The Multi-Sport Approach. To Running

 My Foot

Last week after blowing up my ankle I did almost no work on healing. My job was to help our son and his wife move from one Army base to another. The days that should have been spent icing and recovering were busy with moving an apartment worth of stuff down a flight of stairs to the truck, driving the truck 400+ miles then moving the same apartment worth of stuff up a flight of stairs to the new home. 

I spent the first two days after my flight home working to bring the immense swelling down and working on some mobility. Each time I took the dog out for a walk the ankle would swell up again. Finally after two days of this the swelling began to stay down. 

Multi-Sport

I have a life time of multi-sport in my body. Rarely in my adult life have I gone long periods of time without running, biking, swimming and strength training on a weekly basis. I am so consistent with it that if I choose to do a triathlon (any distance) or an ultra running event I can train specifically for 6-8 weeks and be competitive. 

Swimming

Right now with my foot in disarray the only things I can do are swimming and strength training. I swam for the first time on Wednesday. In general I can swim a regular workout. One of the things I aways do in swimming is band my feet together when I put a pull buoy between my legs. That cuts the circulation off my swollen ankle so I won`t be banding. Also I am only pushing off the wall on flip turns with my right leg. I think in the end this will add more range of motion into the foot and it will generate blood flow that the foot needs to heal. 

Biking

As soon as the swelling is gone I should be able to put a cycling shoe on. Once I can do that I will start by riding indoors. There are too many times where my ankle will need to be used when riding outdoors. I can`t see that being very safe at this time. Indoors there is no balance needed, just sit on the bike and pedal. That I know I can do without pain. 

Running

It`s what I love. I have always been on in a triathlon that can`t wait to get to the run. Right now I simply can`t run. I do not know when that will be possible. What I do know is with some swimming and cycling my running is not that far away. When the time comes I will be able to ramp up my running to my standards 30-40 miles without much of a problem. 

That, is the multi-sport approach to running at its best.