Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Uh-oh.......here we go again?

First off, thanks for all the great comments regarding my weekend long-run on the Boston Marathon course.  I'm glad you all enjoyed reading about it......it was so hard to try to capture how much fun I had and how difficult it was, but I did the best I could.

That said, I now find myself back on the disabled list.........while my cold has for the most part cleared up, my right ankle is now hurting.  After finishing the run on Saturday, I was sore, but it wasn't anything or anywhere specific, but rather an overall fatigue and general soreness.  I took ibuprofen and got a great night's sleep and woke up Sunday morning with a sore right ankle.....centered between the outside ankle and that big tendon directly opposite from the achilles tendon (ok, so I really don't know much about anatomy, so maybe one of you will let me know what that tendon is called?).  I had no plan to run on Sunday, but I did go to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes and did 30 minutes on the stationary bike....figured some active rest would help with the recovery process.  I came ho me, dug out the old icepack and strapped it on.

A little backstory on my right ankle.........6 years ago, I stepped in a nasty little (and previously unseen!) hole in my front lawn on my way to the car and SEVERELY sprained my right ankle.  While the x-rays didn't show a break, I should've insisted on an MRI which might have pointed out some tendon/ligament damage, but the hospital I went to didn't do it.  At the time, I was WELL in excess of 300 pounds and decidedly NOT a runner.  Needless to say, the ankle took a long time to heal, and I always wondered if there was still something not quite right with it.

So now it's Monday....and I have to go back to work, which means I'm going to be on my feet for at least 6-7 hours before I can get some ice on it.  I found my old ankle wrap, strapped it on, and headed off to school, hopeful that the compression would help.  Monday was scheduled as a rest day, so running wasn't even an option, which was a good thing, as the ankle was still a little tender.  More ice, more ibuprofen, and more sleep left me hopeful.  Strapped up, headed off to work and hoped for the best.  When I came home, it was time to lace 'em up and see what it was going to be.

And it wasn't good.........I was hopeful that I could go out for an easy 5, but almost right away, the ankle was complaining.  I was going easy and just enjoying being out on another one of our crazy 70 degree days, and while I definitely could have made the distance, I knew that I would actually end up aggravating things more and potentially causing bigger problems down the road, so I shut it down and walked the final 3/4 of a mile home.  I was dejected, scared, nervous, frightened, and sad..........not feeling good about anything..........because I've been here before.

When I was training through the summer for the 2009 Bay State Marathon, I barely knew what I was doing.  I ran all of my training runs too fast, and ended up tweaking my left achilles tendon with more than a month to go before the race, forcing me to taper WAY too early, and I ended up running the marathon injured.  I vowed at the time that if I ever ran another marathon, I'd try to do everything I could to avoid injuring myself again.

So here I am......pouring my frustrations and insecurities into my blog.....with American Idol on the TV to cause me to cringe every time one of the talentless contestants overreaches with their song choices and consistently end up under the proper pitch again and again............getting ready to put the ice back on, then pop some more ibuprofen and then head off to bed, hopeful for some magic to happen overnight.  I'm not sure if I'm even going to try running tomorrow, or I might put it off until Friday to give it all another day........with my sole focus being getting to the starting line in Hopkinton on April 16th in one piece, I hate the feeling that I can't trust my body.  There are times when I feel a kinship with thoroughbred race horses.  Those huge, powerful and magnificent animals can be betrayed by the tiniest bones in their legs........and I'm a big, sturdy, powerful man who can't trust his lower legs.

I'm going to just have to take things day to day and not try to push it at all.........and for someone who enjoys the training almost as much as the race, taking it easy is just not in my nature. 

Hope to see you all out there on the road.......SOON!

19 comments:

  1. Hi! Ok, so I know it is easier said than done, but take a deep breath. You know as well as I that you have to listen to and trust your body. Also have faith that you have put in the work necessary and if you had to, you could run 26.2 tomorrow... You are in prime physical condition!! I say active rest (think swimming??) and DON'T PUSH IT! I know it sucks and makes you question a lot, but You know 4/16 is the most important date to get to, AND YOU WILL!!! :)

    Ps, if it makes you feel any better, my 1st marathon, I had to shut it down 6 weeks early with 11mi being my longest run... hip bursitis. I still finished!! Of course my doctor later asked - "Who recommended that you run the marathon??" Whoopsie!! Crazy damned runners ;-)

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    1. Hi Dyan!

      I'm not worried about making the distance....I know I can do that. It's just that I want to feel confident and just be able to enjoy the run. Oh, I'll make it ok.....just hate having to think about anything other than running!

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  2. We SOO all have those days...I am so far from my marathon goal, but somedays when I can barely reach 3 miles I just want to cry. Yet we always lace up our shoes again, and keep on trying. You got this dear friend. xoxo

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  3. Hey Bill, sounds like the peroneal tendon based on your description of the spot and the past sprain. Here's a blog I found that offers some suggestions of treatment: http://www.backcountryrunner.com/forums/general/peroneal_tendonitis_51/
    Also, if you google peroneal tendonitus you can get a wealth of treatment options that you can do to help yourself heal. YOU CAN DO THIS!

