No, really.  This is not a real estate blog.  This is about falling on your face while running the trails.  The title is not a metaphor.  I was going to call it “Tripping, Tripping, Tripping,” but I thought that sounded too much like an acid flashback.  So here you go: my three favorite ways of taking a “header” out in the canyon.

Running the American River Canyon

1.  Sightseeing.  The eye-to-body coordination of a human being running on a rocky canyon trail is an operational miracle to rival the fastest computer processor.  Full speed along a sheer cliff?  No sweat . . . as long as you keep your eyes on the trail.  I you must, absolutely must, take in an eyefull of the American River below . . . stop . . . look . . . resume running.  When boogie wooging down the canyon, you need only to take your eyes off the trail for a second to fall flat on your face.  The period of most danger is the couple of seconds before your eyes re-focus on the trail immediately ahead.  It’s usually a small rock about the size of a poisonous toad, or a malignant root, that gets you.  These wicked hazards are easily, unconsciously, avoided if you are giving your attention to the trail.  But lift your eyes up for a quickie peekie and . . . splat!

2. The Home Stretch.  Ah, end of the trail!  During the last minutes of a long run, you get pooped.  Duh.  When you get tired, you just don’t lift your feet as high as you do at the beginning of the run.  Maybe it’s just a half  inch difference,  just enough for that rock or root to reach up and . . . splat!  You need to talk to yourself, remind yourself, c’mon, lift your feet.  Don’t stumble at the finish line.  Hey!  That’s a pretty good motto for life, isn’t it?  Don’t stumble at the finsh line. 

3. Famous Last Words.  My worst spills have come on my best runs.  Usually I am flying down hill, really flying, feeling great.  The exhilarating  thought blowing through my mind is “wow, I am really running fast today” and . . . splat!   It reminds me of the joke.  What were the Texan’s last words?  “Hey, Bubba, I bet y’all nevah seen nobody do this!”  Like that.  Be careful on the fast downhills.  There’s that stuff called “Mo.”  Mo-mentum.

Ok.  Let’s review.  Keep your eyes on the trail, don’t stumble during the home stretch, and don’t be so full of yourself that you fall flat on your face.  Hey!  It was a metaphor after all!