Is it possible to live a life without injuries?
Maybe. Limiting risky behaviors and activities. Maintaining strength and joint range of motion. Being very careful in everything you do. Only doing things you're 100% prepared for and 100% sure are safe and doable. Never spontaneously taking part in a sport or adventure. That might be the injury free life, but that isn't the life I'd want to live.
The moments in life where I feel the most alive and that I remember fondly are often big adventures where I've really pushed myself to the edge and challenged both my physical body and mind. Those adventures where you're not really sure whether you'll be able to complete it and often where there's some risk involved.
Maybe. Limiting risky behaviors and activities. Maintaining strength and joint range of motion. Being very careful in everything you do. Only doing things you're 100% prepared for and 100% sure are safe and doable. Never spontaneously taking part in a sport or adventure. That might be the injury free life, but that isn't the life I'd want to live.
The moments in life where I feel the most alive and that I remember fondly are often big adventures where I've really pushed myself to the edge and challenged both my physical body and mind. Those adventures where you're not really sure whether you'll be able to complete it and often where there's some risk involved.
If you picture an amusement park, think about the different types of rides. There's a carousel, Ferris wheel, bumper cars, things like the Scrambler, and then roller coasters. You can play if safe and just ride the carousel and Ferris wheel, or take a little more risk and do the bumper cars where you'll experience a little more emotion (which will implant a stronger memory) and a better story to tell afterwards. Or take a bigger risk and ride the scrambler or the super fast, twisting, looping, and swooping roller coaster. You might be screaming the entire time, but that's a ride you'll remember for years to come.
When I think about some of my favorite memories in life, many of them involve taking big risks and had unknown outcomes when I took them on. Some of these ended with me feeling great and being injury free, but some ended with injuries.
I remember talking my friends into a new mountain bike route by Loowit (Mount Saint Helen's) that none of us had done and we didn't know anyone who had completed it either. I had looked on a map and seen trails that connect in a loop and decided "let's try it!" My friends agreed and we took off on what we thought would be a couple hour scenic ride. The trails quickly turned unrideable with super steep ascents, lave fields, steep slippery ravines, and we ended up running out of water and food as we were forced to carry our mountain bikes for hours. As our expected 3 hour ride turned into 8+ hours and we were worried about losing daylight it got scary.
Would we have to spend the night out here without anything to keep us warm? Would any of us pass out from dehydration or low blood sugar before we got back to our cars? Would any of us suffer a severe injury and need rescue even thought we had no way to call for help?
It turned out ok as we all made it out before dark safely. Not only did we survive, but we all have a super fun story to tell. And we learned a little more about how resilient, strong, and capable we all are. This lesson will help us in future physical adventures but also in all other aspects of life.
Would we have to spend the night out here without anything to keep us warm? Would any of us pass out from dehydration or low blood sugar before we got back to our cars? Would any of us suffer a severe injury and need rescue even thought we had no way to call for help?
It turned out ok as we all made it out before dark safely. Not only did we survive, but we all have a super fun story to tell. And we learned a little more about how resilient, strong, and capable we all are. This lesson will help us in future physical adventures but also in all other aspects of life.
After making it out of unridable trail and getting to the easy trail that would lead us to our cars.
When a friend and I decided to try to run the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim, we had no idea whether we'd be able to finish it. I had not had great training and knew the heat and vert would be tough. The way we did it, it was going to be 48 miles and 12,000+ft of vertical gain. It was forecast to be freezing temperatures in the morning and blazing hot in the afternoon and if we didn't make it back before dark the temperatures would quickly drop again. There are a number of water refill stations but two critical ones we were told were not working. This would mean many hours without a water refill in 100 degree temps.
Because we don't shy away from challenge, we prepared to have a fun but tough day, and started running down the South Kaibab Trail in the dark. We lucked out in the temperatures were not as cold in the morning or as hot during the day as forecast, and all the water refill stations were working. Still it was a super hard day and halfway in I was looking for a way to bail as my legs were cramping and I didn't think it would be possible to finish. There was no-one at the North Rim to get a ride back to the South Rim, so I had no choice but to run back.
