Everybody gets knocked down - how quick are you gonna get up?

One of my favorite songs to run to is The Hours's Ali in the Jungle 

It's, not, how you start, it's how you finish,
And it's, not, where you're from, it's where you're at,
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?

I was pretty much humming those lyrics all weekend. 

It started with a normal run with the Brak Pak on Thursday evening.  Just a regular, mostly road, run.  Until I rolled on a rock and found my face accelerating toward the asphalt at an alarming speed.  Luckily (?), my right knee took the brunt of it.  After finishing the run and heading home - I realized how BAD the knee looked.  I would have taken pictures, but it made me queasy to even look at it - like a golfball was sitting on top of my kneecap under the skin.  SCARY - so I ignored it, took a boat-load of ibuprofen, and covered the knee with ice (my medical treatment for 90% of all ailments).

Luckily (again), by Friday morning, after ice, compression, and elevation, the golfball-kneecap receded, and I was left with a sore, bruised knee and an aching body.  So, I went for a test run/walk with a buddy who just finished the bar exam on Friday night and killed my pain with margaritas and ceviche (my medical treatment for 90% of all ailments).

On Saturday morning, I ran the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas 5k.  It hurt, but my knee (and aching body) made it. Without falling.

 AND came in 1st Female 35-39.  Partly because the fast chicas - like Roche on my right - ran the 10k.

  and then I went home and iced my knee (the right one) and munched on ibuprofen.

Sunday morning was the Paesano's 10k trail run.  I fall on trails, but have never fallen during this (pretty technical trails) race.  Until now.  It all started out well enough - nice weather, and nice and easy on a sore knee and achy body.

It was a nice run until almost mile 5, where the trail smoothed out some, with just occasional rocks.  Unfortunately, I found one and went flying - hitting my left knee and knocking the wind out of myself.  But I got up - and finished pretty bloody.

and looking like a crazy running chicken in pain

Here's what THAT injury looked like, even after it had been cleaned and bandaged by the EMT (that sucker would NOT stop bleeding - pretty gruesome).

So, all told, I hurt, but it could have been MUCH worse - both falls, that is.  And I got up - both times. Because you just gotta get up.

Thanks to Ceci, IAAP, SAPhotographers, and Kevin G. Saunders photography for the pics.  Thanks to the running gods for allowing me not to land on my head or break anything (hopefully).