Beat Downs
Ian broke his humerus, E broke his tibia, Taylor broke his thumb, Alice broke her finger, Sasha broke off a part of his spinal process (yeah that sounds bad) and we've had two CAT Scans - one concussion and one to see if there was any internal bleeding after a hard slam to the chest (negative) - all this week. I am getting pretty good at prognosing damage to the kids. These kids, and coaches, live life pretty close to the edge a lot of the time. I've been noting with increased frequency that our job at the Academy is very tricky. We want to keep the kids protected and safe, teach them to be thoughtful and critical thinkers, and then we take them out on a mountain and train them to push themselves as hard as possible in potentially dangerous situations. Like spinning over a 50 foot jump, or going as fast as they can down a boardercross course with five riders at the same time all trying to beat them, or finding a line down an exposed cliff face until they find a good line to jump off of. It seems like we are encouraging them to be insane. But really, it’s calculated. I'm surprised all the time at how brave the kids are. And I am not surprised at how beat down they get.
I have more respect for the human body than ever these days. Based on some research I have read, my body will not regenerate muscle as quickly as it used to, my motor controls and balance are likely to fade slowly rather than get better, and there are a host of other struggles that could bring me down slowly, painfully. But I feel great. I have broken both wrists, an ankle, my foot, chipped my patella, broken ribs, separated cartilage between my rib cage and sternum, and broken my clavicle. Clearly I am quite destructible. But I feel great. Beat downs are a part of this. I don't like to see anyone get hurt, nor do I like getting hurt myself, but it is a part of the lifestyle. People generally don't get too down about this stuff around here. They are mad that they will have to sit out on the activity and do physical therapy until they are well enough to find their way back to the edge.
If you don't get knocked down, how will you learn to pick yourself up?
I have more respect for the human body than ever these days. Based on some research I have read, my body will not regenerate muscle as quickly as it used to, my motor controls and balance are likely to fade slowly rather than get better, and there are a host of other struggles that could bring me down slowly, painfully. But I feel great. I have broken both wrists, an ankle, my foot, chipped my patella, broken ribs, separated cartilage between my rib cage and sternum, and broken my clavicle. Clearly I am quite destructible. But I feel great. Beat downs are a part of this. I don't like to see anyone get hurt, nor do I like getting hurt myself, but it is a part of the lifestyle. People generally don't get too down about this stuff around here. They are mad that they will have to sit out on the activity and do physical therapy until they are well enough to find their way back to the edge.
If you don't get knocked down, how will you learn to pick yourself up?
posted by Cakes at 1/12/2006 05:52:00 PM
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