Travails of a turtoise

I'm trying to get to a point where two miles comes more easily to me, so today I set out with the best intentions.

Two miles of course is not very much, but it's an improvement over the mile I had been running. I'd like to get back up to five.

I'm not supposed to run around the upper lake, what with its hazardous stones and roots, and now mud, all along the path. But I had walked there earlier in the day with Maddie and Meryl, and it hadn't looked too bad. It's prettier there than on the paved lower lake, so that's where I wanted to go.

I run so slowly that sometimes I think I might as well be walking, but I am actually running, so for now it will have to do, and I can get faster when I feel more comfortable.

I ran to the upper lake and started running around it. I passed "my root," the one that I tripped over this summer. I was very proud of myself and thinking about the blog post I would write. Then I came up to one of the mud trenches that are in the middle of the path at some places. Instead of running around it, I forgot to focus, AGAIN, and my left foot landed in the mud. I lost my balance, and, guess what, I fell. I landed in the leaves alongside the path, surveyed the damage, and decided it wasn't bad, although my right elbow hurt where I fell on it. I owed Emily a call, so I stretched out on the ground, looked up at the trees, and called her. Actually it was kind of pleasant lying there.

Five people walked toward me, and, realizing I might have trouble getting up, I asked them for a hand. They looked concerned, asked if I was OK, and said they thought I was on the phone calling for a help. Two of them pulled me up, another brushed me off, and I brilliantly decided to get the rest of my miles in. Actually, I was slower than slow and not 100 percent steady, so I walked back most of the way and threw in a little jogging because I really wanted to get home.

My elbow was bleeding and had a big black and blue mark on it, and my back hurt.

Emily said that in the 20 days before Ben and Meghan's wedding, I need to stop running and get on one of the machines at the gym instead. So boring, and you have to get in the car to drive there, bla bla bla. But it makes sense...unless I fall off a machine.