Tuesday 2/25
Week 1/16 for Mohican 100 miler
Sabraton Rail Trail
5mile 40 minutes
Morning run kicked off at 7, almost beating the snowfall. Back home by 8 and I am pretty sure that I woke up a quarter til 9. After my run I stopped at Sheetz for a Mountain Dew Kick Start. There are probably better things on the shelves for me, but they taste great and get me where I want to go. Sheetz is the best perk to living in the PA to NC stretch of land. While on my run I got inspired to do a short top three list. The inspiration came while my leg kicked out on me and I nearly fell. Driving four miles back to my house made, I saw two spin outs and one crash along i68. Watching others crash is the most encouraging event that I see during the winter. Every wreck I pass thinking: man, I am a better driver than that person. I am certain that the people in charge of that interstate are either unemployed or take pride in having the worst interstate in the country. Granted, the highway began construction under LBJ's term so I suppose it was doomed from the beginning.
Anyway, here are my three most painful falls in my running career:
3. '13 Summer, Cooper's Rock- I got a fresh tattoo on my right quad the day before this run and it was my first time running with it. The only reason I mention that is because it makes the story a little funnier. Running with Josh through the trails at Cooper's Rock we headed down a long decline. That's when I caught my left foot in a root, but that is common on those trails; to trip up. On that run I happened to trip twice, on consecutive steps. My step after sticking my foot under a root I kicked a rock that sent me falling faster than I have ever fallen. First thing to hit the ground- face. The fall would have easily been the most painful fall if I had not fallen in a huge pit of mud. Most of the mud was wiped off, but mud was mixed in to the lotion over my tattoo and I continued to run for another hour with a nice coat of mud up my leg and most of my body.
2. '08 Summer, Fairmont Senior High School- The summer leading into my sophomore cross country season, I was running more than ever at that point in my life. That just meant running every day. I can't recall my company, but I know it was several cross country teammates of mine and we were running through Fairmont when we took a short cut through our school. Without a second thought, I jumped over a rail and onto the sidewalk. I clipped my foot on the top of the rail and fell on my side. it didn't hurt much because I broke my fall with my hand. I popped back up and finished the run and thought nothing of it. The only reason it is the second most painful fall is because I got a nagging pain in my wrist from breaking that fall. That pain exists still to this day, but after almost six years it feels normal now.
1. 09-10 Winter, WVU Coliseum- Accompanied by my best friend, Patrick, we were running late for an indoor workout at a WV Flyers session. Traffic caused us to be half of an hour late and on top of that it was a home game for WVU's basketball team. That means there wasn't parking within a mile of the Coliseum which was inconveniently located next to the indoor track. After parking we both threw our track bags over our shoulder and took off for the track. We were in full stride coming down the hill from the Coliseum's main parking lot and towards it's lower parking lot when we confronted a wall of snow that stood higher than a woman's steeple (so was only slightly off of the ground). I hurdled the snow and landed momentarily on my right foot before it kicked out to the side. This crash was comparable to the video below of Marv's tumble down the stairs in Home Alone. I will forever remember time freezing while my body was completely parallel to the icy ground before crashing. If there were not groups pouring into the Coliseum to watch the game, I could have laid there for a few days and waited for the pain to go away. That day was one of the many days that showed me that Patrick is a better friend than I am. After I went down, he just helped me up and made sure I was alright. The dozens of times that I have witnessed him fall I have tried my best not to crumble in laughter.
In the comment box, let me know if you have any similar or better stories of a fall on a run. Or a fall in general, but falling while just walking around is pretty embarrassing so I understand if you don't want to share a story like that.
*I will post my favorite stories tomorrow on the blog. And like 50-60 people read this daily (last two days) , so you'd be famous.
I did manage a short nap in between runs today, but I woke to discover that I was serving as a pillow to the queen honey badger. She saw me click this picture and removed me from the bed; declaring the bed as her day throne.
Botanical Gardens
7.5 miles 65 min
Second run of the day was back at the gardens with more snow than yesterday. Josh lent me a headlamp for the second run since we stayed out past the sunlight. Making tonight the first time I have ever turned on a headlamp. The rush it gave me is unexplainable.. We had to deal with a solid coat of snow for the entire run, but luckily I have the best trail shoes ever. I have the New Balance 110 v2 and I love them. What I love most about them is the fact that Josh gave them to me last month and after running in other trail shoes he realized that he liked the NB that he gave me best. When he went to purchase them online he realized that they are not released until this July. That makes the shoes so much more enjoyable because as everyone knows; no givesy backsies.
