Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Bush Run

It was always going to happen, it was just a matter of time. I got lost in the bush.
Still feeling like crap but nervous that I'm not training like I need to be, I thought I'd do a lovely bush run behind our house, a 12km circuit around a dam on a popular mountain biking track.
First mistake: running when sick, second mistake: leaving too late and knowing I'd be cutting it way to fine to pick up the boys from school, third mistake: aborting the running and taking a "short cut" to get back on to the road.
I'm not sure if you're familiar with the panicy feeling when you know you're in it deep, but that was me. The problem was I kind of knew where I wanted to be but my extremely bad sense of direction had me taking even more short cuts to try and get there. And because I wasn't feeling great, my running was tough and in fact I would have been walking but because I was cutting it so close to getting home I had to keep running. So eventually I found the road but in attempting to take another short cut to get to the home straight I ducked back into the bush and this time came up against a barbed wire fence. It was all or nothing so running along the fence line, I found a high gap, climbed up the fence then climbed through the barbed wired lined hole and jumped down the other side. With a couple of scratches I ran past a homeless person's home in the bush (hmm, not a good plan) then out onto a main road (with a 80km speed limit). I then finished off with a 2km stretch into speeding traffic running along the skinny verge of the road. And to top it off I ran into a branch on the road and stubbed my toe so badly that it's now in the process of falling off. My big toe that is. I made it home, felt like crying but realised I didn't even have time for that. I made it to school with a whisker to spare.
Lessons for the day:
1. Don't run when sick
2. Tell someone where I am going or better still run with someone
3. Don't trust my sense of direction. Ever.

4 comments:

  1. Wow sweetie, what an awful experience. Here is a big hug from me ()

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sister - You don't need a hug, you need a slap - ARE YOU MAD ???
    Did you have a sign on your back saying " Attack Me " ???
    Forget the snakes & spiders in the bush ..... I'd be much more concerned about the crazed muderer / rapist.
    Australia produces them with frightening regularity & lone women on isolated bush tracks are their favourite prey - does the name Ivan Milat ring any bells ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know, I know...I can still see his clothes hanging on the bush around his lair/home, and that was what completely freaked me out. No more solo bush runs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ... consider yourself told off my lovely friend!

    ReplyDelete