Run. Fall on your face. Get up. Repeat. #think #performance

Floating through the air as if in a slow motion movie scene, I thought, “I’m going down.”  And I did.  Hard.  I hit the rubble riddled concrete after my leashed dog cut in front of me as we were running full speed.  You see, he was concerned about a young and aggressive pitbull and the pitbull’s young and little-muscled owner.  As I laid in the middle of the road for five seconds, my thoughts were not clear.  I was just angry.

As a hot-head by nature with the nurture of the northeast USA (think city cab drivers honking and beer-bellied men fighting), anger is my go-to emotion.  In this wipeout situation, anger worked for me because it energized me to get up, get running, and get home fast to deal with my injuries.  I was so, ahem, energized that according to RunKeeper, I earned a Personal Best for fastest pace under 3 miles.  Some consolation.

Once settled at home and attended to by my husband and sons, my anger passed, leaving me with only scraped skin and disappointment.  Dang it.  I had expected a good run but instead I would be out of running for a bit.

My mind wandered.  Who in their right mind would send a 70 pound girl out with a 70 pound untrained dog?  And why hadn’t the city cleaned the copious amounts of pebbles on the road left behind from the latest downpour?  And why did the utility guy park his truck on the sidewalk squeezing me onto the road?  It was a perfect storm.

But see what I did there?  My anger was fueled by boo-boos and distorted thoughts.  It was easier for me to be angry, frustrated, and blaming than it was for me to take responsibility for my feelings.  The feeling below the anger was disappointment.  Up until I hit the concrete, I was heading toward my Best. Run. Ever.  And in a moment, it was gone.  Dang it, again.

Here’s a hard-earned tip for how to manage anger.  Look for faulty thinking as well as other emotions that are driving it.  My unclear thoughts were looking to blame something, anything, for the welt on my hip.  Blaming can easily lead to distancing from real issues.  The truth is, as a new runner, I have a lot to learn.  So does my dog!  So, I’ll give benefit of the doubt to others instead of blame as I wish them well.  I’ll change my run path, stop my dog if he appears anxious, and not run on a bunch of little rolling pebbles atop concrete.  And I’ll hopefully earn a new personal best sooner than fading of my bruises.

How do you manage anger?  What is your go-to emotion?  Any running with a dog tips? 🙂

Have a terrific and wipeout free weekend ❤

26 thoughts on “Run. Fall on your face. Get up. Repeat. #think #performance”

  1. Glad you were not seriouly hurt.
    I am not a runner but walking with your dog can be equally challanging, especially when inconsiderate neighbors let their dogs run loose. My dog is a protector and I have gone down faster than you know what has hit you. I understand the skinned legs and knees. I am not one to anger easily, so I can’t tell you how to cool down. However, I like to take action when injustice occurs – so my homeowners association got a letter about the inconsiderate neighbor. Makes me feel better, anyway, even if the neighbor doesn’t get it!

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    • Sorry to hear you have had a wipeout too! Your suggestion to contact the homeowners association is a good one. It really is about safety. As a dog owner, and not the most perfect one by any means, I honestly don’t see how others can set their dog up for such failure. This accident happened a few weeks back and I’m all healed up. Since then I have run by the dog and young owner again (this time without dog) and I told my husband if I see them again, I might stop and ask if she needs help. Perhaps no one has shown her that a dog can be trained to sit. Poor girl!

      Happy weekend, Jovina!

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  2. Oh, Angie McFly, I’m glad you came away with just a few scrapes. Could have been worse, right?! And you were fixed up with love, to boot.

    Anger would have been my go-to, also. Yes, Northeast reactions, you have that right. That girl and that dog should not have been in that situation.

    Are you safe running with your dog? Animals are always unpredictable. That’s why anger is my go-to when I encounter people who think it’s OK to keep their dog off the leash because “my dog knows how to act around other dogs.” Oh, you think you know how your dog always will act around strange dogs, do you? I keep my dog on a leash and do not go near dogs not on a leash, ever because I don’t know how they’ll act together. Point being, something you don’t want to hear, most likely: Should you be running with your dog, because you you’ll never entirely be able to control “the other” in the situation?

