How to Fall on Running Trails

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to keep your feet on the ground when you are running trails, especially when the terrain is technical, the footing loose or if you are on slick ice or snow. With the prospect of falling looming, you should know how to fall properly so that you’ll be safe, run with less fear and limit your exposure to serious injury.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Know how best to fall so as to minimize any damage. Like all things physical, this is a learned skill. Unfortunately, the lessons are taught at the school of hard knocks

2. Try to recover from a loss of balance. Depending on what triggers the fall—catching a toe on a root, slipping on loose rock or ice, or merely losing your concentration and tripping like a klutz—you may be able to recover by redistributing your weight if you can respond quickly enough.

3. Catch yourself with a long stride or lateral lunge if that will suffice to steady your body. However, sometimes such corrective attempts are not worth the effort because they can cause muscle strain, joint damage or throw your weight off in the other direction, like a driver who overcompensates.

4. Apply the “stop, drop and roll” reaction when you can’t prevent your fall. This approach should not be taken when you are on rocky, cactus-infested or heavily foliated terrain. Try to cover your head with your arms to reduce the chance of a head injury. Absorb a fall with the greatest available space of soft tissue and body mass. Rolling or sliding is usually the best bet, especially if the alternative is a twisted ankle, knee or arm joint.
   

5. Resist the urge to put your hands out to stop the fall. That leads to broken wrists, which is not uncommon among trail runners.
   
   

6. Relax as best you can. Try to slow down time and be as resilient and flexible as possible because that will mitigate the damage of the fall.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice falling on a grassy hill, sand dune or snowbank, putting on layers of old sweats for padding as you hone your rolling and sliding skills. If you are prone to ankle problems, wear higher-collared shoes, wrap your ankles or try another kind of ankle support. In falling, the goal should be to emerge from the fall without any “real” injury, keeping the damage to a “mere flesh wound” a la Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

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