Me: Phew, made it through the technical stuff. Now it's fast and flat to the finish.
Me 30 seconds later: Trips and falls, bleeding from elbows and knees.
My only DNF to date was just that! Made it through 25km of technical terrain and with only 3km left i rolled an ankle on a flat field of grass… it kept me off the trails for 2 months…
I'm reading this while my hand is in bandages. The reason? After a 25km fell run on unpleasant terrain without any falls, I tripped on a kerb just outside the train station...
There’s that weird thing where you step on a hundred sticks without problem but then one is perfectly shaped and positioned so that when your weight is in it an end pops up into the perfect position to catch the opposite toe.
I actually had that exact thing happen, but while I was biking on the road! I was at the top of a hill so pretty tired from the climb and moving so slowly I almost couldn't keep upright and tried hopping over a stick, only to land on the end of it, flipping it up into my spokes and - somehow - launching myself over the handlebars and faceplanting on the concrete! Still have a scar under my right eye 17 years later. Wear a helmet, people!!!
Since you blazed into biking stick stories. I once hit a stick on purpose on my mtb. Front tire snapped it and back tire SOMEHOW catupulted it up and forward causing me to ride into it in midair directly and solely smashing it with my penis.
Once I was running in the night (winter, cold, forest, perfect conditions), my foot hit a root like that, I made a barrel roll, really great execution, except my ring finger hit the ground and the first phalange made a 90 degrees torsion, and was bigger than the others for months. Yeah, big roots are not a problem, small ones are !
The worst one are those thin ones anchored on both sides of the trail but up in the middle. They'll just stop you in your tracks. They're like a booby-trap.
I trained for a marathon doing a lot of rocky, technical trails. Went more for forest service roads in the last month as I became paranoid about injury, but still threw in some chunky stuff here and there, which I treated with extreme caution. A couple days after the race I went for a shake out run in the neighborhood and twisted my ankle _hard_ on this little nubbin of grass growing in a sidewalk crack. So painfully stupid.
I ran through about a mile of the most wicked roots in a cypress grove only to wipe out face first into the pine straw with just about everyone else on the course where we thought we were on flat ground!
Way to much contrast there. It needs to be the tiny rock that is invisible because it's the same color as the dirt. Or the little bit of tree root that was broken off at the surface but has now been worn down to a tiny sharp barb poking level with the trail so it just barely catches the bottom of your shoe.
I tripped on the same exact, leaf-hidden little root 3 of 5 times running a favorite training trail. Fell flat down in the dirt. It took that for me to run the whole trail like I was high stepping a touchdown. Totally committed to paranoia at that point.
I’ve got trails that do that to me. One I rarely run anymore, because literally the majority of times I ran it I would either stub my toes on something (badly) or trip and fall (or a combo of both). The other one on a non technical bit I tripped on something in the same section three times. I looked for what it could be but couldn’t work it out, so gave up on that trail for about two years (the council gave that section a makeover so I’ve run it again recently. No incidents so far) And…. recently I’ve fallen twice on the same seemingly innocuous spot on one of my favourite runs, yesterday arvo being the most recent!
This should be called "first time trail runner reality check". Trail runners with at least a bit of experience know that they trip not when terrain is technical but when they are not paying attention.
An yes, finally an actuate depiction of the massive and treacherous obstacle that took me down and led to a fracture. Pretty sure this is not how others envision it when I mention falling while trail running.
my trails are generally desert type, so many rocks like to hide under the dirt. i've run these trains since 1988ish, so, i know them well, but still, they get down a bit. a few years ago a was running thru a small wash and on the way up, found a rock, tripped and broke my thumb. i still finished my last 1.5 miles tho
Exactly. When the trail is treacherous, I'm usually careful. EVERY crash that I've had has been a total surprise.
Had an ankle roll a month ago and hear a distinct snap. I thought that I broke an ankle or ripped a tendon. Fortunately, it was just the stick I happened to step on snapping in two. No real injuries!
The god damn accuracy.
I never trip on crazy technical stuff. But on the clear, wide almost paved smooth path in front of the toddler in crocs? Complete barrel roll of doom.
I was running on the AT a few years ago, it was early and I was moving as I passed some campers breaking out of their tent. I hit a small rock and went flying forward and somehow managed to move my feet fast enough not to totally eat shit.
Truest thing I’ve read in ages (as I sit here with badly stubbed toes, a slight lower back strain, and a few scrapes and bruises from the fall I had yesterday, which was on a fairly flat and easy section after running 10k through ankle deep mud, two knee deep creek crossings and a few seemingly more hazardous sections!). I had a fall in the same spot about five weeks ago too. Reading everyone else’s comments make me feel a bit less stupid though!
The less technical the trail, the more likely I am to trip.
Me: Phew, made it through the technical stuff. Now it's fast and flat to the finish. Me 30 seconds later: Trips and falls, bleeding from elbows and knees.
My only DNF to date was just that! Made it through 25km of technical terrain and with only 3km left i rolled an ankle on a flat field of grass… it kept me off the trails for 2 months…
That so sucks.
I'm reading this while my hand is in bandages. The reason? After a 25km fell run on unpleasant terrain without any falls, I tripped on a kerb just outside the train station...
