Knee plank skids and side sit crashes

The combination of a post-boards/pre-work idle life and summer heat have meant many moments, or more correctly many minutes and hours, of a blank mind.  It has even infiltrated my running.  Sunday's long run on the Long Path had two stumbles recovered with high-stepping and bilateral arm windmilling, but it also had one actual fall where I landed in a knee plank skid.  Infrapatellar fat pads have been a little whiny since then, which is to be expected for old lady knees.  (Work them hard under their own volition, including steep hills and "fast" *cough* interval runs, and they are fine; but give them a tiny bit of external perturbation like a fall or special tests and they'll flare up).  Usually when I fall, it means I'm either lacking enough energy/electrolytes or my brain is not paying attention.  In this case, it was the latter.  Pick up yer damn feet, lady.

Today I went for some hill repeats in the rain on the closer of my two usual hills.  No traffic had been coming from the left when I last looked, but when I looked again the last traffic light had just turned green.  I had plenty of time to cross anyways, but decided to wait in light of the rain.  Halfway through my about-face I realized my left foot was not so firmly planted on a wide white stripe of road paint.  Meaning, I realized such because I was falling.  On the way down I prodded myself, Barely ten minutes into the run, and you haven't even gotten to the hill yet.  Good one.  I landed in semi-side sit, connecting with my right hand and the outside of my right knee. 

Luckily I had plenty of time to recover and get out of traffic's way.  The drivers undoubtedly saw the whole thing.  How could you miss someone in a bright, construction site orange shirt when they randomly go from on to off their feet without any obvious cause?  I had to constantly remind myself to focus on form, especially on descents.  This Sunday is the Escarpment Trail Run, a 30k (~18 mile) point-to-point race in the Catskills that includes nearly 10,000 ft of cumulative elevation gain.  For perspective's sake, both the Traprock 50k (~32 mile) and Bear Mtn 50 mile races were somewhere closer to 7000 ft of elevation gain.  There are many points of going hand over foot or sliding down via your bum.  Luckily the novelty of new races in new locations tends to keep me focused on the task.  Gonna be popping a lot of salt pills to make sure I'm mentally in tact - pretty sure it'll take me something like four and a half hours for the 18 miles. 

Side note: the Reese's phase continues, albeit morphed.  Because I had the ingredients at home, suddenly there was pseudo-Reese's to fulfill the craving.

Ridiculous?  Yes, and unapologetically so.