Monday, November 20, 2017

How to tie the Swiss Knot a trail runners 'go to' shoe knot



With winter coming on and shoe laces will get frozen and will not come undone, or they just will not stayed tied.
This is the only knot you will use after you try it out on your trail shoes.

Please!!! Some one tell me to just shut up and run!

The only time I ever get injured (other than the time Doris tripped me and I broke my ribs) is when I talk to other runners on the trail while running.
So this past Saturday we had the pleasure of 6 new runners who came out to be a soiled sport, for the first time.
With just over a kilometer in on the run, I was chatting to one of the newbies and on what was a not very technical or rough part of the trail, I managed to roll my ankle.
I walked it off a bit then commenced to finish the run.
(besides one of our group is a Doctor at the Fowler Kennedy Sports Injury Clinic, granted he would have finished the run and been half way home by the time I finish.)
So, everything was not so bad, till I took the shoe off.
It just started to swell and then started to get colourful.
A did as our trail group swears by for all injuries, put a cold beer against it and when it is empty, just repeat till the swelling goes down or the six pack is gone.
So, when I get back to running, and you see my lips moving, tell me to shut up and just run.
***Update since I posted this earlier in the week, after my toes started to go black and blue as well, I decided to seek medical help. And after X-rays have found I actually broken a tip off a bone in my ankle area. So there goes my hopes of a medal in the winter Olympics.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Remembrance Day Trail Run

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

We have the privilege of running on trails in a country that we rally do take for granted. 
On one day of the year, November 11th, we are reminded to give tribute to those who put there lives in harms way to keep our country and way of life safe.
One of our regular trail runners, Barb N., a few years ago recited 'In Flanders Fields' after a run on a November 11th morning. 
A small thing that made me, and I am sure the others present, a reminder to be proud of what we have everyday in Canada, freedom of choice, expression and a constitution that is for the "we" not the "me".
The poem is so simple, but has the beauty and rage that must have been inside field surgeon, Major John McCrae, that day on the battle field in Belgium in 1915.
Please take time to read it a couple times and give thanks to those who served our country.
See you on the trails.