the problem with sidewalks

I carefully mapped a new loop, a very solid 8 miler, that starts by taking me over the interstate and looping back to the regular route west and etc. I am running the same basic loop ad nauseum, and stay to the side streets as much as possible, taking to the sidewalks only when necessary. Those sidewalks watch me, hunt me and have grabbed me more than once. I've fallen and almost fallen now a handful of times. I'm getting to know every crevice and stretch of buckled sections, side curves and bumpers, swales and steps...and still when I least expect it, BOOM! Today I cruised over the overpass, the underpass and began the tricky negotiation next to the construction by the gas station when a guy on a bike headed my way just as the sidewalk began its wacky sideways dip. I side-step and catch my left foot right where a brick juts out from the concrete, bending my ankle into my foot....I feel the 'effect'...and keep running on it, no problem thinking, whew! dodged that bullet! And ran the whole 8 miles. Now I have an ice pack on it and am mad as hell....this is the first time I can remember ever traumatizing my ankles in any way and I know how delicate this can be. Apparently I have not made sufficient homage to the sidewalk gods or negotiated a workable contract. Maybe there are magnetic force fields I need to be channeling to elevate my weight just enough to hover above those buckling, mocking sections. Or specially designed shoes that scope out the landscape and sound warnings...how vigilant does a girl need to be?

We try to prepare and make so many 'informed decisions', when to run, and how and with what gear, what do we eat, drink first, during and intend to consume after, how much rest, what attitude and approach, what's our plan. Then it all comes down to a brick and a stretch of concrete. Many atheletes face much more dire consequences from all sorts of accidents and circumstances, either because of risks they take on themselves or by sheer happenstance. But each encounter with the unplanned and spontaneous is still a test of our ability to "take it in stride" and remember the distance and the goal, a much longer place, beyond anywhere we are in this world. Only our minds will limit us, only our attitude can really hold us back.
So once this ice does it job and my aggravation cools down, it will be back to the roads- and yes, those sidewalks- once more.