Trip Tips?

[BirdersMum]

Ten minutes into a run I tripped and fell. Took all of the skin off my elbow and forearm. 4 hours in A&E, two different tetanus jabs, high strength antibiotics and lots of cleaning and stitching! I’m 71 and run mainly to maintain bone health (I gave osteopenia) so could do without a repeat. I have a reputation for tripping- even when walking. Besides remembering to pick my feet up at every step, what can I do? Any footwear better than another? Anything else? Knee and elbow protectors? My husband is threatening to confiscate my trainers…..

[Dendev75 Graduate]

Ah that sounds awful, you must have been really shaken up and having to walk home in pain 😢 I’ve read a good little article about tripping while running with some useful tips about looking further ahead and shortening your stride etc - it may help and your poor husband must be nervous when you go out for a run runninforsweets.com/falling...

[nowster Graduate]

I'm afraid the more you're out there the more chance there will be that you have a tumble. That's how statistics work.

However, one of the things that might help is learning how to fall better, channelling your inner Buster Keaton. Rather than reaching out to break the fall, the trick is to protect the vulnerable extremities and roll with the fall. That's easy in theory but hard to do in practice, especially in the spur of the moment.

One thing that gets me is that I run wearing bifocals (even in sunglasses). I have to look ahead because stuff that's immediately below me is out of focus.

Tree roots are deadly. Avoid them.

The three times I've tripped and fallen:

* A raised plate on a pontoon bridge in a dark canal tunnel. I got a bump on the head from this one and a tear in my trousers.

* A tree root in the woods. I got a nice collection of embedded fine gravel in my palms and in my knees from this one.

* A bit of angle iron poking out of the pavement. I think it was part of a bus shelter upgrade. I got a scratch on my forehead from this one and a passing teacher frogmarched me to the nearby high school to get patched up.

I've been very lucky with all of these in that the damage was superficial and in each case I completed the run.

Others (eg. Cmoi recently) have not come off quite as lightly.

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to nowster]

Funny you should say that nowster , I've just posted! My recent faceplant was the one and only time that I didn't complete my planned run. Still, it marked two years from C25K graduation in suitably dramatic fashion!

[nowster Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

I have slipped on ice and fallen on my backside during a run, but that doesn't count as it was only my pride which was injured.

[Cmoi Graduate]

Sounds painful BirdersMum , wishing you a good recovery. While you should be careful not to do too much too soon, if the place where you fell is somewhere you run regularly, I recommend you go back there as soon as you can. It puts paid to any gremlins!

I'm saying this as someone who faceplanted just under three weeks ago, though my A&E visit lasted only two hours, my tetanus was up to date and I didn't need stitches. Messed my right knee up somewhat so only restarted running, very slowly, after two weeks off.

I fell when running down an uneven gravel and dirt path that I know really well. Entirely my fault as I wasn't concentrating properly, and I chose to run there wearing road shoes that I know don't cope well with that surface. The shoes are great, it was my decision-making that was at fault.

Fwiw, I've only ever fallen on easy routes that I run often, never on more demanding technical trails or unknown territory where I'm actively having to think about how to run.

[sarahsparkle]

A Podiatrist might be able to offer the right support. 🤓

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate]

Sorry to hear about your accident - you've really been through the mill!

I have a weak left ankle that I've sprained so many times I can no longer feel when it is bending. I did C25K in August 2019, and have run continuously since I repeated it in June 2021.

In that time I've been lucky enough to twist my ankle just once - several weeks ago. I am hyper aware of the danger of twisting my ankle, and falling, and some of the mitigations I've adopted are -

I always run the same route, so my legs know it by heart. (When I did twist my ankle I was running it in the opposite direction which I think was a cause).

As already suggested I have learned to take shorter strides and more of them. I'm very careful negotiating rougher ground or when making blind turns and slow down. I'm lucky enough to still have good eyesight and I am constantly scanning the ground ahead of me. It's kind of a game for me, and I dance around obstacles like tree roots, or puddles which might have hidden problems or be slippery, using many small footsteps.

I recently did an excellent James Dunne 30 day challenge organised by Beatlesforever over on the Strength and Flex forum. This really helped me manage my stride and also strengthen my legs and ankles.

I try to be lazy in a good way, by staying well within a pace that is comfortable for me, especially where I know the ground may be uneven, so that my movement is always careful and controlled.

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Interesting that you find a familiar route helps ForbiddenPlanet - it's the opposite for me, I get complacent. Plus I'd go even crazier than I already am if I had to run the same route all the time!

