Fall Back

Fall Back – a way to remember the time change from daylight savings time to standard time.

Fall – a beautiful crisp season in which the tree leaves turn colors and fall from the trees.

Fall – an accident that adults dread.

Fall proof – is there such a thing?  

I am fairly clumsy and tend to fall frequently.  Luckily, I have never been seriously injured.  The worst fall was probably when I was about 20 miles along on a long race in Utah.  I tripped on a tiny rock on a flat dirt trail and went flying.  I skinned my hands, forearms, and knees, and somehow broke a rib too.  I finished the 50 kilometer portion of the race, but dropped from the 100 mile race.

I am sure that my plantar fasciitis played a role in that fall as my feet were really hurting prior to the fall.

The scariest fall was when I tripped on my poles in the dark on a trail while running the Hardrock 100 in Colorado.  I went head over heels and imagined I was careening off a cliff as it was happening.  Thankfully and happily, I found myself on my back in the grass.  

The most embarrassing fall was while crossing a sidewalk in Concord, New Hampshire.  I remember asking a nurse mentor 22 years ago about my propensity for falling and she advised me to get myself checked out.  However, I did not.  

In October this year, I fell on my hip and shoulder due to some very slippery leaves while trying to hang laundry out on a hill.  Just bruises as a result.

One approach I could take would be to never do anything risky.  But that would make life very boring.  I do not live in fear of falling or getting hurt.  However, I could start a balance exercise routine and that might help.

Good balance is combination of stable ground under my feet, and several parts of my body working well:   inner ear, blood pressure, muscles, and feet.  Another approach would be to work on balance specific exercises.  

Working on balance is not something that I have ever done in the past.

I will choose to focus on my feet because that is likely where I will be able to make the most improvement given what I know about myself and because I think the issue is probably originating in my feet. 

If you are having balance issues, consult your primary care doctor for an evaluation as there are some medical issues that can result in poor balance and medical treatment may be needed.  

I will set out some very specific goals for myself to achieve that are attainable, measurable, realistic and time limited.  

I started this blog post on the weekend of the fall time change, but because I am very talented at procrastination and starting a new routine each day is difficult to do, I did not start on my foot balance exercises.  

Then last week while I was running up a local mountain trail, I lost my balance twice and my feet ended up in the cold mountain stream.  I resolved to get started…