Forums >General Running>Falling while running- I'm I really that lame???
Latent Runner
Falls are always better with an audience.
LOL!
Back in 1990 at the Chicago Sun Times Triathlon, I was entering the Bike-to-Run transition area and running my checklist through my head; stop bike, dismount, hang bike on rack, helmet off, bike shoes off, running shoes on, run...
I forgot one item, "Unclip my cycling shoes from the pedals"; I rolled to a stop in front of my assigned spot, right in front of a course marshal no less, and did an "Arte Johnson" (if you're too young to remember, he was the guy in a yellow rain coat on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In who was always falling over on his tricycle); I tipped, tipped a little more, and then fell right down on my left side. The course marshal asked me if anything was damaged and I said, "Only my ego." He laughed and said, "That'll heal."
Fat old man PRs:
Half Fanatic 12680
Tripped and fell while running on cobblestones (will never try that again!) the last week in August. Biggest impact on my knee and chin. I was on vacation in Montreal and I tried to walk back to my hotel, but my knee swelled up to about 3 times its normal size and was bleeding copiously so I had to take an ambulance ride to the ER for stitches in my knee. It took a month for the swelling in my knee to go down; stitches and abrasions took even longer to heal and my chin was swollen and badly bruised for about 3 weeks. The good news was no bones or ligaments were broken, sprained, strained or torn. Still, I felt pretty clutzy and couldn't believe I injured myself so much by just tripping!
You are not lame, everybody falls especially on hard trails. I fell three times in Cradle to Grave 30k then had to slow down.
Learn how to land. Don't land on your face or stick out your hands. Its really hard not to try to catch yourself with your hands.
Focus when you are on a hard section of a trail. It is hard for me to focus more than about 45 min. so that's when I go down.
Running at night will help you with your balance. When all you can see is the beam from your light the loss of vision to the sides
naturally makes you shorten your stride and shift your balance back towards your center. Try closing your eyes for a few strides and feel the difference. You want fall as much if you're not leaning forward.