2020 vs. 2022

Two years ago yesterday I headed out for a run.  I blogged about it here.  "I got up yesterday morning and wanted to take advantage of a week of altitude training.  I went for a nice 5 mile run.  I felt great until the final mile...  my feet got a little tangled up and I found myself flying and then landing with a painful thud.  I'm not sure how it happened, but my sunglasses slammed into my face and I'm now sporting my first ever black eye!  I am okay, banged up and sore, but I'm thankful that I was able to get back up and hobble the final steps home."  (You can read about the progression of my black eye here.)

 

Yesterday I went for a wonderful trail run.  Nine miles with almost 1,300 feet of elevation gain (and just as much loss!)  I felt strong and stayed upright!

In a lot of ways that seems like how the year 2020 was versus 2022!  Lock downs, social distancing and masks were the buzz words of 2020.  While COVID is still around, I'm glad that many of us have gotten back to a more normal life.  Even if there are still a few downed trees in our path...

The moral of the story?  When life gives you a black eye, get back up!  There are beautiful mountain tops and blue skies ahead.

 

Friday Fotos ~ The Progression of a Black Eye Series

As I mentioned, I fell while out running a week ago Monday.  Along with the normal scrapes and bruises I also got my first black eye.  I thought it was important (or weird) to document the changes that happened each day:

Day 1, Monday 11/30 about 30 minutes after I got home:

 

 It was hard to capture just hard large the bump over my eye was.  By that evening, I had my first "shiner."

Day 2, Tuesday, the purple had set in completely:

This is the only non-selfie, that's why it appears my black eye switched sides!

Day 3, Wednesday, was my eye opened or closed?

Day 4, Thursday

Day 5, Friday, starting to see some green above my eye and bruising in my cheek:

Day 6, Saturday, the "bug eyed" look.  I actually left the house for the first time. 

Day 7, Sunday.  Guess who was scheduled to praise sing?  Thank God for outdoor service so I could keep my sunglasses on!!

 

Day 8, Monday.  One week later, most of the swelling was gone, some of the purple is starting to fade:

Day 9, Tuesday.  The purple above my eye is fading, but still a dark purple ring below...

Day 10, Wednesday

Day 11, Thursday

Day 12, Friday.  Here I am today, wondering how long that dark purple is going to hang around!

I'm feeling better each day and plan to start my Christmas baking today!  There has been one great thing that came out of my injury - I've started using Target's online ordering with drive up pickup.  It's so awesome to have someone else walk the store aisles, bag everything and bring it out to my car.  They even load it into my trunk!  Now if I could just get someone to put stuff away once I get it home...