The Green Girl had the best dream the other night. I was running and running. Really fast. I could feel the wind blowing through my hair. I felt so free.
The best part of all was that my ankle didn’t hurt at all.
I ran across some strengthening exercises I can do while I’m sitting in my cubicle at work. I hope they help. My calves are really tight lately. I keep stretching them but it doesn’t seem to help.
Unfortunately, the Green Girl’s running hiatus had to be extended.
My ankle is doing much better but it’s still not completely healed. The arch is always sore after I workout – even though I haven’t been running. I’m certain I have posterior tibial tendonitis but since I don’t have any health insurance, I haven’t gotten an official diagnosis from a trained professional. I did find some exercises and trigger point massage techniques I can use to help strengthen the muscles around my posterior tibial tendon.
My running group, the Sole Runners, will officially start fall training on May 23rd. My plan is to tape my ankle and start trying to follow the returning from injury schedule and see how it goes.
I’m relieved the San Francisco Half Marathon isn’t until the end of July. I’ve tried to go out for a few easy runs and was discouraged by how much endurance I’ve lost. I’ve been doing the elliptical and kickboxing consistently 4-5 times a week but when I go out for a short run, I get tired really quickly.
Thank you so much, Tricotine, for letting me know about Pete Pfitzinger’s Seven-Week Schedule for Returning from Injury.
Depending on how my ankle feels, I’m going to start following this program in the next few weeks.
Seven-Week Schedule for Returning from Injury
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Week
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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1
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Walk 10 min, Run 5 min, Walk 5 min, Run 5 min | Run in water or other training | Run in water or other training | Walk 5 min,Run 5 min,Walk 5 min,Run 5 min,Walk 5 min,Run 5 min | Run in water or other training | Run in water or other training | Walk 3 min, Run 7 min, Walk 3 min, Run 7 min, Walk 3 min, Run 7 min |
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2
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Run in water or other training | Walk 2 min, Run 8 min, Walk 2 min, Run 8 min, Walk 2 min, Run 8 min | Run in water or other training | Run 10 min, Walk 2 min,Run 10 min, Walk 2 min,Run 10 min | Run in water or other training | Run 12 min, Walk 2 min, Run 12 min, Walk 2 min, Run 10 min | Run in water or other training |
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3
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Run 15 min, Walk 2 min, Run 15 min | Run in water or other training | Run 20 min, Walk 2 min, Run 10 min | Run in water or other training | Run 25 min | Run in water or other training | Run 30 min |
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4
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Run in water or other training | Run 25 min | Run 30 min | Run in water or other training | Run 25 min | Run 35 min | Run in water or other training |
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5
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Run 30 min | Run 35 min | Run in water or other training | Run 30 min plus 6 x 100 meter stridouts | Run 30 min | Run 40 min | Run in water or other training |
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6
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Tempo Run (15 min warm-up, 15 min @ 15 km race pace) | Run 30 min | Run 45 min | Run in water or other training | Run 40 min plus 6 x 100 meter strideouts | Run 30 min | Run 50 min |
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7
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Run in water or other training | Run 35 min | Tempo Run (15 min warm-up, 20 min @ 15 km race pace) | Run 35 min | Run in water or other training | Run 40 min plus 6 x 100 meter strideouts | Run 55 min |
proprioception (prō'prē-ō-sěp'shən) n. The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.
The Green Girl’s ankle is doing significantly better after her two three week running hiatus.
At this point, my number one priority is to allow my ankle to heal and strengthen it as much as possible. I am so glad the San Francisco Half Marathon is not until the end of July.
As I mentioned before, my doctor wants me to do isometric exercises on a weekly basis for both my ankles to strengthen them.
My doctor also recommended I purchase or borrow a Bosu Ball and balance on it three times a day to increase my kinesthetic coordination. Instead of a pricey Bosu Ball, I found a much cheaper alternative, a Harbinger Balance Trainer, at my local discount sporting goods store, Big 5, for $19.99.