[nowster Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Same here. I have four routes that I know well and do regularly, mainly because I know how far they are and (crucially) how long it takes me to do them. This makes it easier to fit a run into an otherwise busy day without having to plan things. However when there's no constraint I really like to go out exploring.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

I am perhaps lucky that my route has variety within it; I run through parkland and then loop around an historic harbourside with many attractions for both tourists and locals, and always something going on.

It was complacency that caught me out last month as I somehow mentally switched off when running over a particularly treacherous patch with criss-crossing railway lines embedded in the ground, even though I had passed that way hundreds of times before. My foot became lodged in a railway line, and I think I was very lucky not to break my ankle.

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Getting your foot stuck sounds horrible ForbiddenPlanet , glad it wasn't worse than a sprain, though that's bad enough.

While I'm restricted in what I can run right now, I'm desperate to be able to get out exploring again and getting back to longer distances. I live between fields and forest in mid-mountain rural France, and one of the gifts running has given me is discovering views and places that I otherwise wouldn't have seen.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Best of luck with your recovery Cmoi ; hope you're back out on those trails in time to enjoy the rest of the summer! 🤞

[MrsLydiaWickham Graduate]

Sorry about your tumble BirdersMum . 💐

[Nilsam Graduate]

I read this with earnest as I am a tumbler but the replies are really good. No broken bones either that is a great sign...that's where I tripped up. 🙄 But learning how to fall is a hard one.

Yes, statistically the more you are outside running the more likely you are to trip but you are also building your strength in your body and your mental health.

My husband wanted to escort me everywhere after my second break and I felt like a prisoner. But we know it comes from a place of love. It eased off a little as his fear subsided.

Read the replies and go out with confidence...these injuries are battle scars of life and we need to keep living.

Take care.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I've only twice hit the ground running (ha) in 10 years and I am almost always off road. Once was one of those brambles that runs after you and grabs you by the ankle. The other was an area of a lot of rhododendron brashing and roots - that is not a good surface and I have tripped and nearly fallen a few times there. The time I did fall I had a lot on my mind.

I do have a very short stride length so I think there's a lot in what people are suggesting about working on that.

One important thing to bear in mind is that one of the biggest factors in falls is fear of falling so anyone fussing about you is increasing your risk.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Ouch....I felt that for you. At 72 I know that if we do fall at our age... it is not the same as when we were younger!

The only tip is , slow and steady , and, if you are able, run on an area which has no roots or gravel or hard surface? I know that won't stop you falling but it may at least feel less painful.

Trying to fall properly is an art.. and often there really is no time to initiate those thoughts.. you are down before you realise. My husband, a Black Belt in Judo was an expert at falling but age has lessened even his skill.

But... a tip I will give you... that has a considerable amount of scientific ( recognised and tested), is to, at home, walk around with bare feet.

It is currently an area of much research, that as we age, the act of walking barefoot helps with balance in all areas .

I always try to be barefoot inside and in the garden, in the warmer months ( slipper socks in colder times..) ..my husband also.

He has type 2 Diabetes and was experiencing balance issues... going barefoot has improved things incredibly!

I will also, if you wish in a PM give you a link to something he uses also, which has really improved things!

I do stress though that this is just our findings... and we are all different

PS

I have fallen only once since 2015, and that was over a low coffee table whilst trying to get ready for a run, in the dark, without putting the light on!

healthunlocked.com/couchto5.......

PPS

The barefoot bit , means you keep the floor very clean at home And the garden too! x

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Going barefoot at home means a very clean floor? I thought it was the way you measure how dirty the floor is, that's how it works for me anyway! 😳

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

I meant keeping them clean of sharp things!😂

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Like pieces of gravel, twigs, leaves and scrunchy bits of plants?!! 🤣

* feels guilt-induced floor-mopping session coming on* 😱

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Sorry! x

[misswobble Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

😁😁😁😁

[nowster Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

The barefoot bit doesn't always help. 🤣👣

(For those who aren't in on the little joke, I run in barefoot shoes, and sometimes with no shoes at all.)

[Liono Graduate]

No tips I'm afraid but I just wanted to say I hope your arm heals quickly x

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Ouch!

Balance work can help. With fitness and balance increased you should find that you can recover from some trips before hitting the ground, but it’s not 100% avoidable. The ability to avoid a fall is common in athletes, but there must be a limit where it becomes counter productive to do the work as premier league footballers have lost the ability to not fall.

[Sybilw Graduate]

I can empathise rather than give tips! I’ve tripped a few times - once didn’t count as I didn’t get hurt and no one saw. Also I’ve fallen on the same section of path twice (no excuse for that!). I was just surprised that after telling children and grandchildren for YEARS that it’s just a graze it really hurts!! Yours sounds awful and I hope you heal soon.

[Katnap Graduate]

So how are you feeling now BirdersMum ? And have you been out on a run again since?

🐱 Katnap 🐱