One wrong move

I am about 9 months out of my ACL surgery and everything is awesome.  Knee is perfect and pain-free 99% of the time and I am able to run on it just fine.  So I have been working on getting back up to long distances running-wise and in leu of graduating in ONE week I decided to strap on (tie) my shoes, grab my iphone and headphones, and set out into an unknown abyss for a long run until I couldn't run any longer. Note: [hoping that A) when I was done running my friends would be willing to pick me up, B) my friends would be able to find me, and C) my phone would work in order for me to be able to call my friends to pick me up].

Unfortunately for me-plans A, B, and C didn't pan out as they should have.  My phone wasn't sending or receiving calls my entire run.  I know this because my work couldn't contact me and they had to text me to tell me that I HAD to be into work at 5 regardless of my exams coming up...may have pissed some people off there.  But my phone WAS working well enough to take pictures along the way.  I stopped along 42 and got these great pictures from it..

This picture doesn't do beauty any justice.

These cows loved me.  They watched me from the moment I slowed down near them to the moment I left.  They were so aware!

A few weeks ago I had driven along 42 to go to a Post Office in Dayton to mail out my graduation announcements and it was SO beautiful and inspired me to run there.  So I continued on this route all the way to downtown Dayton and from there I found another road that looked pleasant and just took it.  I think they call it "RT 257."  Along 257 I saw an abundance of signs that suggested I maintain awareness for horse-drawn carriages.  I was going to take a picture of the sign...but then I found something even BETTER to take a picture of...

A real life carriage! With a real horse! And real mennonite children peeking out the back!

In all 4 of my years here at JMU I have never seen one..so this was great, a great day.  Along this very same road I found every child's DREAM house..

Would we not have been the most popular kids in 3rd grade if we had this in our backyards?!

  Eventually after going through the most beautifully pleasant neighborhood in the world, I arrived at...

Bridgewater!

Bridgewater! Home of the tiniest McDonald's you ever did see and mennonites walking around everywhere!  It was so great! Downtown Bridgewater was the cutest place in the world.   So I proceeded to run through DT Bridgewater which pleasantly ended with a cutie pie bridge leaping over a babbling stream with aesthetics to please anyone's eye.  There was a girl who was running behind me that had turned left after this bridge and I kept going straight--unknowingly -- on a two way street with little-to-no road for runners or bikers..in hindsight, I should have followed her!

At mile 11 on my run I came face to face with a runner's worst nightmare, my families worst fear, and what turned out to be the single most frightening experience of my life.   Yesterday I saw a van approaching me in a 55mph zone [yes, I am completely insane for running on a 55mph road...but I had no idea that was the speed limit, I had just left downtown!] and it  didn't look like it was trying to avoid me, in fact, it looked like it was coming right at me.  So I moved over onto the left shoulder and before I knew it I was laying in the ditch.

It happened right behind that "reduced speed ahead" sign, and the van that swiped me is up yonder.  I was sitting in the grass looking at my legs and crying in shock of the whole event.  It happened SO quickly yet SO slowly.  I watched the van drive by to make sure it was going to stop and I tried to get its license plate number but I couldn't see with my eyes welled up in tears.  Thankfully she pulled over and ran over to me and asked if I was okay.  I replied "I'm not sure" as I looked down at my leg and saw a tire mark on my ankle.  It took me a minute to decided to try and move my legs while she dialed 9-1-1.  Ultimately I decided to move them and I was relatively unscathed in that department.  But how?  When I got up to walk I felt a little pain in my right hip/butt area but that's about it. Talk about Adrenaline!

Tire marks on ankle

So Gwendolyn (the lady who hit me) and I walked over to a driveway nearby where a farmer came running out and said he heard a thump from inside his house and was wondering if I was okay.  Gwen said she thought she hit a mailbox and began crying when she saw me on the side of the road in her rearview mirror.  The paramedics and EMTs thought they were going to arrive on the scene to find me dead in a ditch.  I didn't realize the severity of the situation, or what the situation could have been, until my paramedic told me that they see the most runner-vehicle accidents resulting in death on this road in particular and said "darling you have got a guardian angel with you today."  Did I jump and turn my butt toward the van? Who knows.  The mirror was laying on the ground beside me.

But you should see the looks of Gwen's side mirror.

Good men.  

 When I was sitting in the ditch and I heard the sirens I thought "omg I'm so embarassed."  So a firetruck, which arrived before the ambulance, an ambulance, two cop cars, and a mobile paramedic were on the scene.

After filling out accident reports and such, the sheriff handed Gwen a ticket and said "I'm going to have to give you a ticket for reckless driving, I don't think I have to explain why...this could have been much worse."  The sheriff who drove me home was great.  I asked him so many questions and learned so many top secret state police insiders that I can't tell anyone!!!!!!!  That's a lie.  But I did ask him if we could go 110mph and he said no. Maybe next time? 

Good thing I have a stinky iPhone 3 instead of the iPhone 4 or else my camera would have flashed and he would have known I took this picture.  But then he's a sheriff and investigates things so he probably knows I took this picture..

So this guy took me home.  It was a LONG drive home.  How did I casually run that?  When I got home I was all alone in my apartment and I think things just started setting in for me.  I surely seemed so nonchalant and unaffected at the site of the accident but when I got home I kept thinking about what COULD have happened.  If I were looking at the mountains to my left or the cows to my right I wouldn't have seen the van coming and I would have essentially been dead on the side of the road right now.  If I wouldn't have made the move out of the way when I did, my head could have gone through her windshield, my legs could have been broken, my ACL could have torn?! ( :D) 

Watching a van coming straight for me at 55mph is a feeling that I would never wish upon anyone.  It was the most frightening experience of my life and I can't help but think about what could have been and wonder why it wasn't worse.  Jeannie came over for a little while and let me cry on her lap and listened to my story and was so sweet.  She took me to Festival so we could get some dinner cause I hadn't eaten all day and then offered to take me to the hospital if I decided I wanted to go.  I am so thankful to have wonderful people in my life!

I ended up going to the ER later in the evening just to make sure nothing was cracked or chipped (per my mom's request) and all was good.  I had a severe headache all night, and accidentally put shampoo on my loofa, but other than that I was fine.  I woke up this morning headache free and have much more hip pain than I did yesterday and it hurts more to walk but that's to be expected.  I think the shock of the accident has affected me the most.

Have you ever had a near death experience? How did it affect you?  How long did it take for the shock of the situation to wear off?

Thankful for: having legs that allow me to run, lungs that allow me to breathe, and a life that allows me to live.

Pending purchases: Road ID, brighter running clothes, sidewalks for every road in the world (donations accepted).

It's strange that this happened to me because on Friday night I was talking to my anatomy professor at the bar and telling him that I think I should write an "advance directive" because you never know when something could happen to you.  Even though I'm not of dying age I think it would be a good thing to do.  Do you have a living will or advance directive?!

Gwen said she wasn't paying attention to the road and that she was looking down.  I vow to always pay attention to the road, to never text while driving, and to eliminate any driving distractions to the best of my ability.

I'm so glad that I made it home from my run yesterday. One wrong move could have changed mine and Gwen's lives forever.

Take care,

Natalie