Mile Long Legs

So as you may know, my journey to the San Francisco half marathon has come to a screeching halt. Whoa, EEEECHH, Emergency brake pulled, parachute opened, the director has called “cut”!  Okay, okay, perhaps I’m being a little on the dramatic side, so here’s what’s actually going down.

Four days ago I decided to go out for a trail run and enjoy some of BC’s beautiful outdoors, in doing so I managed to take an unlucky step, a split-second decision to step here instead of there and I rolled the crap out of my right ankle.  I thought “oh shit”, realized I was “okay” and then carried on. It hurt, but it definitely wasn’t enough to keep me from finishing the run I had set out on.

The day after my injury.  I woke up with my post-Canada-day-maple-syrup hangover and did a quick check of my ankle. It felt pretty good.  A little sore, a little achey, but nothing to keep me from going out on my scheduled Saturday training run.  I popped a few Advil and was out the door.  During my run I could tell I was favoring my injured ankle slightly, but I pushed through regardless.

Two days post injury.  Sundays are my long-run days.  So as per usual, I headed out to Stanley Park to put in my 3rd last long run prior to my half marathon.  Within a few miles I realized that things were not all rainbows and puppies in my running world…in fact the complete opposite.  My ankle felt WAY off, so I packed it in, had a moment of feeling defeated but sucked it up and enjoyed the gorgeous sunshine and the fresh ocean air along the walk back to my car on the seawall.  When I got home I did the usual care; rest, ice, elevation and Advil.  A few hours later the swelling started. dun dun DUNNNN!

Three days post injury.  Yesterday as soon as my feet hit the floor I was in pain.  My ankle was feeling pretty bad, I decided to have a rest/recover day; therefore, no running.  I took it pretty easy all day and as soon as I had the chance I was all about the elevation, icing and Advil. Queue sad face. 😦

Four days post injury. TODAY! I woke up this morning and was determined to put in an 8 mile run…  Delusional? maybe. Optimistic? yes. Determined? definitely.  I woke up early figuring I could knock out my run before work. I got geared up, laced up my Newtons and headed into work.  The walk from my car to my office (less than 2 blocks) proved to be a HUGE feat.  Weight bearing was difficult and my foot and ankle were super uncomfortable. At this point I realized I had better take a trip to the doctor instead of pushing myself through 8 painful miles.

My diagnosis.  Sprained medial ankle ligament.  My doctor also sent me for weight-bearing xrays, this will determine if my sprain is a “high ankle sprain” or just a normal ligament sprain. What’s the difference you ask? If it turns out to be a normal sprain I will be off running for 1 week *cries*, and then be re-assessed. If it turns out to be a high ankle sprain, the xray will actually show the anterior tibiofibular ligaments separating. If this is the case…that 1 week of no running quickly turns into a minimum of 6 weeks of no running!  *cries harder* Regardless of the type of sprain, I’m in an aircast for the next couple weeks, I’ll be starting physiotherapy with one of Vancouver’s best sports physio’s on Thursday, and I’ll be kicking up my feet with a glass of red wine while resting and icing this bitch of an ankle in the mean time!

Soooo….fingers crossed I get the one week jail sentence instead of the six! I’m pretty optimistic that this will be the case.  Either way, it’s kinda sucky to have this happen 3 1/2 weeks prior to a half marathon. But hey, what can you do besides put a smile on your face and make the best of the situation. Therefore, tomorrow I’m going to purchase a new bikini and then I’m off to the pool to do laps since swimming is the only exercise I’ve been given the thumbs up for! 🙂

xoxo, MLL