OKAY. It's time to comment below: Leave me your favorite/funniest/gnarliest fall on or off a run before and I will post my favorites tomorrow evening!
The year was 2010. Alcohol hadn't damaged my liver yet and the only high I had experienced was from running. With its highs though came its lows. One of those lows was a frigid cold run on Sycamore Creek Road where I reside. It was your standard out and back run with the battle of the elements. I approached a downhill paying far too much attention to the All American Rejects blaring in my ears than to the approaching SUV. I caught sight of the vehicle with plenty of time to get out of the way but my instincts failed me. A normal person maybe misteps and continues running down the hill. I catch the jagged edge of the road and fall to my doom. My knee grazes the asphalt or whatever country back roads in wv are made from and starts bleeding in the snow. This detail is either missed by the approaching family or they are all extremely sadistic and are laughing extremely hard. To add further injury to the spectacle I've made of myself some snow splashed into my running shorts. The distance to my house was not a ridiculous distance by distance running standards but when every step is a frozen reminder you may lose a key part of your male anatomy you begin to wonder why you ran so far. Somehow I survived the run and the day but it will forever be remembered as one of my darker moments. Thanks Dayton for allowing me to type this embarrassing story and keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI used to run everywhere I went in high school, because walking bored me. You could say I'm an adrenaline junkie. The adrenaline of falling is on another level, though. One day I was running- literally running- a Dr.'s note to the school office. As I ran (full speed nonetheless) across the front lawn I tripped over my own foot and did a face dive onto the grass. My natural grace took me straight into a front roll, I popped back up and started running again- hoping nobody had seen my impromptu somersault in the front lawn.
ReplyDeleteA few hours later I got called to the office, where a crowd of students, teachers, and office workers were around the television reviewing footage from one of the school's 150 security cameras. They all burst out in laughter upon me interring the room. Apparently someone had caught me on "candid camera"- after I thought I got away with it with nothing more than a bruised ego. Luckily I love laughing at myself, so I joined in. Embarrassing, yet very me.
I'm not sure what the exact date was but during a run on a mountain I had a bit of a hugging moment with the ground. It was a fantastic run and I was feeling pretty excited (common on my runs and accidents). Well anyway I'm with the group and we're going a decent quick pace and before we go up a steep incline, everyone makes a sudden 180 degree turn. I, being easily surprised, turn in a manner similar to Michael Jackson. Only problem is when I rotated and tried to go in the opposite direction the momentum of my speed and the loose dirt beneath my feet cause me to slip and hit both knees on the ground. I did finish my 10 mile run that day but I was basically half running/ limping for the rest of the treck. Still a run in my top ten though.
ReplyDeleteAbout 10 minutes before the gun at cross country regionals at JM in 2008 I had to go to the bathroom really bad and but didnt want to wait in the long line. I decided to run down the steep hill across the street and flew head over heels into where (I'm pretty sure) they dumped the porta johns/a ruptured septic tank or something. I was so pissed I punched the ground next to me and it flew into my mouth. I had to where a girl's uniform and bathed in hand sanitizer and clorox wipes before I started the race.
ReplyDeleteAnother memorable fall happend in 2011ish. I went for a normal 10 miler with my teammates at Jesuit and tripped on the sidewalk and had to get 11 stitches in my hip. I've never seen that much blood in my life.
Fall 2013:
ReplyDeleteIt was a typical Autumn afternoon in the lovely city of Wheeling. The leaves on the trees had finally arrived at that perfect mixture of colors and were beginning to leave the safety of their branches. The Wheeling Jesuit Men's Cross country team was approximately 1 mile into one of their famous 11 milers, and we had just crossed over from the busy streets onto the quiet bike trail that stretches into downtown. We were at the peak of cross country season, so our morale was at its highest- nothing could bring down our spirits. Senior leader and borderline alcoholic Luke Holubeck became entranced by one of the many falling leaves. He thought to himself, "I must have it." His blind passion and desire for the leaf made him unable to notice the runners around him. He leapt toward the leaf like a lion for his defenseless prey. However, his path was blocked by an unassuming teammate: me. Our legs immediately became entangled, with his gaining the advantage. My legs failed me, and I fell to the ground. My hands hit first with my knee to follow. I was in shock. The pain in my knee was great, but the pain of betrayal by a close friend was far greater.
That was....(wiping tears from the corner of my eyes) beautiful.
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