the next thing you know it's Friday morning, and I'm waking up in a hotel in Scottsdale.  My first thought?  There's a pool downstairs, and I want to swim.

 Unfortunately, this has yet to be purchased, and I was loathe to give up my cosy nest...

Three hours later I finally got up (yeah for light-blocking curtains!) and immediately dressed for a run. Afterall, I was in the valley!  It was warm (not!) and trails abounded!

I also apparently had a business to run.

 ....alas my focus was on other things?!

The next 36 hrs tested my entrepreneurial metal; never before had I so strongly desired to walk away.  

Being rear-ended did NOT help, but I'm pretty certain I avoided a concussion.  I think.

Thankfully, I DO own a golf cart taxi business...

 ...and it's kinda impossible to not have fun behind the wheel!

While driving, I acknowledged the fact I need to write driving into my business plan, for multiple reasons.  It was like hitting my head and waking up with an epiphany (it's debatable if my car accident earlier accounted for any of it)--I was noticing multiple facets of the business I had missed my last time out.

It also made me realize how far off of my business plan I was.

The night grew more stressful, and a text from a friend prompted me to call it a night.  As day dawned, I knew I had to sort out the jumbled mess of tangled emotions bombarding every thought.

 Dreamy Draw?  Love the network of friends I can pull from.

 Trail 100.

 The middle of Phoenix.

I fell in love.

Again.

Hiking first, then running sections, the Trail 100 wrapped me in its grasp.  The topography was different, dotted with saguaro's and far rockier than my central highland trails.  As I put a mile, and then two behind me, the knots melted and my spirit relaxed.

So was it a heel strike or a toe strike?  Sheer balance?  Hands where?  Slow/fast?  

I couldn't believe it when I fell, tripping first and unable to catch myself as the loose rocks shifted under my right foot and I came crashing down on my right hand and left knee.

I must say, the gouges on the water bottle were impressive.  

At first I thought I only had scrapes.  No visible blood, so I dusted myself off and started up again.

Only my knee wasn't too happy.

Sitting down on some shredded rocks to better access the damage, I was distracted by my ringing phone.  There amongst the broken rocks, I talked out my business frustrations, including my inability to stay upright on the trail.  Earlier we had discussed the differences between intelligence and wisdom, now a third component was added to the mix:  focus.

Um, yeah.  Kinda missing that as of late.

😳

Readjusting my perch, I settled in and decided what needed to be done now, focusing on reasonable solutions for the short term.  Remarkably, the tension slipped away, and terms were readily agreed upon.

Hm.

Focus, eh?

Walking back to the car, I noted the dark spot on my thigh.  Peeling my running capri's up, I saw the 4" gouge for the first time.  It wasn't bad, but I marveled how I could have missed it.  Once again, my focus had been elsewhere.

Driving back home, I mulled over intelligence, wisdom and focus.  How was this trifecta to best be applied to my business....and alternately, to my fitness quest and life beyond? While I had temporarily bandaged my business, I needed a workable plan.  SMART goals needed updating, and my focus had to shift from problems to solutions.  That balance seemed satisfactory, and my mind drifted to the quest.

Trail running had surprised me; by tapping into the pleasure receptors of my brain with my Jesus music, I had been able to maintain something I truly believed impossible my entire life.  The added complexity of trail running intrigued me; interestingly, I thought it quite funny and almost found joy in the fact that I had fallen repeatedly.

 Yep.  Right there with you.

You see, the falls were instant feedback that I was doing something wrong, and I relished the correction.  So rarely in life have I been so quickly made aware that I was doing something wrong, and needed to go about it another way.  The soreness today reminds me my focus has got to sharpen in key areas-or injuries are inevitable.

Rocks.  I have a degree in earth science simply because I love them.  Amongst them I am happiest, whether hiking or running.  Apparently falling on them is a positive thing, too.