I was supposed to do a Tempo, 7 miles, with 5 at 7:42. It was dark already when I got home so I headed for the gym. Did my mile warm up, and hit the speed: 7.8 with .1 incline. I was suffering already. The gym was hotter than usual, and I saw both doors were wide open, something was definitely off. A mile later my HR is way higher than it should be and I had gone through half my water bottle. To top off my suffering this guy goes and changes the channels, so now I had 3 sports channels on. UGH. I really needed a distraction or I was not gonna finish this mess. I get off the treadmill to ask him to change 1 channel back to a comedy or something funny. I am sweating like there is no tomorrow, I am really tired. He gets me The Simpsons, whatever, it’ll work. I get back on the treadmill and next thing I know, I am being yanked away from the treadmill (at 7.8!!!!), I I hit the floor and then ellipticals that were on my back.

I hit first with my left shoulder, which started hurting instantly. Then both my knees, on the right side, and my hip bone. I managed to get up from the floor. I think people are helping me. Soon I realize I am surrounded by people asking me stuff, no clue what. They wanted me to sit or something. I pull my shorts down and I see blood on my hip, a lot of blood. It hurts. Two seconds later my left arm is burning like it was chopped off, and it’s not moving, both my knees are already red, swollen, and bloody. This is bad. Last time something like this happened I didn’t get any pain until the day after… Oh, they keep talking and looking at me, someone wants me to do something, sit down, someone comes with band aids… I say ok, but I need to grab my stuff first. My keys, and my water bottle, which I can’t hold. The pain is excruciating and both my legs are shaking. Oh, I look at the screen, I was at 2.7. When am I going to finish this tempo? Is this going to mess up my week’s mileage? They all keep asking me things, and I wished they left me alone… I am still bleeding, shaking, and pulling my shorts down. They are asking what happened… the guy who was running by me said the TM was on. I say it wasn’t. But of course it was, I was just so tired and hot I had no clue what I was doing. I start moving and looking at all these people around me, they follow me, they want to call 911, they want to get ice, they want me to sit down. I say I am going home, every time something goes wrong I just want to go home. Like I can hide in there from all the bad in the world. When I get home, this will be just a bad dream. Those two blocks… I was in a daze, and moaning, I cross the streets without looking. I get home and had lots of trouble getting out of my clothes, my left arm is just not moving, I curse the impossible sports bra and consider leaving it on forever or cutting it with scissors. I gulp 4 motrins, get in the shower, scream like a crazy person and then I felt a bit better…

It’s been 1 hour. It still hurts but I am going to call it a night; I am hoping the motrins and the ice do their thing. I hope I can sleep. I might have to have a drink. It is all really swollen, red, bumpy, scratchy and bloody. My arm is really not moving at all. It looks bad. It hurts like hell. This is why I hate the gym. And tempos. And treadmills.

There’s been just too many bad things happening this past week, this needs to stop, it really needs to stop. I am turning the phone, and pain, and the world off. I am hoping I wake up in a different week tomorrow. UGH.