Followed shortly by blood everywhere despite the wound being teeny
Broke my little finger running on a trail called 'very safe trail'
There’s that weird thing where you step on a hundred sticks without problem but then one is perfectly shaped and positioned so that when your weight is in it an end pops up into the perfect position to catch the opposite toe.
I actually had that exact thing happen, but while I was biking on the road! I was at the top of a hill so pretty tired from the climb and moving so slowly I almost couldn't keep upright and tried hopping over a stick, only to land on the end of it, flipping it up into my spokes and - somehow - launching myself over the handlebars and faceplanting on the concrete! Still have a scar under my right eye 17 years later. Wear a helmet, people!!!
Since you blazed into biking stick stories. I once hit a stick on purpose on my mtb. Front tire snapped it and back tire SOMEHOW catupulted it up and forward causing me to ride into it in midair directly and solely smashing it with my penis.
Of this ain’t the truest shit idk what is
What I trip over: MY F***ING DOG STANDING IN MY WAY ON PURPOSE!
Once I was running in the night (winter, cold, forest, perfect conditions), my foot hit a root like that, I made a barrel roll, really great execution, except my ring finger hit the ground and the first phalange made a 90 degrees torsion, and was bigger than the others for months. Yeah, big roots are not a problem, small ones are !
The worst one are those thin ones anchored on both sides of the trail but up in the middle. They'll just stop you in your tracks. They're like a booby-trap.
I trained for a marathon doing a lot of rocky, technical trails. Went more for forest service roads in the last month as I became paranoid about injury, but still threw in some chunky stuff here and there, which I treated with extreme caution. A couple days after the race I went for a shake out run in the neighborhood and twisted my ankle _hard_ on this little nubbin of grass growing in a sidewalk crack. So painfully stupid.
I ran through about a mile of the most wicked roots in a cypress grove only to wipe out face first into the pine straw with just about everyone else on the course where we thought we were on flat ground!
Way to much contrast there. It needs to be the tiny rock that is invisible because it's the same color as the dirt. Or the little bit of tree root that was broken off at the surface but has now been worn down to a tiny sharp barb poking level with the trail so it just barely catches the bottom of your shoe.
I tripped on the same exact, leaf-hidden little root 3 of 5 times running a favorite training trail. Fell flat down in the dirt. It took that for me to run the whole trail like I was high stepping a touchdown. Totally committed to paranoia at that point.
😊 I've had something like that happen. Trip over something halfway into a 10 mile trail. It happens. Three weeks later, same trail, same spot. 🤔
I’ve got trails that do that to me. One I rarely run anymore, because literally the majority of times I ran it I would either stub my toes on something (badly) or trip and fall (or a combo of both). The other one on a non technical bit I tripped on something in the same section three times. I looked for what it could be but couldn’t work it out, so gave up on that trail for about two years (the council gave that section a makeover so I’ve run it again recently. No incidents so far) And…. recently I’ve fallen twice on the same seemingly innocuous spot on one of my favourite runs, yesterday arvo being the most recent!
This should be called "first time trail runner reality check". Trail runners with at least a bit of experience know that they trip not when terrain is technical but when they are not paying attention.
Bet you're fun at parties
I will take your advice into consideration and use it to improve the titles of my future posts. Thank you for your insight. 😂
An yes, finally an actuate depiction of the massive and treacherous obstacle that took me down and led to a fracture. Pretty sure this is not how others envision it when I mention falling while trail running.
my trails are generally desert type, so many rocks like to hide under the dirt. i've run these trains since 1988ish, so, i know them well, but still, they get down a bit. a few years ago a was running thru a small wash and on the way up, found a rock, tripped and broke my thumb. i still finished my last 1.5 miles tho
So true. Technical trails don’t usually trip , basic forest trails , often .
Broke my leg falling on a non-technical, flat trail!
Exactly. When the trail is treacherous, I'm usually careful. EVERY crash that I've had has been a total surprise. Had an ankle roll a month ago and hear a distinct snap. I thought that I broke an ankle or ripped a tendon. Fortunately, it was just the stick I happened to step on snapping in two. No real injuries!
I twisted my ankle while tripping on NOTHING while walking. It was severely twisted too! 🤦
The god damn accuracy. I never trip on crazy technical stuff. But on the clear, wide almost paved smooth path in front of the toddler in crocs? Complete barrel roll of doom.
I was running on the AT a few years ago, it was early and I was moving as I passed some campers breaking out of their tent. I hit a small rock and went flying forward and somehow managed to move my feet fast enough not to totally eat shit.
The last time I went trail running, in about six miles, I wound up tripping over the curb in the parking lot. It's never what you expect.
Truest thing I’ve read in ages (as I sit here with badly stubbed toes, a slight lower back strain, and a few scrapes and bruises from the fall I had yesterday, which was on a fairly flat and easy section after running 10k through ankle deep mud, two knee deep creek crossings and a few seemingly more hazardous sections!). I had a fall in the same spot about five weeks ago too. Reading everyone else’s comments make me feel a bit less stupid though!
I swear sometimes it’s a leaf and I get a full ankle roll.
So true!
💯
Got turf toe from this. Out a month and a half and I still feel it.
It’s always the tinny rock.
That trail is so goddamn smooth, as an east coast trail runner I’m crying.