Track and Field Blogs - Nick Arciniaga

I am currently 3 months into my first Michigan winter, and it is looking like there is going to be about another month left of ice, snow, and cold. Being from Southern California this weather and training conditions are the complete opposite of what I am used to. Recent events have inspired me to share a few ‘accidents’ that have taken place over this winter. While most of these ‘accidents’ were due to weather and road conditions, other factors such as carelessness, stupidity, and crooked feet also played a role in some cases.

The first incident to occur was in the middle of December. All of the sidewalks and streets were layered in ice, making it a terrible day to have 18 miles on the schedule. Mike Morgan and Pat Moulton were one of the firsts to go down. Morgan who was cranking to finish slipped on some ice, fell, and slammed his head on the ground. He was lucky enough to only have a concussion from that one, but still had 2 mile to go. Moulton on the other hand, whose left foot point 45 degrees inwards, also slipped and fell onto some ice. Unfortunately, he landed on his side, cracking a rib and shattering the slab of ice underneath him. It has been 2 months now and I don’t think he has fully recovered.

Next was my stupid, careless fall. Just 2 days before Xmas and hours before I was heading home to sunny California, I decided to find the only icy spot in Rochester that day. I went down hard, literally crushing my ankle under myself. It didn’t break, and I don’t think anything popped, but I had to take 3 weeks off because I apparently torn some ligaments around my ankle bone. I too am still recovering from that.

That brings me to the most recent events, which Pat Rizzo describes pretty well in his blog. (So go read his to get the while story). To sum up what happened; Pat and I were running on another very icy day, forced to run on the shoulder of the road. Well, 12 mile in a Jeep heading towards us lost controls and ended up punching Pat in the face, hip and shoulder and launched him to the side of the road. (He is ok). Some details that he missed in his retelling of the story were that when the Jeep lost control Pat was so stunned by my Spider-Man-Like reflexes and Matrix-Like movements to get out of the way, which of course led to him not being able to get out of the way himself.

Another detail that he left out was when he was lying there in a bloodied, semi-conscious state on the side of the road. I strolled up to him and declared in my best Doc Holliday voice, “You're no daisy! You're no daisy at all.” Then when the paramedics arrived and asked me what had happened, I responded, “Poor soul, you were just too high strung. It would appear that the strain was more than he could bear.”

I just wanted to clear that up so everyone knows what really happened. And I guess the whole point of this blog is that I cannot wait until this winter is over. I’m going to have to plan more time next year in California.