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"Safety Dance" hunt

February 18, 2014 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: mid 40s, "dry skies", but saturated ground

Comments:
OK day. Busy at work again, and had to wait 'til the end of the day to get my allergy injection. They're now almost full strength, so I definitely "feel it" when I get one: my arm gets SUPER-ITCHY (like a skeeter bite), and internally, I feel tired/weak. So...not great, but I hope they pay off.

Lewis declared a "Safety Dance": something LB used to do, where you go way overboard on reflective/bright shit. So lewis had on like 3 vests, multiple flashing lights, and ran with a helium balloon behind him. The rest of us had some other reflective/flashing shit, so it was quite a scene.

Ran from his place, through the golf course, which was utterly saturated with water. It had rained HARD all day but thankfully abated for the entire run. But the ground was still sopping wet, causing multiple falls by the group of 8 or so of us.

Mr Roberts fell a couple times on the golf course, but it was his third fall that was notable. While running down on the backside of Hendricks through the thick woods, his foot caught a downed branch and he flew forward, striking his L hand on another branch. When he got up, a huge flap (an inch square) OPENED to the butt of his hand, exposing a lot of tissue! It didn't bleed a lot, but it was significant and full of shit!

...Today was a weird day...a "down" day, and week, after the Chels stuff. But a couple notable things happened where I totally dropped the ball.

First: as I'm approaching the allergy clinic, I see at the intersection there's a car bashed into a fire hydrant/the curb. There's no water gushing or anything "wrong" with the car, but clearly it rammed into something. There's a driver in the car just sitting there. Another car had just pulled over to go see the person (a woman? I dunno, but probably, right?).

I drive past and park...but I don't go and help, or at least see if they need help. I *knew* inside me that I should...but I didn't. Why? I dunno...because it's awkward? Because the clinic was closing in 10 min? I dunno, but I essentially shirk the responsibility. Later, after my shot, there's a tow truck and utility truck out there. No ambulances or anything, but...why didn't I help?

Fast-forward to Mr Roberts' fall. His hand is gashed open. Not bleeding or super-painful, but significant. Lewis gives him a hankerchief (the SAME yellow one I work for WS!) and I tied it on tight.

We're two miles from Lewis', and in a dark, sparse neighborhood on the back side of Hendricks Park. Mr Roberts is adamant that he wants to wash out the wound. I didn't think it was necessary or all that helpful (it needs to be antiseptic), but he really wanted to -- I think it was more peace of mind.

Yet...we just kept running. I thought, "Fuck, we should just knock on the door of one of these houses and go in an rinse it. He needs that." But I didn't do anything. I thought about the "rejection"/awkwardness of having to approach a house in the dark, wearing weird, reflective shit, and asking for help. So I didn't. We kept running. I felt bad.

Finally, he and another guy SNEAK behind a house and use their hose spigot to rinse off...and we run back to Lewis'. I did tell him to go to Urgent Care (which he did, which was good, because there was a lot of debris in there, even post-rinse).

But, fuck, man...what's going on? I'm slipping...I'm dropping the ball on "What The World Needs From Me". And today there were shocking examples of that.

And, as it would turn out, those very elements would be the primary driver of the tension with Chels...

Post-run: had beers, per usual. Mr Roberts went to Urgent Care and got cleaned/stitched and made it back in time for a beer and "war stories".

Wore my OLD Brooks Cascadias!