Ugh, I definitely picked the wrong year for transitioning from 5k to 10k.
Finally, at 18391021 weeks post Head Cold of Doom, I'm back to running regularly three times a week, and I'm kinda proud of myself that I manage to drag myself out even when the sun is beating down and it's getting uncomfortably warm (which, in my case, means everything upwards of 23°C. I'm a wimp concerning heat, sue me).
I am, however, really pissed that this thing with my right ankle is getting really annoying. I've had it on and off ever since I started running in 2016 but it usually only happened every couple months and usually mostly on muddy or soft ground (one of the reason I mostly gave up my once favorite running track as it tends to get really muddy whenever it rains and has very few shady parts when the sun is shining). But it's bugged me every. Damn. Run. This week. It starts at around ten minutes with slight to moderate pain around the "outer" ankle bone (no idea what it's called), gets worse until at around 15 minutes, I can't bring myself to keep on running and have to walk up to five minutes while the pain goes all the way down to the metatarsal and all the way up the shin until I can tackle the last ten to twelve minutes in a very slow run and a kind a painful warm-down walk. Usually, it's mostly gone after five minutes of warm-down walk and doesn't bug me much or at all after the run and on the rest day. Right now, I can still feel it but it doesn't make walking painful or impossible, it really just happens when I'm running.
Yes, I've been to the orthopaedic with it but he couldn't find anything wrong with my foot or ankle or running shoes. Apparently, I have no old, undetected fractures anywhere in the foot or ankle, no defective position and from what he could feel no residual damage from a sprained or ruptured ligament eight years ago (which was my initial assumption as a physical therapist told me that those can take very, very long to heal, even with proper treatment which I received) and my running shoes looked okay to him in every aspect. He did find a painful pressure point while examining the ankle, so gave me a choice whether I wanted to start with physical therapy or orthopedic insoles.
Since I have insoles (although not individually fitted ones, granted) and I can't stand running with them, I opted for physical therapy. I've had my first eight or so treatments and most of them included manual therapy (which is so fucking painful OMFG physical therapists are all sadists in disguise I'm telling you!) and ultrasound (to treat any inflammation that might lurk around in the ankle) and actually seemed to work because I did have ankle problems but they weren't nearly as bad and mostly due to getting used to the strain of running after a break of more than seven weeks. Then the last two treatments were ultrasound and then physical therapy (that is, excercise) and everything went to hell. I'm reluctant to blame it on the therapy form or the therapist (because the actual excercises didn't hurt and made sense as weak and somewhat hypermobile ankles seem to be a family problem and excercise to strengthen the surrounding muscles is the best treatment I know for weak or unstable ligaments) but wow, that last ultrasound treatment actually hurt which it is not supposed to do (seems like the strength of the ultrasound thingy was dialed a little too high and the therapist took care of it as soon as I mentioned it, so I really don't want to blame it on him).
Anyway, long story short, I decided to skip next week's Monday run (so my body gets four days of R&R instead of two), hoping that it was just a matter of overexerting the ankle and that it'll get back on track for the rest of the summer and yeah, I have a new appointment at my orthopaedic at the end of May (which is, apparently, nothing short of a miracle because of everything I've heard, prompt appointments at orthopaedic practices are among the hardest to get in Germany). I have a bad feeling that it'll involve a referral to an MRT and those appointments are really, really hard to get if you do mind having to wait for three months or more. So wish me luck that whatever he says, I'll get this sorted out once and for all soon enough.
How are you? Any sporty exploits you'd like to talk about? Any advice for coping with crappy ankles? Tell me!
I am, however, really pissed that this thing with my right ankle is getting really annoying. I've had it on and off ever since I started running in 2016 but it usually only happened every couple months and usually mostly on muddy or soft ground (one of the reason I mostly gave up my once favorite running track as it tends to get really muddy whenever it rains and has very few shady parts when the sun is shining). But it's bugged me every. Damn. Run. This week. It starts at around ten minutes with slight to moderate pain around the "outer" ankle bone (no idea what it's called), gets worse until at around 15 minutes, I can't bring myself to keep on running and have to walk up to five minutes while the pain goes all the way down to the metatarsal and all the way up the shin until I can tackle the last ten to twelve minutes in a very slow run and a kind a painful warm-down walk. Usually, it's mostly gone after five minutes of warm-down walk and doesn't bug me much or at all after the run and on the rest day. Right now, I can still feel it but it doesn't make walking painful or impossible, it really just happens when I'm running.
Yes, I've been to the orthopaedic with it but he couldn't find anything wrong with my foot or ankle or running shoes. Apparently, I have no old, undetected fractures anywhere in the foot or ankle, no defective position and from what he could feel no residual damage from a sprained or ruptured ligament eight years ago (which was my initial assumption as a physical therapist told me that those can take very, very long to heal, even with proper treatment which I received) and my running shoes looked okay to him in every aspect. He did find a painful pressure point while examining the ankle, so gave me a choice whether I wanted to start with physical therapy or orthopedic insoles.
Since I have insoles (although not individually fitted ones, granted) and I can't stand running with them, I opted for physical therapy. I've had my first eight or so treatments and most of them included manual therapy (which is so fucking painful OMFG physical therapists are all sadists in disguise I'm telling you!) and ultrasound (to treat any inflammation that might lurk around in the ankle) and actually seemed to work because I did have ankle problems but they weren't nearly as bad and mostly due to getting used to the strain of running after a break of more than seven weeks. Then the last two treatments were ultrasound and then physical therapy (that is, excercise) and everything went to hell. I'm reluctant to blame it on the therapy form or the therapist (because the actual excercises didn't hurt and made sense as weak and somewhat hypermobile ankles seem to be a family problem and excercise to strengthen the surrounding muscles is the best treatment I know for weak or unstable ligaments) but wow, that last ultrasound treatment actually hurt which it is not supposed to do (seems like the strength of the ultrasound thingy was dialed a little too high and the therapist took care of it as soon as I mentioned it, so I really don't want to blame it on him).
Anyway, long story short, I decided to skip next week's Monday run (so my body gets four days of R&R instead of two), hoping that it was just a matter of overexerting the ankle and that it'll get back on track for the rest of the summer and yeah, I have a new appointment at my orthopaedic at the end of May (which is, apparently, nothing short of a miracle because of everything I've heard, prompt appointments at orthopaedic practices are among the hardest to get in Germany). I have a bad feeling that it'll involve a referral to an MRT and those appointments are really, really hard to get if you do mind having to wait for three months or more. So wish me luck that whatever he says, I'll get this sorted out once and for all soon enough.
How are you? Any sporty exploits you'd like to talk about? Any advice for coping with crappy ankles? Tell me!