I expected to have lower-limb problems in my training with chronic patellar tendonitis, what i didn’t expect is that an acute ankle overuse injury would take me out for over a week, nor did i expect the psychological impact of a forced lay-off.
It’s been a bad week for my marathon effort. After a good two-hour slog on Sunday afternoon (13 February) I started to feel some pain on the outside of left ankle. By the following morning, walking was difficult and certainly my pain grade was in the 3-5 range. Clearly my 30′ easy run that evening would have to be canned. It turned out that the Tuesday intervals were canned too, the Wednesday rest was inevitable and then on Thursday, with no significant improvement in the walking phase, an attempted threshold session was abandoned after 3′ at just 10kph.
Fortunately I have access to Liam Grimley, and after some intensive manipulation and massage by Saturday morning I have finally started to feel improvement. I’m popping NSAIDs like Smarties, icing whenever convenient and, importantly, resting. But it is a mental challenge. I am desperate to get out on my feet again and I can see empty entries in my running log and the days ticking away. I know my CV won’t drop off a cliff and I’m checking my resting HR to ensure I’m not stepping backwards but there are always CV options at the gym and perhaps now would be a great opportunity to work at those core stabilising muscles.
What I have missed most this week is the structure. I have genuinely been at a bit of a loss with what to do with myself. In the last two months my saturdays have been configured around fueling up for the long run on sunday and getting a 30′ run in. Sunday has been a logisitcal challenge of domestic chores and the run-recovery cycle of increasingly long outings – made all the more difficult by the longest bathroom refurbishment project ever. I have tried to avoid buying Runners World and only briefly listened to an episode of Marathon Talk; not knowing if my injury is likely to entirely scupper London it’s a thought I just need t0 bury whilst I focus on rehab.
My personal feeling is that it is some sort of inflammation of the calcaneofibular ligament, a ligament on the lateral side of the ankle and that this is the consequence of the hypermobility in my ankle being tested in a long off-camber/trail run on the sunday. But frankly, I’ll let Liam decide and treat it.
So, with progress again today in term of pain decreasing, I’ll see how htings progress and hopefully be back on my feet with a good few weeks to go before London.
John Gibbard 