We both struggled with cramps, dehydration, stomach issues, and close encounters with rattlesnakes, but pushing up the last 4,000+ ft climb we were on a mission to finish before dark and just did. My friend collapsed on the hotel room floor as I collapsed on the bed and we spent the next 30 minutes recounting the trials and tribulations of our adventure - tales that would be told for years.
Because we don't shy away from challenge, we prepared to have a fun but tough day, and started running down the South Kaibab Trail in the dark. We lucked out in the temperatures were not as cold in the morning or as hot during the day as forecast, and all the water refill stations were working. Still it was a super hard day and halfway in I was looking for a way to bail as my legs were cramping and I didn't think it would be possible to finish. There was no-one at the North Rim to get a ride back to the South Rim, so I had no choice but to run back.
We both struggled with cramps, dehydration, stomach issues, and close encounters with rattlesnakes, but pushing up the last 4,000+ ft climb we were on a mission to finish before dark and just did. My friend collapsed on the hotel room floor as I collapsed on the bed and we spent the next 30 minutes recounting the trials and tribulations of our adventure - tales that would be told for years.
Sunset the night before our Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim trail run.
Mountain biking is something I enjoyed in high school and college but hadn't done it in 20 years when a couple running friends talked me into going on a ride with them. I was instantly hooked again and started riding regularly. I pushed myself to ride new and more difficult trails and to try riding new technical features even though they scared me. I challenged myself to ride more technical trails on Tiger Mountain, bigger jump lines at Duthie, harder black trails at Squamish, and ride my favorite trails at Post Canyon faster. Riding new drops, jumps, and rock gardens have caused many crashes. Theses crashes have resulted in cut knees and elbows, scraped shoulders, a fractured wrist, and broken ribs, but that hasn't stopped me from riding. Taking on a new challenge and facing my fears has led to me learning how brave I am and how even when I get injured, I can heal and come back stronger.
The summer of 2020 I had been enjoying a lot of mountain biking but had suffered a bad fall and fractured two ribs. The pain kept me from running or exercising at all for about a month. As soon as they were healed enough to run and mountain bike I had another mountain biking crash and fractured the same two ribs in a new spot. This kept me from exercising for another month. Just as I was starting to jog again, I got invited to run the Teton Crest Trail which is a point to point 40+ mile run across the Teton's where you are between 8,000 and 11,000ft elevation the entire time. Knowing the last time I ran over 10 miles was months ago, I wasn't sure I would be able to do it, but I decided this is a once in a lifetime kind of run and I had to try.
Since this was a point to point run, we had to shuttle a car the the finishing point and then drive to the start. We got up at 3:30am to drop a car at the finish and then drive to to the start and we got running just before sunrise. We ran through a forested trail only lit up with our headlamps and just as the morning light was starting we spotted a large moose right in the trail in front of us. We had to stop and wait 5 minutes for the moose to walk off the trail until we could pass. We steadily made our way through beautiful meadows covered in wildflowers, past alpine lakes, over snow fields, and up steep scree covered climbs. Taking a mid-run swim in a cold alpine lake helped recharge our energy for the last several big climbs. Around the 25 mile mark, my friends knee started acting up and he made the tough call to bail out early, running into a black bear on the trail down. We continued on, pushing through the hot afternoon run and thin air, having to hike up much of the last 10,000ft high pass before a long, hot, and dusty descent to the finish. Other friend was battling achilles pain while another was dealing with a sore knee. We were fighting muscle cramps and fatigued legs on the fast descent, with only the thought of a lake swim keeping us running fast. My last friend tripped and fell on in the last several miles and came away covered in dust and a bruised ego. We finally made it to the lake and told stories from the day as we cooled off. Our feet were beat up, muscles tried, skin a little sunburned. Hearts and souls filled to the brim.
Were these risky adventures worth it? Yes. If I limited myself to only doing things that were totally safe and without risk, I would have missed out on the best of life. I don't want to live an injury free life. I want to live a full life.
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