Doomed, I tell ya

'They' say that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. I say that those who know history, but are dumbarses, are surely doomed to repeat it. [Enter stage right]: me. Today, I again registered for back-to-back July races - a nighttime trail run followed by a morning race. Yes, it is once again time for the Friday 9 p.m. Los Chupacabras de la Noche headlamp 10k trail run, followed by beer and a veggie burger, with a topping of the Saturday 7:30 a.m. Women's 5k in hilly Alamo Heights. If you'll recall, the last time I've attempted these maniacal runs, I fell on my hip (and spent all marathon training season battling - possibly unrelated - piriformis syndrome, then had a 'good fall' on the last one, resulting in a still-healing separated shoulder). Yep, I'm a dumb arse.



But I am learning a bit. I have always run these crazy trail runs in road trainers (shoes), mostly because I was too cheap to buy trail shoes for the 2-3 trail runs I attempt each year. However, after talking with a buddy who, while embarking on a trail run on these trails IN THE DAYLIGHT caught a piece of wood through the sole of his road shoe and ended up with a nasty staph infection and surgery, I got a little less dumb-arsed. And I decided to invest in a pair of trail shoes for the few dumb trail runs I try each year. These puppies should last forever since I am a halfarse trail runner. As for the rest of me, we shall see.

I took them on a spin around the (tiny) backyard tonight. Pretty neutral - not as much stability as I like for long runs; however, they are CUSHY - I did not feel twigs/branches/logs (the primos de mi vecino came by to trim the 85+ year old pecan tree in the back), assorted dog toys, and the cwap that my house-seller called "fill" (including, these days, rebar). That was nice, since, other than the falls, it's my feet that hurt after one of these runs due to trail beat-up.

And I pretty much need to be happy with those shoes, since they picked up dog poo on the 'backyard run.' It's hard to return them at that point.