Injured

Memorial Day weekend I was out on an easy trail run and I rolled my ankle. I rolled it bad enough that I fell face first right away. On the way down I had two thoughts; 1.”Huh, I stepped on a stick, snapped it and am now falling” 2. (this is when the pain set in) “Crap, that wasn’t a stick, that was my ankle”. Those both happened before I even hit the ground. I laid there for a bit, eventually got up on both feet and hobbled back. It was only about a mile, nothing too bad.

Several doctor visits, an MRI and some X-Rays later I have a full diagnosis. 3rd degree ankle sprain with a high

ankle sprain in the right ankle. Basically I tore or damaged all the ligaments on the outer ankle, severely stretched the tendon on the inside and have contusions on the inner bones.

I’m in a cast for a while to fully immobilize the ankle. Once that is removed I’ll be in an air cast and I’ll start the rehab process with the sports physician. Mobility exercises, proprioception drills and strength training for the ankle. Once that is done I’ll start easy running on the roads, then hard runs, then I’ll start hitting the trails. Once I get back on the trails I’ll be in an ankle brace for a while. Cycling and swimming will start back up at this time as well. Guess is 6-8 weeks for all of this, but who knows. It’ll eventually heal and I’ll be back, just need to be patient.

Right now I have no races on the calendar. Once I’m healed I’ll look into what Ultra I can train for next. I want to wait till then so I don’t rush the healing process. I’d rather run the rest of my life comfortably then rush back into it and have chronic ankle issues.

Just cause I’m injured doesn’t mean training stops. I’ve been working with my coaches and developing a new training plan that doesn’t stress the ankle. Weight lifting (sans deadlifts and squats), boxing (heavy and speed bag), core work, flexibility training, airborne running… there is a lot that can be done still. I’m going through my 200 push ups a day training but it’s modified. I can’t do it on my feet so my knees are elevated on a box.

Training doesn’t stop, it just gets modified. I’m injured, but not done. I’ve got a lot of miles to run, ultras to complete and shoes to wear out still.