Barefoot Disaster

I told you the other day that I had a history of bad ankles and so set out to make them stronger. My cousin is in town and it turns out she has the same predicament.

Kirsten is a sports nut playing baseball, volleyball, not sure what all else. She has done some Turbo Jam, a lot of running, and has sprained her ankles so many times she packs an ankle brace just in case. But she had forgotten that brace when we were on this trip.

On June 14th we drove from Tillamook to Timberline Lodge for a little snow sledding. It was Kirsten's first time seeing snow, sledding in it, and making a snowman. From there we headed north on Hwy 35 to the Gorge. I had planned to hike to as many of the falls as possible.

We first hit Wahclella Falls at Bonneville Dam. It was a mile to the fall and we had been stuck in the truck for an hour after playing in the snow for a couple hours. Before that couple hours we had been stuck in the truck for about three hours.

I figured we could jog in, peep the falls, and jog out. I as in some terrible Sketchers with nearly no support but they would protect me from rocks. K was wearing running shoes. Half way up, she rolled her ankle.

Limping back to the truck I told her about my experiences and had a chance to preach how I have strengthened my ankles via Insanity first with shoes, then without.

Thinking quickly I reconsidered all the waterfalls we could hit from the truck. We found the jeep trail up to Dry Creek Falls and it was BEAUTIFUL. The drive was fun if you are good on rough roads. From there we hit Wahkeena, Multnomah, Shepard's Dell, and Latourell falls. Then off to Wendy's for a frosty!

K is 18 in a couple days. She has plenty of time to strengthen her ankles. I didn't start repairing mine until after age 30. Where are you?

This morning I did Insanity Pure Cardio. Still feeling the carpet on the feet but the muscles are all feeling great! I wonder how long it will be until I am backpacking in Vibram Five Fingers...