Month: February 2017

5K Foamfest – Getting muddy again

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

Or … how to not take care of skinned knees

 

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I am known for my outstanding coordination and grace… Not!

Trail running 101… don’t tempt fate!

In early June of last year I did the unthinkable and inexcusable… I had a really bad fall while trail running in the Lac Du Bois grasslands. Why inexcusable? I had an event (Foam Fest at Sun Peaks) a week away so I should have been wrapped in psychic bubble wrap to prevent getting injured. I also tempted fate by saying to my friend Jody right before I fell, “I love this trail because I don’t feel like I’m about to fall!”…. BOOM!

We think I tripped over a rock although it happened so fast nobody is sure what happened. I went down so hard and so fast my hands didn’t even have time to react and brace my fall – they never touched the dirt. All the force went directly onto my knees… and my left knee in particular. Why is this unthinkable? It was an easy trail and I hadn’t fallen for a few months so …. back to tempting fate. I actually do fall a fair amount when I run. Oddly I don’t fall when I cross country ski, but running is a different ball game.

So, there I was rolling around on the trail screaming in pain and bleeding. I was screaming so loud Gerry, who runs ahead of us with headphones on and doubles back to check on us, heard me and immediately sprinted back. I decided I could walk back – not many options anyway. By the time I got home I could feel the swelling. I went to my chiropractor / sports guy and he confirmed that he thought it was a sprain and the standard rest / ice / elevation combo would do the trick. Hmmm… Ice was no problem. Rest? Hmmmm…. I had Foam Fest the next weekend and then I was doing a solo backpack to Egypt Lake a few weeks later. Hmmm…. The nightly swelling my left knee actually lasted for months.

 

I had also been invited to visit the set of the Movie if the Week I wrote. Trying to make a good professional impression wearing shorts because fabric touching the scab was seriously unpleasant. The timing for this injury was seriously unpleasant.

The biggest thing I was worried about was Foam Fest at Sun Peaks. It was our second time doing Foam Fest. We have a huge team and I was really looking forward to it. I knew my knees would get trashed in the mud, water, and on the obstacles so I was looking for a solution to keep the sores dry and protect them. I knew the sprain would probably get worse (bad me) but I thought I’d just rest and ice more later to make up for it (very bad me).

My solution!

Ok, this is not a blog post about what worked or what one should try in a similar situation, this is purely for entertainment purposes and to teach the lesson… DON’T DO AS I DO!!!!

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Supplies for high performance athletes (not!)… note the diapers (cue foreshadowing music)

 

Honestly, I thought these ingredients would work to protect my knee. I had high hopes for the infant diapers. Sliding my leg in sideways and taping it all up should work… right?

Remember that saying that Duct Tape is good for everything but ducts? Wrong!

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Foam Fest – Race Day!

So, since I really am that graceful, I fell on my knee and ripped the diaper before the race even started. Yup, that felt good! (not!)

Our team – Revenge of the MudMonsters, was awesome as usual. We had a blast and can’t wait for this year. My knee? It got thrashed. My ingenious solution to my knee issue didn’t even last through the first obstacle. Bending it in weird angles to crawl over fences or rope ladders was excruciating. I survived.

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Mudmonsters… all clean and pretty!

 

Foam Fest 1 / Knee garb 0
Michelle, Me, Jody – nothing was kept dry!

 

2016-06-18 | 2016 5k Foam Fest Sun Peaks

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So, the moral of this story is Foam Fest is awesome and diapers and duct tape won’t protect injured knees. See you in June of 2017… must remember to put bubble wrap on my calender!

 

Tattoo #2 – Two for Joy

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

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I’m a bit late on posting this but I’m finally able to catch up on some overdue writing. Meet my second tattoo! (Because who gets one and isn’t already thinking about the second?) This was done by the awesome Kelsey Young from Fu Dog Tattoos. She was the artist I originally wanted for my birthday tattoo but she was booked up for a year so I took the first appointment she had (July) and then got my first tattoo by the also great Riley from Pirate Palace.

The themes for this tattoo came from seeing the Viking exhibit at the Royal BC Museum a few years ago – this was an amazing exhibit, one of my favorites ever! One of the displays had a group of keys. Some believe that viking women carried keys on chains around their necks as symbols of their role as keepers of the household and an indication of their high status. I loved the keys! So, the tattoo started as a viking key. Then, when doing some viking research for a writing project, I came across the symbol of a viking compass, or Vegvisir. These were intended to help those who held the compass through rough weather. I asked Kelsey if she could put the compass inside the head of the key.

Next, still doing research for a writing project, I found “One for Sorrow” – a nursery rhyme from the 1700s that I couldn’t get out of my head. Or, the first two lines I couldn’t get out of my head.

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird,
You must not miss.

What started as a smaller tattoo was now getting bigger after I asked Kelsey if she could put in two black birds holding up the compass. She, of course, had no problem.

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Kelsey’s original rough sketch

Then I asked her to add some tiny details – runes for joy, strength and prosperity in the ribbon holding up the key.

Kelsey is an old soul in a funky and upbeat person. She’s very cool and I like her a lot. She also recommended Riley for my first tattoo when she couldn’t do it. She also mainly does black and white tattoos which I prefer.

The end result is one I am totally in love with, even though I can actually only see a small bit of it myself. I think this perfectly compliments my first tattoo as well.

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