Down for the count

Yesterday was the S.W.A.T Trot 5k at Brookwood High School in Snellville, GA. I had been looking forward to this race for a long time for multiple reasons.

The good news first. My Daughter, Payton, and I first ran the 1k fun run together. It was her first race and we were both looking forward to it a lot. My plan was to run the 1k with her and then I would run the 5k following. We took off and some of the kids took off really fast, but I knew they would run out of steam quickly, and they did. We ran hard and she came in second overall with a time of 4:13 (on my watch - 3:59 on the official clock seen in the picture). She was only beat by a young boy who did an excellent job pacing himself and running a good race. She got a nice plaque for being the first place female, I am just bummed she was not there to receive her reward.

Now, the bad news. I lined up to run the 5k and I was excited to hopefully set a new PR. I was secretly aiming for a sub 22 5k as my last 5k was the Saratoga 5k Fun Run, a very hilly course, and I finished in 23:23. I started near the front, but not right at the front. It was neat to see that Mike Beaudreau was there to run this race as well and lined up right in front of me.

The race kicked off and I was taking off fast to try and get a good place and position to run the race in. Not even 100 yards into the race we were all going at a pretty good pace, but yet all bunched together. Someone behind me hit one of my feet and tripped me up. I thought I was going to be able to catch myself and continue but it threw my balance off too much and I went down, and went down pretty hard too.

When I hit the pavement moving along like I was there was no way to catch my fall so I hit the ground really hard with my left elbow, shoulder, and head. I heard the scream, RUNNER DOWN! and unfortunately it was me. A runner stopped to help me up, and then I waddled off to the side where I tried to catch my breath and analyze the damage to see if I could continue. The fall really knocked the wind out of me pretty good and I was having a hard time breathing so I knew I wouldn't finish the race. I started by looking at my shoulder because it was hurting pretty bad. It didn't take long to see I had broken something with the bone feeling so much different than the other side.

Luckily my wife and kids came to watch the race, and after she didn't see me come by she started walking down the road a bit. I told her I was tripped and I thought I broke my shoulder. She looked at me and told me that I had a pretty big knot on my head as well. We couldn't find any paramedics at the race, but there were lots of cops as it was a race to benefit the Gwinnett County S.W.A.T Team. We hopped in the van and headed towards the hospital. Luckily the hospital was only a few miles away.

My wife dropped me off and she ran back home to drop off the kids and get my wallet. While I was sitting in the waiting room I was hurting pretty bad and at one point I started feeling really dizzy and felt like I was going to black out. Luckily My wife got back just in time before they took me to the back. The x-rays came back and proved my theory. I had a broken collar bone. The doctor told me that it was a good break as far as collar bone fractures go and just put me in a sling. My elbow is scrapped a bit, but not bad, and my head is scrapped and has a little bump. The fun thing with my head is wondering how I will continue to shave it.

Well, that is my race report for the S.W.A.T. Trot. Not the type off race report I wanted to give, but that is the way it goes sometimes. I am just really bummed that I will not be able to run the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th now. I just got my Peachtree number this past week, and with my qualifying time of 48:03 I got a number in group 1A, 10521. Depending on how my shoulder goes I may still go down and walk it... we will see.

Wow is it ever hard to type with one hand!

Tim Wilson - blog.262quest.com

18 comments:

  1. Tim, what a horrible thing to happen in a race! Best of luck getting through it and back on track with your training!

    Mike

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  2. Wowzers! Bad luck indeed. I hope you recover soon.

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  3. I am sorry to hear about your fall and broken collar bone. Hope that you feel better soon!

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  4. Oh gosh! That sounds absolutely horrible, I hope that you recovery swiftly :-(

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  5. Thanks all for stopping by and the comments.

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  6. Sorry to read about your broken collar bone. I wish you a speedy recovery! Rest up and take care!

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  7. Tim, man I am SO sorry that happened! You're in my prayers for a QUICK and full recovery! - William

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  8. Oh sorry to hear this! (I'm here via Andrew is getting fit)
    I hope you heal quickly. Congratulations to your daughter though!

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  9. Huge bummer, Tim. Recover and heal soon! Glad it is nothing worse. As for shaving the head... Nair?

    Congratulations to your daughter!

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  10. Hey Tim, that really stinks. I hope you have a quick recovery! Congratulations to your daughter, she sounds like a speedster.

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  11. Oh man Tim- that is tough. I had wanted to come run that race or at least watch you run it but we did my Father-in-Law's father's day Saturday night.
    Take care of that shoulder and heal up soon.

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  12. Hey well done to your daughter that is great stuff. I hope my little one will run with me someday. :)

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  13. Tim, that is terrible news. Be sure to take a look at the x-ray and make sure the bones will align reasonably well. If in doubt, have someone else look at it.

    I hope you heal quickly. You will learn to use pillows creatively when trying to sleep.

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  14. Thank you all for stopping by. I am very proud of my daughter, she did an excellent job!

    Joe - thanks, yea, I am not always real trusting of emergency room doctors. They seem to be jack of all trades, and master of none.

    I am going to my orthopedic dr today (the one I went to with my leg injury last year) and hopefully he can give me a better diagnosis and make sure everything is lined up to heal right the first time.

    Thanks again - Tim

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  15. Yikes - that must have hurt!

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  16. Dude, that's terrible. I totally feel for you. On the bright side, at least you got to run the 1k with your daughter. I hope it heals well and things get back to normal quickly.

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  17. Tim, that is terrible news. Be sure to take a look at the x-ray and make sure the bones will align reasonably well. If in doubt, have someone else look at it.

    I hope you heal quickly. You will learn to use pillows creatively when trying to sleep.

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  18. Huge bummer, Tim. Recover and heal soon! Glad it is nothing worse. As for shaving the head... Nair?

    Congratulations to your daughter!

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