So I sprained my right ankle three weeks ago. At the time I was a month away from the Milan marathon and just past my first 20 mile run, which had been predictably tough, as the first 20 mile always is; I was looking forward to the second "easy" 20 miles and then a relaxing, well-deserved taper down to another successful sub-4:30 race.
I was playing badminton when it happened, wearing runners with dangerously wide soles, so when I went over on my ankle, the outside of it hit the floor almost instantly, with a horrific crunch. I went to the hospital where they put me in a half cast, gave me crutches, and made no promises about Milan either way. That week I was fairly positive, despite the inconvenience of immobility, sitting-down showers and a frustrating lack of running: after all I had had sprains previously and hadn't even bothered to stop walking on them before (although I was slightly less careful with myself before I started running).
After a week of surprising positivity I went back to the hospital to have the cast removed and to return the crutches, fully expecting to walk out with a reasonable amount of agility and be back running, driving and playing badminton if not that very day, then at least by the end of the week. Sadly it seemed my positive frame of mind had got me through the first week and no further: when they took the cast off, I saw that the top of my foot was purple and swollen, my ankle was still huge and the outside of my leg had bruising up the outside to halfway up my calf. I had significant ligament damage in the foot itself and part way up the calf, and a Grade 2 ankle sprain (out of a possible three, and two grades above my preference).
Four hospital departments later and still nobody had told me I wouldn't be running Milan, and by the time I got to the Physio department I realised that that was because it had always been completely out of the question. I wouldn't be able to drive for two weeks, obviously no badminton (fine by me, I grumbled), and no running. I could start gently moving my foot in up & down and side to side motions, and this would be my exercise for the next few weeks. Instead of marathon training by circuits, badminton, trackwork, lunchtime runs, and long runs at the weekend, learning to walk normally again would be my training (and this is what I think of walking).
So after a week of moderate to extreme amounts of misery, during which I faithfully did the physio exercises, lots of crutching, nothing silly (except once when I tried to run, which predictably resulted in a sharp pain in my ankle) and one session of DIY circuits involving a lot of sitting down, I returned to the hospital to see the physio. Amazingly, she was pleasantly surprised at my improvement, and even mentioned that I may be back running sooner than she had originally thought (although the first time I saw her she actually said the words "six months out" to me which was obviously not an option for a marathon runner). The swelling had gone down a lot and she was able to see a lot more of what was going on in the foot. She gave me some marginally more exciting physio exercises to do (Using a belt. Woo.) and left me with one crutch (which has since been propping up my fridge). She said I may be back running within a couple of weeks: I have one more appointment with her next week so I will hold out for good news then.
It now feels almost normal, apart from reduced flexibility. The bruising is still there, and the frustration is worse now that I feel better but still cannot run. It's now eight days to Milan and I have come to terms with missing yet another marathon. So, non-race report to follow, once again...
I was playing badminton when it happened, wearing runners with dangerously wide soles, so when I went over on my ankle, the outside of it hit the floor almost instantly, with a horrific crunch. I went to the hospital where they put me in a half cast, gave me crutches, and made no promises about Milan either way. That week I was fairly positive, despite the inconvenience of immobility, sitting-down showers and a frustrating lack of running: after all I had had sprains previously and hadn't even bothered to stop walking on them before (although I was slightly less careful with myself before I started running).
After a week of surprising positivity I went back to the hospital to have the cast removed and to return the crutches, fully expecting to walk out with a reasonable amount of agility and be back running, driving and playing badminton if not that very day, then at least by the end of the week. Sadly it seemed my positive frame of mind had got me through the first week and no further: when they took the cast off, I saw that the top of my foot was purple and swollen, my ankle was still huge and the outside of my leg had bruising up the outside to halfway up my calf. I had significant ligament damage in the foot itself and part way up the calf, and a Grade 2 ankle sprain (out of a possible three, and two grades above my preference).
Four hospital departments later and still nobody had told me I wouldn't be running Milan, and by the time I got to the Physio department I realised that that was because it had always been completely out of the question. I wouldn't be able to drive for two weeks, obviously no badminton (fine by me, I grumbled), and no running. I could start gently moving my foot in up & down and side to side motions, and this would be my exercise for the next few weeks. Instead of marathon training by circuits, badminton, trackwork, lunchtime runs, and long runs at the weekend, learning to walk normally again would be my training (and this is what I think of walking).
So after a week of moderate to extreme amounts of misery, during which I faithfully did the physio exercises, lots of crutching, nothing silly (except once when I tried to run, which predictably resulted in a sharp pain in my ankle) and one session of DIY circuits involving a lot of sitting down, I returned to the hospital to see the physio. Amazingly, she was pleasantly surprised at my improvement, and even mentioned that I may be back running sooner than she had originally thought (although the first time I saw her she actually said the words "six months out" to me which was obviously not an option for a marathon runner). The swelling had gone down a lot and she was able to see a lot more of what was going on in the foot. She gave me some marginally more exciting physio exercises to do (Using a belt. Woo.) and left me with one crutch (which has since been propping up my fridge). She said I may be back running within a couple of weeks: I have one more appointment with her next week so I will hold out for good news then.
It now feels almost normal, apart from reduced flexibility. The bruising is still there, and the frustration is worse now that I feel better but still cannot run. It's now eight days to Milan and I have come to terms with missing yet another marathon. So, non-race report to follow, once again...
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