About ten years ago, when I still had a home office to go to, after a leg day at the gym, I was climbing up the stairs, to said office, with a cup of tea in one hand and a couple of biscuits on a plate in the other. One leg buckled as I was on about the third riser. As I fell back I had two thoughts, "save the tea and cookies" and don't hit the sharp square edge of the laminated (big)TV stand with my back. So I bent forward to avoid the stand and keep the plate level .

Hit the floor an almighty thump, on my backside with my torso essentially vertical, think touching your toes position, only arse first. Saved the cookies and most of the tea.

Long story short. Subsequent Xray and MRI showed I severed the disc L4/L5 and a crescent moon shaped piece of disc is now floating about in there poking at various things as the mood takes it. Medical opinion is "live with it" there's no pain. Left leg has a slight muscle quiver, and the knee has grown some funny bumps. It takes a lot of work to match strength of the right leg. My run makes Lionel look elegant, I don't kick when I swim (never did anyway) and I fall over a lot in transition.

I may have done dumber things since then.....but I never try and save the cookies anymore.

Late dec 2013, walking my dog, slipped and fell on icy sidewalk. Broke right radius. Green stick break, I think, removable cast, off in 6 weeks.
I had signed up for birkie, late feb and fatbike birkie, early march, so was still optimistic for fatbike birkie.

March, Checked in for fatbike birkie, walking out from dinner, slipped and fell on icy ramp parking lot, broke left arm, much worse than right arm. Drove to local hospital in hayward, wi. Enjoyed a lovely ambulance ride to a hospital that had an ortho on call. Surgery for open reduction, internal fixation, I now have a plate and screws in there. And I found out I had low bone density.

I scratched from fb birkie.

Hope you heal up fast.

There's a 9.4 mile loop I do occasionally in a desert preserve full of sharp and pokey things. It's quiet, discrete, and I never see anyone. Except this one guy. I've seen him 2.5. times. He runs naked (except for socks, sneakers, and a sweat band (on his northern head)). I've seen him twice. And his pile of clothing behind a majestic saguaro once.

So, one time, I thought, what the fudge. Let's see what this naked running thing is all about.




I gave myself a black and blue eye and fat lip.

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oh, also, one of my athletes was a week out of most likely an IM PR and decided to play soccer. Tore his ACL in the first few minutes. Was out for 15 months.

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What's a birkie?

Thank you for the well-wishes.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

naked swimming, or at least topless swimming, is a nice thing. Worth noting I'm obviously female - can't comment on how naked swimming feels to guys. But BOY do I envy that you can wear just a speedo.

also, I just added soccer to the list of things I will not do for fun. Skiing was already on tehre

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Birkie is a xc ski marathon in hayward, wi. Tough to xc ski with a broken arm or wrist.

I tripped over a ladder and landed awkwardly on the wheelbarrow next to it and broke a rib. I was talking to my neighbor and he saw everything. Stupidity plus a witness - double ouch.

I popped my high hamstring / low back drying off after a shower. Bent down to dry off my feet and "POP!" Cue intense pain, me lying helpless on the floor for a minute trying to figure out what just happened, my wife poking her head in to see what the commotion was, and months of rest before being able to do anything active (like shower!) again.

I still don't know exactly what the injury is, but I've done it a few times since (the subsequent times came doing something respectable--like sports). It's not pleasant, and I think it all stems back to that fateful shower in 2007.

I pulled a muscle in my shoulder shadowboxing/cheering for Rocky Balboa fighting Ivan Drago when Rocky IV was playing on cable TV.

I was bouncing on a neighbor's trampoline, trying to see if I could touch a tree branch above it. Was looking up instead of down for the next bounce, landed with toes on my right foot curled under. Broke 3 toes.

I pulled a hamstring raking leaves.

And I was only raking leaves to loosen up my muscles before a run. Because I was recovering from pulling the other hamstring

Another one, but might me a bit more in the colossally stupid/lucky category. I may have posted this in the Fish thread way back when :

in Summer of 2017 I was training for my first Oly tri. I was working to remove a iron-pipe fence in the back yard, when the angle grinder bound in the pipe. The grinder kicked, and flew up out of my hands and slammed into my face. It felt like I'd been punched in the face with a baseball bat. I said a bunch of cuss words, and grabbed my face where it hurt. When I pulled my hand away, it was rather bloody. At that point, I realized that it was more than just a punch.

The angle grinder had hit me in the bridge of the nose, blade first. It sliced my nose, and bone diagonally from my right nostril to the bridge over my left eye. I had reconstructive surgery the following morning to mush all the playdough back into a nose-like shape. 6 weeks later I managed to do a mile OWS in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tel-Aviv....and, still completed my first Triathlon in September. I had to use a nose clip, the salt water burned my nose on the inside.

