falling over

[cyclops]

And I thought they were to keep your hands warm.

why else do you think Zephr wears those massive padded gloves!!!

[that_fjell_guy]

I've tripped over pavements at least twice! Last year on Corridor Route had a nasty one. With me, I think I just don't pick my feet up enough at times or I'm tired, going too fast for the conditions or something!! Fallings part of the game I'd say. Just get out on rough tracks and learn to pick a good line. Its a bit like mountain biking I have to virtually re-learn the skill to a degree every spring.

[Chris]

I fell into the stream 5 metres before the end of the Long Mynd Valleys race last March, face first at full speed. I was trying to catch 2 people in front down the steep final descent, was looking down concentrating when suddenly i was right up behind them and in danger of taking them both out! took evasive action which saved them but not me. Luckily there was plenty of water in the stream which must have broken the fall, just had a cut knee from the rocks at the bottom, could easily have broken something. Don't think i'm particularly clumsy, i blame the wife who had come to watch and shouted 'come on' as i started the descent meaning i got carried away

[that_fjell_guy]

I fell into the stream 5 metres before the end of the Long Mynd Valleys race last March, face first at full speed. I was trying to catch 2 people in front down the steep final descent, was looking down concentrating when suddenly i was right up behind them and in danger of taking them both out! took evasive action which saved them but not me. Luckily there was plenty of water in the stream which must have broken the fall, just had a cut knee from the rocks at the bottom, could easily have broken something. Don't think i'm particularly clumsy, i blame the wife who had come to watch and shouted 'come on' as i started the descent meaning i got carried away

I did something similar at a North York Moors mid-week race. Coming off the moor I was catching a lad I'd wanted to beat for ages. There was a choice of route...high or low on a dusty landrover track. I dived passed on the low route, going like Linford Christie...next thing I went a**e over t*t. Grazed all my hip and thigh. Had to have a tetnus jab and a day off work, cos the big special plaster all filled with fluid. Not a pretty sight!!

[hat]

thanks everyone for kind and wise words. at least I'm not alone. Andy K talks sense - about not rushing off and about carrying something warm to wear. I know this in theory but don't always practice it - but I learnt on Saturday that it is actually advice worth heeding. Rather stupidly I had set off for a quick 30 minutes - with no extra kit, drink or snacks- and then changed my mind and decided to stay out for a couple of hours. It was pretty cold and very windy and when I fell (towards the end of my run - so yes, probably tired) my hands/gloves got soaked - and the impact on my temperature was unbelievable and instant - hence staggering around when feeling faint - I was desperate to get myself warm. If I'd had a jacket I could have just taken some time to feel ok. So my new resolutions: don't be stupid about kit - having to stop when it's cold means you WILL need an extra layer; and just deal with the fact that essentially minor falls/injuries make me feel like crap - but the crapness passes pretty quick. I'm not so sure about practicing falling - I have a great grassy slope going out of my village and I already wonder if the people in the houses at the bottom think I'm a bit of a loon when I do hill reps. Hill reps with deliberate falling will probably seal my reputation.

[geronimo]

i find you can make any fall more dramatic by yelling loudly AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH is a good example
seriously though, i took a tumble a while back coming down the stony path off Whernside and i was holding a cycling water bottle in my hand which took the impact and slid along the path until i managed to get upright. the only damage was very bad gravel rash on the water bottle. i did do a very good AAAARRRRGGGGHHH though

[Latege]

Like others, I think for me is the major factor is concentration, or rather lack of it. My worst two falls have actually been on the roads, though admittedly one was an unmade, very rough one in Gabon, so more like a farm track by English standards. Learning how to roll wouldn't have helped much. I was on the deck, split chin, torn t-shirt, grazed legs, etc. before I even realised I was falling. (At least in the tropics you don't have to worry about getting cold while you take a moment or two to gather your senses though I did wonder why I was getting even more strange looks than usual on the remaining 9-10 miles of my run - turned out my t-short was rather more torn and bloodied than I realised). Anyway, my point is, I don't have to be on the fells, or rough terrain to fall or even be more likely to. Not watching properly is the bigger culprit.

[sbrt]

[QUOTE=zephr;462414]I think my record is about 7 falls in one race (Kinder Trog last year)


:w00t:Very impresive zephr :thumbup:

[zephr]

[QUOTE=sbrt;462539]

I think my record is about 7 falls in one race (Kinder Trog last year)


:w00t:Very impresive zephr :thumbup:

why thankyou! I shall see if I can improve on that in the upcoming Trial.

[PeteS]

I've had 3 relatively serious falls, thankfully none ending in a major injury - I have still have the scars though!
I think I can put all of them down to tiredness and lack of concentration rather than anything bio-mechanical or gear related.
The prospect of tripping and having a major accident does seem to focus my mind when up in the hills but as soon as I get down and approaching relative safety, my self preservation mode seems to swtch off and I have gone a### over t## more times than I care for!