One of my biggest running fears..

Besides falling down a rocky trail and busting my face and kidneys open, I think what I fear the most is leverage. Let's say you are tearing down a hill covered in leaves. The footing is a little slippery but your feet are quick and you are deftly finding solid footing on your way down. On your next step, unbeknownst to you, your foot lands under a root or rock, firmly trapping it. As your center of gravity moves forward and it comes time for you to lift that foot off the ground, you can't. Your forward momentum continues down the trail preventing you from being able to back your foot out before you start falling. Depending on where your foot is jammed in could mean sprains and breaks in your ankles or tib/fib. At least that is always what I envision happening as the force finds the weakest place in your system to break.

For the first time this weekend I came pretty close to that. As I was tearing down a hill at the Monroe-Dunbar trail race, my left foot slid under something hidden beneath the leaves. I promptly fell forward and bit some dirt but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, I fall all the time. A few hundred feet down the trail a throbbing in my left big toe started and I began to think more carefully about the fall. It dawned on my that I was lucky to not have broken anything but not lucky enough to not have strained anything. I think just my left toe had lodged itself under the object. The picture doesn't do it justice but I can't put weight on it or move it without a pretty good amount of pain. Be careful out there kids...

The toenail was black before..