A photo and a fall: Two lessons I should have learned a long time ago!

I embarked on another trailrun yesterday to another refugio near el Bolson (an Argentine hippie town with artisans and vegetarians as well as dreadlocks and slacklines... and lots of weed). The run was extremely steep, and infact I ran very little of the ascent, it was more of a fast hike as it was probably 30% gradient at least, most of the time! I got to the top, of course out of breath, drank a glass of water and kept going higher to a few lookoutpoints from which you can see the Andes, stretching south into the heart of Patagonia.

I thought I would take a picture, a photo, something to remember my time at the top of the world so I setmy camera up for 10seconds and took some self portraits up on the rock, in the cold sun. Upon looking at the photos I was taken aback, my face is fat!!! So if my regimen of running and getting back in shape was ever going to flop it was given new wind! I should have known because there is a woman close to my heart who, in her youth travelled to france. Upon her return, after many baguettes with jam, she also had a chipmunk face... dear mother, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!! Now, not only my physical status but also my diet are going to have to change!!!!

We were small seven and five perhaps, in the quiet forest on a lake. They told us don´t run in the forest, you could trip and fall and out here, its dangerous, out here in the abandoned lakes deep in a remote forest, please, just walk. But there we were on the rocks eating dinner and I can´t even remember what excited her little seven year old blonde hair, her little rosy cheeks, but she ran and in a moment those cheeks had blood pooring down them from the gash in her forhead. DON´T RUN IN THE FOREST!!!

As I descended through the forest, the massive trunks and mud, the emerald streams that stroke the round rocks as they plummet to the valley things were blurring, that is, the slope is so steep here that it islike playing a videogame with your whole body as you descend extremely fast, unable to slow down dodging trees, roots, rocks, streams, rounding corners and then, a shot of pain in my ankle. I drop to the forest floor, the wise trees are looking over me. Are the disapproving? I got up among the wise ancients, the knowing thousand year old trees... they have seen more than this! And I putpressure on my left ankle - a shot of pain and I am 9km from the bottom... So I stretch it out and limp/walk/run my way to the bottom and it doesn´t even feel so bad. The mate that I drank at the top and adrenaline dull the pain but as soon as I stop at the bottom I seize up and the swelling starts: DON´T RUN IN THE FOREST!!!
Needless to say, when this sprained ankle clears up (I am hardly limping today but it will be at least a week before the pain goes I´m sure) I will continue to run... but more carefully.

I should have learned from my mother and my sister, but instead I needed a fall and a photograph!