What Is the #50by50

Looking back at my life it has been filled with challenges, successes and failures. The ability to turn those failures into a learning or growing experience that benefited me down the road, has always been the key to keep moving forward. Pain, whether emotional, physical, or financial, is one of the best teachers that you can have. The hardest lessons learned are the ones you can’t forget; they creep into your mind as you try to push them out reminding you of what went wrong the last time. Music has always been something that elevates my mind and gives me direction. 

So what do pain, failure and music have to do with the #50by50 you ask? Well let me tell you a little story here that happened back in 2016, before Everett was even around or a thought of much beyond just the next few weeks. I had given up drinking back on December 10th, 2007 after realizing that I was just a functioning alcoholic. 

The story begins on September 9th, 2015, in the evening. A friend mentioned that their roof was leaking in a big rainstorm that night. Never being one to shy away from helping a friend whether they wanted me to or not, I told them that I would bring a tarp down and cover their roof till we could get a look at it and fix it on a dryer day. I showed up the rain and wind were pretty rough as we spread the tarp out and made sure the friend was safe on the roof as tarps get slippery in the rain. As we were spreading the tarp, I was backing down the roof straddling the ridge cap making sure to get good coverage. Then all of a sudden the roof was not under my last foot step, I was falling. 

I remember this step and have had this feeling a few times in my life, but those times I was expecting it. This time was definitely not expecting it and like wiley coyote in an old looney toons cartoon from childhood, time slowed down for a split second before the rapid decent started. First let go of the tarp no need to pull my friend with me as my weight started to pull me toward the ground, needed someone to call 911 if this turned out bad. 22+/- feet later I hit the only flat spot in the yard. For those of you that have ever done much jumping be it cliffs, bicycles, skis, cars, etc… know, flat landings suck. In my life I have taken some pretty hard hits and know how to roll out or absorb the energy of the shock, even a slight slope to the ground dissipates the energy to lessen the damage. That was not to be the case in this fall, I fell straight down. Due to the height and pull of gravity there was little time to compensate, doing what I could I landed with about 60% of my 200+lb weight on both feet. 

With that much weight in such a small surface area, damage was a given. Laying there on the ground, rain beating on my face, I knew something was wrong. Shock is a beautiful thing if you use it to your advantage. Taking the time before pain set in to rest and collect my thoughts, wiggle toes/fingers, check for blood, allowed me to determine that the damage would be centered on my lower legs. You have about 2-5 minutes where the adrenal glands give you that huge dose of adrenalin, which is great at keeping pain at bay. Using that time after a couple of minutes, I had to check and see if I could put weight on my feet. Rolling over to my stomach and getting to my knees was a relief, knowing that spinal injuries at least at the moment were not the main concern. Pulling my right leg up to try and stand initially did not hurt. But the moment where your foot rolls up as you begin to stand up it sounded like gravel. I felt the bones move. Immediately stopping, I rolled back over onto my back, knowing this was going to be bad. Once on the ground my friend got down off the roof and came over asking if I was ok. I asked for a couple of pieces of wood and a scarf or sheet, gave her the dimensions I needed. She came back after I had checked for blood flow on my feet. I placed the splint on and informed her I needed to get to the hospital. 

Remembering that my knees were fine, I crawled over to my truck about 100 feet away. Once there It was time to climb up into the truck. The best part about being over 6 feet tall in this situation was the ability to pull myself into the truck, without putting much weight on my feet. I laid the passenger seat back and asked her to drive me to the hospital. On the way to the hospital the pain was still pretty low, which for me was pretty normal. We go through check in and triage in the ER, they send me for x-rays and MRI’s of my whole body and determine the real problems. In the end there were 7 fractures between both ankles, feet, and lower legs. Not too bad except for one thing, my right calcaneus (heel) had sheared off. But no ortho available for a consult, that would have to wait a few days. 

On the trip to the Ortho on Monday the next week, they looked at the injuries and were just hoping to get me back to walking maybe with a cane. This was devastating news to someone that literally made their money with their body for more than half my life at the point. From alpine skiing, white water raft guide, climbing instructor, runner, mountain biker, builder, EMT, Firefighter, etc… I had led an active life. All of that time on my feet had taught me a lot about physiology, I was not going to settle for being told what my expectations should be. They gave me a wheelchair and two of those wonderful ankle boots, one for the left leg was an air cast, the one for the right where the calcaneus had sheared off was a metal boot. My first thought was it was like a ski boot. Something I was familiar with. Matter of fact the MRI showed that I had broken this ankle at least 2 previous times in my life, though had never known about it due to the scar tissue visible on the MRI. 

When you live an active life injury is part of the process, be it a strain, sprain, break, etc… it goes with the territory. Do anything long enough and it is just going to happen. I knew the break count and stitch count prior to this fall was pretty high already. I’ve had more x-rays and stitches than a business traveler going through TSA every week with a 30-year-old teddy bear.

The doctor told me I would never run again and be lucky if I could walk without a cane. This gave me the motivation to prove them wrong. Asking if I could outfit my right ankle boot to make it more comfortable the PA said sure whatever to make it feel comfortable. Remembering a conversation with a lady in the lobby that had broken her ankle 3 years before and was still wearing a boot, that was not going to happen here. 