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  4. Hope your ankle get better. Sorry you might have to sit out Quincy. Listen to your body and do what you feel is right.

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  5. Oooh hope you can heal up soon. My chiro recommended the exercise found at 3min20sec on this youtube vid for me to strengthen my ankle, the video does have more to help strengthen all round the ankle. Something to look at whilst picking an American Idol winner ;-)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6xRWb9dFbU

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  6. "centered between the outside ankle and that big tendon directly opposite from the achilles tendon"

    Sounds like it's an overuse injury to me. I think you're doing the right thing by icing it & taking ibuprophen. If it persist a few more day's I would have it checked out by a good sports doc. It could just be strained, maybe with a little tendonitis in it.
    My doc wrote me a prescription for Voltaren gel for my tendonistis. That & Icing has helped me quite a bit.

    Chin up, you'll be fine.

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    1. hi Lisa.....yeah, I'm pretty sure it's tendonitis.....so it's R.I.C.E. for now!

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  7. Bill...I can certainly relate to this, as I believe I'm just recovering from a strained peroneal tendon myself on my left side. I can certainly tell you one thing...running through it is NOT the answer. It will cause you to alter your gait as a compensation mechanism, which can cause another injury (in my case, an aggravation of my right instep / arch).

    You still have a month left, so remember what is inscribed in bold, friendly letters on the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe and follow that sage advice.

    I have found that riding a bike doesn't put anywhere near the strain on it that running does, yet I can get a pretty decent aerobic workout from the bike. If you have one (or aren't averse to a stationary bike), you might try that for a few days to give it a chance to resolve.

    You won't loose any significant fitness for at least a week even if you had to do nothing, so be gentle with it. Here's to hoping it resolves quickly for you my friend !

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    1. Hi Michael,

      Actually, I'm thinking it's more the anterior tibial tendon that's enflamed....that's the big one in the middle of the foot connecting to the shin.....use it to pull your foot up towards the knee. Sometimes it can get enflamed from having your shoes tied too tight, so that might have been part of it. I do know that when I was getting a ride back to my car after the long run, I had a really bad cramp down there....you know that kind where the whole muscle just tenses up really tight. Of course, the repetitive stress of a 210-lb old dude bangin' out 18 on the marathon course might also have something to do with it.....ya think?

      I'm going with R-I-C-E, along with ibuprofen.....and I'm probably not going to try to run on it until the half marathon I'm running on Sunday. I'm hoping I'll be able to run without pain, but if it starts up again, I'll shut it right down, as all that really matters to me is April 16th.

      Thanks for the advice ("Don't Panic"....LOL) and the good wishes!

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  8. Hang in there. I sprained my ankle (quite badly) 2 months before my first ever marathon and I went to physio, did all the good stuff, icing, etc. and was able to run the race with my ankle lightly wrapped. But be careful and rest it like everyone's telling you :)

    ❀Barbara❀
    My Running Shortz

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    1. What's "rest"? LOL It's against my nature, but I really have no choice! ARGH!!!!

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  9. Oh geez I hope your ankle troubles are nothing serious. THis too shall pass right? Hang in there.

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    1. Thanks, T.....I'm going to take it easy this week....might not even run at all, so we'll see.....

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  10. Hi Bill,

    How is the ankle doing? Ride that bike HARD if you can without hurting the ankle...it will keep your fitness up some.

    Pushing hard you are going to find limits...and then you'll learn to be smarter about your body and what it needs.

    Shoes too tight can be a problem..mechanical rubbing that pisses off the bursa (sp?) sheath around the tendon. Weighing less would be good too of course.

    Part of the challenge of marathoning 8). Just toeing the the line at all is difficult.

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  11. Oh man, i hope your ankle starts shaping up soon!! do you have a sports specialist you can call? I honestly thought i was going to be out for the season about a month ago because of my knee, and it turned out i was just stretching wrong. Hopefully its nothing serious, just something a little R&R will take care of. STAY POSITIVE! :D

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    1. thanks, GF.....it's a bit frustrating, but I'm just going to have to rest this week. My hope is that I'll be able to run without pain soon.

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  12. Good luck with the injury, and hopefully it will heal between now and Patriot's Day. It seems like you have the right approach in respecting the injury and doing whatever you need to do to get to the starting line. Once you get going I would think the crowd, the history, your emotions and determination, as well as your training, will carry you the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. With the race so close you can't do very much to help your chances of success, but you could do a lot to hurt them, so err on the side of caution if you have any doubts.

    A running buddy of mine is a Physical Therapist who has embraced the minimalist shoe/barefoot movement. He swears it has done wonders for his lower leg strength and running mechanics, leading to a lower injury rate. You are going to have a lot of spare time on your hands between your taper and recovery periods. You may want to do some research on that and see if it's something you'd be interested in. He was very methodical and had to go back to square 1 as a runner. Where he could run 6 - 8 miles without any trouble before, he started out at distances under a mile and worked his way up slowly, and mostly on a treadmill at first. I tried it a few times and it just wasn't for me, but I'm OK with the way things are going for me runningwise, so I'm not looking to change anything.

    Good Luck in Boston !!

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