I do have several more. At one point our insurance company called my wife to find out if I was suicidal. I have never managed to make it a full decade between Tetanus shots.

Was at work as a park ranger. We had a special event that necessitated the carrying of multiple marine coolers (the ridiculously long white ones) full of ice. I had the back handle of one in each hand. We are taking a lot of ice in each cooler. Someone smarter than me can do the math on weight.

My partner steps up on a curb on does a quick turn. My wrist pops and feels funny the rest of the night. Lots of follow up appointments= a brace, more appointments= a cast, more appointments= surgery.

Ended a pretty good run of AG performances, and led to a career change after going back to school. All because my wrist was dying ager carrying a couple coolers.

Bag ice is about 50% air...so 1 / lb per quart. The large marine coolers hold 152 quarts. So, roughly 150 lbs each---equal to 1 sleeping triathlete. If you had one in each hand with someone on the other end, you had 75 lbs on each arm.

Here's two of them.

1) 5'ish years ago I decided to go for a run. Had to change first into run clothes. Main level. Jumped up off the couch, ran across the living room--and was going to 3-step leap all the way up the stairs to change. FIRST step I caught (ok KICKED) my big toe on the "run" of the very first stair--and down I went. Broken toe. Couldn't run for I don't know how many weeks. Half my foot was black. Couldn't put a shoe on either.

2) Doing track intervals which I never do--until this day. A friend took me to a track & we were doing 200's. Walk diagonal back to the start, repeat. Well...I stepped off the track after about 4 of them, and onto a manhole cover, and sprained my ankle as my foot landed on the uneven surface. I was out of running for about 10 days, and couldn't even aqua jog. Some swelling.

Ok there you go. Stupid injury stories. All real.

Good thread!! I can contribute...

I fell through the roof of the shed a week before a 70.3.

I was in the process of demolishing it and was removing the coregulated sheet roofing. On second I was up.... the next I was down. It happened so quickly, and on investigation, the panel I was on was only held on by 1 rivet either side. Boom

I was extremely lucky - I landed on my butt, which hurt (ALOT), but I had removed [/b][/b][/b]half [/b]of the brick floor. I hit the sand left from removing the bricks, but fractions away from landing on the corner of the remaining bricks. Was a bit sore for race day, but pretty lucky all up.

An embarrassing one here...
I was dating a college girl whose little apartment was a mess: clothes and shoes everywhere, piles of books, CDs or paperwork on the floor, etc.
One night, in the middle of a heated moment, I stepped on something that only God knows why was next to her bed, lost my balance and fell onto the back of a little rocking chair, hitting it full force with my chest. Picture the scene: me lying on the ground, completely naked, but unable to move and breathing extra shallowly, with my girlfriend in panic mode... It ended with a line of fracture on my ribcage and some time off training (and f...ing too).

I, a 33 year old man with a kid and another on the way, decided to come out of “pit retirement” at a hardcore show last year.

Two songs into the set I got punched in the face, slipped and crushed my knee on base of the metal stage barrier. Hairline fracture and my patella tendon still hurts two years later.

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Strava

I was running the loop in Cades Cove……an 11 mile paved loop through a beautiful valley in Great Smoky Mountains NP, for those not familiar. This was in April, so plenty of bears and their cute cubs. After about three miles, I came upon a momma bear and her three cubs. I decided to stop running and walk on the far side of the road, but I kept watching the baby bears. Not paying attention, I stepped off the steep edge of the pavement and rolled my ankle bad. Unfortunately, for me, it was not just a simple ankle sprain. I tore one of my peroneal tendons and ended up needing surgery. And this was all because I was fascinated with the bears while walking!

A few years ago I used to take my kids to an indoor BMX bike park (Joyride for people in Southern Ontario). They had this deal on Mondays where it was like $20 including bike rental for the evening, and we would order a pizza to be delivered to the place so it was always a good evening. We went every week for a couple of months. One night just days after my 43rd birthday I hit a jump line very aggressively and landed the 3rd jump awkwardly and had to put my foot down while travelling pretty quick. Spiral fracture up my leg, 2 plates and maybe a dozen screws.

Just before I started the line I thought I was going a little too fast but didn't slow down and went with it. Stupid me.

I'm seeing some common themes here:

- Inattention
- Gravity
- Bicycles

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I didn't expect someone to actually do the math. Lol. But that sounds right. Stupid little click of the wrist was followed by radial shortening and having to reattach various tendons/ ligaments to tighten it all back up.

I think you were wise to keep an eye on the bears vs. the road

Turning an ankle if far more preferable outcome than having mama bear turn on you

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Late '90s: pulled an oblique popping up off the couch to get a beer.

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#swimmingmatters
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
The Doctor (#12)

Ha, that's exactly what I was thinking as well.

Of course my non-running friends said "see what happens to you when you run?!?!?". My reply is "I WASN"T RUNNING!!! i was walking and there were bears".