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    • Exactly! And thanks for your concern. What I’ve settled on for now is that I’ll run with my dog on routes that aren’t likely to have dog traffic. And besides, what are sons for other than to walk the dog, right?

      But I tell you, my dog makes me run faster…that I like 🙂

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  4. I’m not a runner, so no advice there. But, I can say I’m with you on the anger. I think often, anger is my go to emotion as well, although I never quite thought about it until reading your post.. Gee thanks 😉 Now I have to work on that.. I don’t have the big city to blame for my aggressiveness, but maybe the somewhat natural redhead can be to blame? Whatever the reason, I definitely have to work on it, I do believe I’ve gotten better at managing it, but I also have a long way to go!

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  5. Goodness! I’m so sorry for the scrapes and bruises! Ouch! I hope you heal up fast and can get back to your routine.

    I haven’t run since I was a girl, but I was a sprinter, not a long distance girl. I had to stop after a nasty spill off my skateboard hurt my knee. It’s still complaining. *eyeroll*

    Go-to emotion? Hmm. Well, Irish here, so there’s that. You know, when your face and neck start getting all red as you get your steam up, lol. But then the German side likes to be all stoic. That battle can get pretty intense sometimes, ha!

    I’m so thankful you didn’t have any broken bones or blood! I’ll be praying for speed healing for you! *hugs* ❤

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    • No wonder we get each other, Ness! I’m healed up just fine (this episode happened a few weeks ago…I was too angry to write about it at first, lol) and even more grateful every time I can move without pain and run another day.

      It was fun seeing you pop up on my WP Reader while I was putting out my latest post about saying “I’m sorry”. Yep, being able to say “I’m sorry” is especially helpful for hot-heads 🙂

      ~~~~ waving to you!

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    • Exactly, Kate! It’s hard enough to get out there then WHAM you hit the HARD concrete! I am OK, thanks, and I’m with you about swimming. While it’s still warm here I swim on the days I don’t run. I’m not much of a swimmer either, lol, but I do appreciate how HARD it is to drag my body through water. Now that the weather is cooling off, I purchased a stationary bike. It’s nice to close my eyes while on it, knowing I won’t crash into anything 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by! I hope you and yours are well. Also, if you are still in touch with Evi (who privatized her blog) please give her a big Hi from me ❤

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  8. Happy to hear it was just scrapes and bruises. My go to emotion is just to shut down and shut everybody out. I just isolate myself because I know that I would take it out on those unlucky enough to be around me at that moment in time. It’s probably not the best solution, but it’s the only one that sort of works for me.

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    • Thanks for your care! You and I sound complimentary. My energy goes out (blast!) while yours goes in (retreat). You are kind to consider not taking your angst out on others, which is something I have to constantly remind myself to do! I have close loved ones who, like you, turn inward and I see the hard part of that. It’s as if you are taking all the burden of life upon yourself and, well that’s heavy, heavy work. We all need each other to lighten our loads ❤

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      • Absolutely. I always try to be considerate of how my words or actions will affect others. I’m always the positive one, even though everything in my world is so negative. I appreciate your kind words.

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  9. How do I handle anger?
    I got into ju-jitsu, flip-crazy, Jackie Chan-meets-Godzilla mode !!
    But really, sometimes I find just stopping and taking a deep breath does the trick and the anger rising in my blood vessels just fades away.
    It only takes a second to do something out of anger, but easily a lifetime to regret it.

    Thanks for sharing Angie, and hope you’ve healed from the fall.

    Vijay

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    • Thanks for your care, Vijay! I’m fine and back to running 🙂

      You wrote, “It only takes a second to do something out of anger, but easily a lifetime to regret it.” So true, so true. Helping the anger dissipate through breathing and fading is an excellent tool. Forgiving ourselves for our less-than-perfect-past helps too ❤

      Have a great week!

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