It was bound to happen sooner or later....

The dreaded wipe out. It finally happened.

I used to fall quite a bit back when I first started skating; but I was never going at the speeds I skate now, and I never skated unless the conditions outside were perfect. My falls were usually clumsy, slow motion events that resulted in minor scrapes and bruises: I would slap on a band aid, brush the dirt off, and keep going. Yesterday I had a spectacular wipe out about 3 miles into a skate where I actually had to turn around and head back home.

When I first parked and started getting my gear together, I realized it was incredibly windy. I hesitated for a moment, but decided to get out anyway. I figured a slow 10 mile skate in the wind was better than nothing. When I got to the trail I noticed several patches of ice and water - I hesitated for a moment, then decided to get out anyway. I figured I could skirt around some ice or water.

The trail was a mess. There were rivers of water from melt off all over the place, along with sand, dirt, twigs; the usual winter debris that USUALLY keeps me off the trails. I came around a corner and started down a hill when I saw this massive flow of water about 4 feet wide rushing across the trail like a small creek! I was going way too fast to stop so I just gritted my teeth and skated into it. I felt my right foot wobble and the next thing I knew, I was ass over head, tumbled a few times and ended up on my stomach. The first thing I noticed was my bloody right knee, and my left elbow was a bit sore. I skated to a bench to inspect the damage. From what I COULD see, my elbow didn't look too bad but my knee was a bit of hamburger. I sat for a second, got my bearings and wiped off my knee - then headed back to my truck. I was okay at first but man, when the adrenaline started to wear off things started to hurt!!

When I got home I was able to see that my elbow was a lot worse than I thought. I went to the urgent care this morning for a couple of xrays (just to make sure I didn't break anything) and all of that came back normal. I just need to let this stuff heal!

I don't wear knee or elbow pads and I won't start now. Personal preference. What I learned from this little mishap is that I need to be more patient and wait for the trail conditions to improve. I'm too impatient and want to SKATE... Now I have no choice but to lay low for a couple of weeks...

I've been cross-training and doing some running along w/ weight training to get my conditioning back up. I think I might skate Texas in the open division instead of the pro master's so that I don't feel so much pressure to get in peak shape by April. (I don't think that's going to happen no matter how badly I may want it!) Things will come together, I just need to be patient!