Trails 101 – How to fall down.
How I learned to stop worrying and love the fall. (for @evatesq)
It was the league cross country meet in 1979. Several hundred other over-amped teenagers and I lined up in our school colors to race on a mostly grass athletic field based course.
It had rained. Our wave, the boys’ varsity, followed after several hundred other JV runners had already churned the course. On the tight corners the fields had been turned into mud by the stomping and striving of several hundred pair of racing spikes and waffles.
Being solidly in the melee of the mid-pack I was jostled hard by elbows and kicks in the crowd at the corner and I lost my footing in the mud and went down. I emerged at the finish line covered in mud from head to toe to the cheers of my coaches! It didn’t matter that I finished in 135th place. I was a warrior. I fell down, I got up and I finished.
You learn things in high school. I learned that if you run the trails, you’re going to fall down.
There are some things we can do to minimize the falling down.
#1 don’t drag your feet. If you run with a low shuffle you will catch your toes on obstacles. You must learn to lift your feet high enough off the ground to not trip on obstacles. This get’s especially hard when you get fatigued or start day-dreaming – that’s when I typically kiss the dirt.
#2 Choose your line, pick your spots. Looks down the trail and see the trail obstacles coming. Choose a path (or line) through the obstacles that presents the least precarious course. Go around obstacles. Step between the roots and rocks, even if you have to alter your stride length or stop and consider the right thing to do.
#3 Don’t look at the scenery while you’re running. It’s a bit like driving a car. You can take your eyes off the road for quick peaks when you are on a smooth straight road, but when you are on a winding back road with random pot-holes you need to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
#4 Stay in control. This is particularly important when you are going down steep hills or confronted with a sketchy surface like loose gravel, slick rock or even leaves or acorns. If you can’t keep up your eyes with your feet slow down or stop. Don’t lose control.
#5 Use your arms for balance. When things get unstable you can raise your hands out away from your body, and use your arms to offset the sideways forces of a trail camber. It is perfectly acceptable strategy to grab trees, branches and overhanging rocks for balance and leverage as you progress – and it’s fun too.
#6 Adjust your stride to match the terrain. In some places where you are unsure of the surface you may want to take a shorter stride or land more flat-footed to test the ground. On steep loose downhills you may switch to a skipping action to keep both feet in contact with the slope while you skate along.
#7 Consider your shoes. There is a reason trail shoes are designed the way they are. The soles are engineered to grip but not stick. The heels, toes and edges are rolled up to prevent catching on obstacles. Your typical road shoes are not designed grip at strange angles and your foot will slip around in them throwing off your balance.
#8 Give other competitors some room. When Buddy gets tired he will pull in front of me and slow down. When he does this he blocks my line of sight down the trail hindering my ability to choose a good line and avoid obstacles. When you are in a race or run give the person in front of you some room so you can see the trail. This will also give you time to avoid a pile up if they get in trouble.
With enough practice and time in the woods you naturally begin to feel the trail and automatically adjust your stride to compensate for various conditions.
You are still going to fall down every once in a while. I do.
What do you to keep from getting hurt when you fall down? Wear pillows strapped to your body? Install air bags? You don’t have to go to that extreme.
#9 Don’t try to catch yourself. Many times people won’t be hurt by falling down but will actually get hurt trying to catch themselves. In the process of falling you will instinctively try to stay up right by contorting your body into fantastic poses. I have seen more than one person pull or tear something when doing this. The force of your body weight multiplied by velocity, on a muscle, tendon or bone at an odd angle can cause serious damage. You are better off with a controlled tumble than contorting your body dangerously to stay upright.
#10 Don’t put your arm out to stop your fall. This will break your wrist, dislocate your elbow or shoulder.
#11 Choose a soft spot. If you have time to react try to pick a spot where the energy of the fall is dissipated more gradually. Avoid rocks and logs and other immovable objects.
#12 Tuck, roll and pop. When you start to fall tuck your shoulder so you can take the force of the fall in where you are strong. Roll with the momentum of the fall to dissipate energy and if you can pop back up onto your feet. If you can get good at this you’ll look like superman, you won’t get hurt and you won’t even lose any time.
That’s it. On technical trails you can expect to fall down. It’s part of the fun. At some of the harder races you’ll see most of the competitors coming out muddied and bloodied from human-trail interactions. If you do it right falling down shouldn’t make any impact on your performance or ability. Take the fall, get back up, brush yourself off and keep going. It’s a badge of honor.