The key to recovery is pain tolerance in an injury like this. It is going to hurt that is just life, it never really goes away, you have to push it out of your mind. I went home and hopped on the computer, after dragging myself across the floor to get to my desk. Checked my bank balance and went to amazon, ordered a pack of skate board decks, and a grip trainer. My hands were going to need to be stronger for what was to come. I pulled out the dumb bells beside my desk and dusted them off. They were my stress relief for the first few years of starting my own business, when the paperwork got too deep, I would do a full 1 hour dumb bell work out at my desk as I worked. 

For the first couple of weeks let the body recover but start a system of building back. Shock and trauma to the body needs time to rest, but stretching was the only real workout I got to that point. Working around the worst of the fractures and heel damage. They had talked about physical therapy, and while most people need someone to guide them, I push myself harder and farther than they ever would. Their job is to give you the basis for you to work on at home, not just in the office. Over the years I have worked with some of the best trainers in the industry/world, I called for advice. I didn’t want to be at the bottom of my recovery spectrum, I wanted to be at the top of my game. 

Those weekly visits to the Ortho to check on the calcaneus shear were always entertaining. It seemed I was the only happy guy in the building. The injury was no one’s fault but my own, I accepted that from the minute it happened, there was no resentment or blaming something/someone for the fall. I worked hard in my recovery going from 3 weeks in the wheelchair to crutches was a huge gain, they were talking 6 months when we started. Tossing those crutches 3 weeks later was even better. Every night and day I would wait until everyone left or went to bed, and I would sit there and do my self-appointed exercises and stretches so no one would see me cry through the pain, cuss at the predicament I put myself through, or just fall down and try to get back up. 

After all that pain and tears of recovery, 3 months after the injury I walked out of that Ortho office for the last time. Not 3 years later or with a cane, I walked out in street shoes that barely fit my new feet. The angle on that right heel is about 12 degrees off where it was before the fall, which means I have to wear a specific shoe type every day. (I’m not paid so I won’t tell you the brand) 

That freedom of realizing I could put myself through a recovery that hard which continues to this day, made me realize that I needed a goal. I was 38 when that fall happened, these days I am 45 pushing 46 this year. So, what better way to look at turning 50 in a few years, than by setting a goal of completing a 50 miler. 

There we go I have 4 years and 5 months to complete a 50-miler race. I know that I will not be in contention to win unless everyone else quits. But, as with the rest of my life to this point, it has never been about being first or best. It has been about completing the objective. Setting an example that if you put the effort in, you can complete pretty much anything you set your mind to.

I want Everett to have an example that the old slow guy who wakes up sounding like Rice-Crispies in the mornings, can set a goal and accomplish it. 

A year after the injury, it took me a week but I job/walked a marathon in distance for my birthday, a year after that I ran what many consider to be one of the toughest 5 mile races in the world, The Bear from #LinvilleNC to the top of #GrandfatherMtn. That race sucks everything out of you, with 90% of the course going uphill, the last 2 miles tests your determination of getting to the finish line, with the last mile making you constantly look at the switchbacks cut into the granite mountain in front of you that rises up another 500 or so feet in elevation. And the worth part is that is the spectator area, which puts all of you on display for the crowd, the pain, training, fitness, etc… The crowd gives you energy if you know how to focus it. 

I am surrounded by people who think this is a crazy idea, but they also understand that nothing can take my focus off of a goal. They have seen me through recovery, trained with me for The Bear, watched me take it all with a smile through the pain. 

Knowing what it takes to train for marathons and having spent a large portion of my youth as an endurance athlete, this is not new territory. There will be pain, there will be injuries to overcome. That is a given in this world. Researching this goal and looking at races, the injury rate for Ultras is near 100% in training. 

Understanding that as a 45+ year old looking at this as a goal, I am older with more lingering physical injury issues from the past than the drama in a Kardashian’s episode. It will not be easy. But, and that is a big “But” it will set an example for Everett, to put the miles in, don’t waver from the path, and hard work is worth it. This is the most important thing I can pass on to him, life will challenge you and put you on the back foot, everything does not always go to plan, and you have to step back, access and adapt to the new reality.

This is why I am giving myself 4+ years to complete the goal. To build up from 7 months off running as it having only run 4 days in 7 months, I am starting from essentially 0 here. Working my way from here to 5k’s, 10k, ½ marathons, to full marathons for training. While not everything will be a race to reach a goal some will be. 

I will be looking for ideas from you all as we go forward. From races to look at, motivation on the way through those depression days where it feels like the plateau never ends, and I want to help you start training for your own goals if you are so inclined. 

Not looking for sympathy or kudos here, just looking to share what I am sure will be a heck of a ride. If you follow twitter @NoBSOutdoors I will begin updating with more than just pictures and the occasional snarky reply. I will start with 2-3 days a week of running. I hate the gym with a passion so working out will be limited to body weight at the start. 

Eventually I will have to add weights and reps to top some of those plateaus along the way. It’s just a natural occurrence there. Having done this dozens of times in the past for marathons , it is probably the part I hate the most.

Music will be the key to motivation as I start this journey. Getting lost in the lyrics and beat helps the miles go by much easier. I usually measure a run by number of songs instead of miles. I will post some of the music on twitter for people to check out. Some of it will be popular or will have been popular at some point, some will come out of left field, its just the way my mind works. ADD is a gift not a disease. 

So, come along on the journey if you like. It will be interesting to say the least. While 12 week – 6-month programs are the norm for training programs, I never have followed a real program even when I was competitive. 

Realize this is my journey, my goals will be different than yours. The race may occur in 2 years or be all the way around the time of my 50th birthday. That is why it is called the #50by50. So, hop on and enjoy the ride.