I've always been a bit of a wimp when it comes to injuries so my strategy has always been to avoid them. Of course, no one goes seeking an injury, but my extra cautious nature has probably also held me back from progressing in sports as much as I otherwise could. With three months of hard work training for the triathlon behind me, nothing would bum me out more than an injury preventing the final two months of training for the June triathlon.
So, I had some trepidation approaching last week's ski trip to Lake Tahoe -- especially, after my friend Sarah reported on Facebook that she was coming home from her latest snowboarding endeavors in a sling. I had already ruled out snowboarding and decided I would stick to skis after last year's bunny hill attempts at learning snowboarding ended in minor injuries for both my husband and me. At least with skis, I had over 20 years of experience to back me up. But then again, my friend Claudette, who has been running for that many years, just reported a running injury that caused her to have surgery.
My other strategy was going to be to stick with the intermediate runs. This lasted all of 2 hours on the first day and then I became bored. So, why not try Ellie's run -- that black diamond looks reasonable. I tackled it successfully.
After lunch, our friend Charlie joined us and we found ourselves on a lift with a lone snowboarder looking for ski mates. "Let's do Pinnacles," everyone else eagerly declared. Hmmm...that's the one with the sign that says "Extra caution. Ungroomed conditions". The peer pressure got the best of me so I said, "Why not". A minute later I was standing on the edge of a steep cliff that the others so easily whizzed down and yelling "I hate you!" to them. I inched my way backwards for about ten minutes to at least get the best angle and somehow made it down upright. From there, the rest of the run seemed easy and by the time I got to the bottom I was saying to my ski mates "what a great run"!
So, I was not destined to fall on these harder ski runs, but as I was humming down a particularly easy intermediate run on the second day my ski caught an uneven pile of snow and I found myself on the ground thanking my helmet for saving my head as it hit the ground. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the second fall that I took was on a green run where the surface was as flat as can be. I thankfully escaped three days of some aggressive skiing (for me) without injury. Then, the morning we were leaving I almost fell down the stairs...but caught myself before any damage could be done to my ankle.
I should know by now that I'm likely not going to injure myself on a black diamond ski run. I'm more likely to injure myself just going to work as it was a year ago this week that the infamous subway accident occurred. I was attempting to get on a crowded subway car when my right leg fell into the gap between the platform and the subway car. I still have the remnants of the bruise on my derriere and the scar on my leg from the stitches.
I was brainstorming ideas in my mind for this week's blog post as I was doing my Sunday laundry. The idea came to me shortly after stubbing my toes and thanking the injury-free gods that they didn't appear broken. After all, my friend Diane recent Facebook posts recount the trials and tribulations of a broken toe that kept her from playing tennis.
So, I had some trepidation approaching last week's ski trip to Lake Tahoe -- especially, after my friend Sarah reported on Facebook that she was coming home from her latest snowboarding endeavors in a sling. I had already ruled out snowboarding and decided I would stick to skis after last year's bunny hill attempts at learning snowboarding ended in minor injuries for both my husband and me. At least with skis, I had over 20 years of experience to back me up. But then again, my friend Claudette, who has been running for that many years, just reported a running injury that caused her to have surgery.
My other strategy was going to be to stick with the intermediate runs. This lasted all of 2 hours on the first day and then I became bored. So, why not try Ellie's run -- that black diamond looks reasonable. I tackled it successfully.
After lunch, our friend Charlie joined us and we found ourselves on a lift with a lone snowboarder looking for ski mates. "Let's do Pinnacles," everyone else eagerly declared. Hmmm...that's the one with the sign that says "Extra caution. Ungroomed conditions". The peer pressure got the best of me so I said, "Why not". A minute later I was standing on the edge of a steep cliff that the others so easily whizzed down and yelling "I hate you!" to them. I inched my way backwards for about ten minutes to at least get the best angle and somehow made it down upright. From there, the rest of the run seemed easy and by the time I got to the bottom I was saying to my ski mates "what a great run"!
So, I was not destined to fall on these harder ski runs, but as I was humming down a particularly easy intermediate run on the second day my ski caught an uneven pile of snow and I found myself on the ground thanking my helmet for saving my head as it hit the ground. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the second fall that I took was on a green run where the surface was as flat as can be. I thankfully escaped three days of some aggressive skiing (for me) without injury. Then, the morning we were leaving I almost fell down the stairs...but caught myself before any damage could be done to my ankle.
I should know by now that I'm likely not going to injure myself on a black diamond ski run. I'm more likely to injure myself just going to work as it was a year ago this week that the infamous subway accident occurred. I was attempting to get on a crowded subway car when my right leg fell into the gap between the platform and the subway car. I still have the remnants of the bruise on my derriere and the scar on my leg from the stitches.
I was brainstorming ideas in my mind for this week's blog post as I was doing my Sunday laundry. The idea came to me shortly after stubbing my toes and thanking the injury-free gods that they didn't appear broken. After all, my friend Diane recent Facebook posts recount the trials and tribulations of a broken toe that kept her from playing tennis.
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