Injury Recovery

 It took 3 weeks to recover from the heavy ankle sprain. It is the longest in recent memory I have had to hold off running. I started back 3 weeks to the day after the injury. I found that more flexibility in the shoe felt better than less. I managed 17 miles total for the week. My account of how I did it is below. 

Patience 

There is no other world that comes to mind. As a younger man that word did not exist. I am not sure you can have patience in all things when you are younger. Since my plan is to be running for years and years to come I know time off would not hurt me. Be patient. 

Don`t Rush 

Early on in the three I rushed to therapy. It only made the swelling and pain worse. So this is what I did. 

1. Started swimming right away. It was hard to swim with a stiff injured foot but it was not painful. 

2. As soon as I could put my foot into a bike shoe I got on the bike trainer and pedaled for 45 minutes every other day. I was not building or maintains fitness just moving the legs. 

3. One morning I woke up and my first step out of bed was not searing pain running up my leg. I gave it two more mornings to make sure it was real. Both of those days I stepped on the floor pain free. 

4. From there I started riding out doors. 

Swelling and Pain 

The swelling and movement pain continued. I would wake up in the morning with limited swelling and pain. Then both would grow through the day. That is when I started the actual work. 8 days out from my first run I started taking Aleeve. I kept it in my system 24 hours a day. In the evening I would soak my foot and ankle in an epsom salt bath. 6 days after that process the swelling was gone. Most importantly it would not come back during the day. I stuck with the protocol until that first run. 

Not 100% 

4 weeks into this the foot is still there. It doesn`t hurt much but I can always feel it. Never in my wildest dreams did I know how uneven our world is. Running down the road is treacherous. My left foot and ankle feel every divot and crack in the road. Stepping of or back on a curb requires thought. I must remain patient with my running for now. Never pushing the pace or the distance. 5 miles was my longest run last week, maybe it will be 6 this week. 

The morale of this story: 

Always wear a light when it is dark.