Note
On the program today was a 12 km course at Remarkable Flats. It was partly cloudy out with some breeze and a temperature that felt cool when the sun was behind clouds and "lagom" when it wasn't. As I was getting ready to leave my truck for the start, I couldn't decide if it would be better to run in a light jacket or not, and then thought I would wear it and just roll up the sleeves if necessary. But after warming up and at the start itself, the sun was out, so I cached the jacket and took off. Right before starting, I joked to myself that the main goal would be to not take any falls.
Sometimes just as you should be careful what you wish for, you should also be careful about your jokes, though. Because on the way to the #10 control, one toe bumped against a bit of granite that was sticking up just the tiniest bit above the ground, and down I went. So much for that goal! But besides a small abrasion on one hand, no harm done.
What I was really trying to do was to get in a good workout running off trail, but of course wanting to do the orienteering right, too. I felt like I was moving pretty well until one last hill near the end, by which time I didn't have the same amount of drive as earlier. Maybe it was really a tougher little hill than I thought it was, or maybe I was just getting tired by then.
Once again, I included a control at Remarkable Boulder, and as I was "punching" there I could look up and across a wide stretch "sump prairie" (see sumpskog) and could spot the feature the final control--an easy finish to the course! And I took off from Remarkable Boulder like a fast vizsla! And then, wham!--I went down again.
This fall was more spectacular. There was a small cloud of dust around me (given our so far very dry spring, many wet features are quite dry now), I had bits of prairie turf in my mouth, and I fell hard enough on my right side to knock the wind out of me. So for a bit I just laid there, getting my breath back, and once I was breathing at a regular rate again, I did an assessment. Wind knocked out of me from big blow to right side, painful big toe on left foot, more abrasion and several small cuts on hands, new knee hole in O' pants, dirt in mouth and....compass? Hey, my compass was okay, so basically I was good to go--yay! I jogged the rest of the course, and figured that was that--pretty good outing, and head home for some dinner.
However, as the evening wore on, it became clearer that I really should have paid more attention to the main goal, because all the indications were that I had either bruised or cracked a rib. A small setback, but I really don't think it is going to keep me from doing much, and I'll just take it easier for a couple of days and see how it goes from there.