After using the Balance Trainer for a week now, I must admit I prefer it over the signficantly more expensive Bosu Ball in terms of balance training.
With the Bosu Ball, you can adjust the difficulty simply by spreading your feet further apart to make it easier or closer together to make it harder. Even at the most challenging position, the Bosu Ball is not as difficult as the Balance Trainer because the dome is firmer and offers more support. When I’m at the dojo, I continue to use the Bosu Ball for squats. I would need to purchase a second Balance Trainer if I wanted to do squats (one for each foot).
I stand on the Balance Trainer at least twice a day – in the morning and at night when I brush my teeth. Simply trying to balance on the disk is challenging but the brushing movement makes it even more difficult.
I hope this training also helps me to improve my balance and spatial awareness. I tend to trip fairly often and I’ve always been really accident-prone.
The Green Girl is going to take a two week hiatus from running.
After doing way better than I could have ever expected in my half marathon last Sunday, I want to give my ankle an opportunity to heal. I think repeated sprains have weakened the ligaments and tendons. Just last week, I remembered I had injured this ankle back when I was in elementary school. I had torn the ligaments so badly I ended up on crunches wearing this giant boot for months. I can’t believe I completely blocked that entire incident out of my mind until now.
My next race is the Los Alamitos Race on the Base 5k on February 21. Depending on how my ankle feels that week, I might go for some easy runs before the race.
I’ll continue to kickbox but I’ll tape my ankle. I’ll do the elliptical instead of running. This will also give me an opportunity to focus more on strength training.
The Green Girl’s official time was 02:49:16. I cannot believe I broke the three hour mark with a sprained ankle and walk breaks.
The Green Girl wants to wish all the Surf City USA runners good luck tomorrow!
LA Badger, I hope you have fully recovered from your cold. Good luck on a great race.
L.A. Runner, good luck pacing a 03:40. I believe in you.
Tricotine, I’ll be thinking about you at the Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic as I’m running. Best of luck to you if you do decide to run it and if you don’t, I hope you find satisfaction in volunteering for the race and letting your body rest.
I will tape up my ankle in the morning and pop some ibuprofen. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
The Green Girl finally gave in and went to get her ankle checked out by a doctor today. Truth be told, a big part of me just wanted to wait until after the Surf City USA Half Marathon in case it was bad news.
As soon as my doctor heard me in the waiting room, he yelled, “What did you do to yourself now and when is your next race?” So he knows me well.
Luckily, he doesn’t think it’s a stress fracture. I’m an unemployed Green Girl right now and I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for an x-ray. Like my self-diagnosis, he said I sprained the medial (inner) ankle ligaments.
He recommended I tape up my ankle and try going for a really short run. If the tape doesn’t bother me, he wants me to tape before the race on Sunday. He said taping will give me much more support than an ankle wrap.
Until my ankle is fully healed, the doctor said he wants me to tape every single time I go kickboxing since I kickbox barefoot. I did my very first taping job tonight before I headed to the dojo. He wants me to ice after every workout even if I don’t feel any discomfort. In addition, he wants me to start doing isometric exercises on a weekly basis for both my ankles to strengthen them.
To help speed up the recovery of her sprained ankle, the Green Girl is using Peaceful Mountain Tendon Rescue.
The Tendon Rescue gel contains comfrey, arnica, rosemary, aloe, potassium sorbate, originox, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. According to the website, the herbs in Tendon Rescue have traditionally been used to repair damaged tendons, ligaments and soft tissues. The directions recommend using the product three times daily.
The gel has a brownish tint but doesn’t stain my skin when I rub it in. It smells like a multivitamin tablet.
I want my ankle to be as strong as possible for the Surf City USA Half Marathon this Sunday.
Oh, Running Gods, I was a very good Green Girl today.
I did not go kickboxing even though I really wanted to.
Please let my ankle be okay tomorrow morning for my long run.
