Recovering

Five weeks to the day that I stopped running I finally felt that my ankle was strong enough to venture out for a short one and a half mile run.  And I felt great - my ankle not so much, but the rest of me was in heaven.  Actually, the ankle was ok through most of it, but towards the last half mile I could feel some soreness coming on.  I tried to run easy, thinking of a 10+min/mile pace, but for the 4 runs that I've gotten in I have averaged sub-9 min/miles.  And I wasn't even really trying.

One thing that I've noticed is that my overall endurance is off - I'm tired....  My legs feel strong, but it's like my body itself is flat out tired after a run.  Which makes sense:  my cardio work outs have been substantially less aggressive, so my overall endurance levels will be off.  I'll need to build that back up.

After every run I've immediately applied ice to my ankle for 15-20 minutes, and then after my shower a light massage to keep things loose.  Every morning do a stretch routine.

As of this morning, after 4 runs in 5 days, including 3 good miles yesterday, my ankle feels pretty good.  Today will be a rest day, and I'll follow it with a 3, 4, rest, and then 5 mile routine.  I'd like to be up to 8 miles next week.

Peroneal Tendon injury

Somehow or another I have stressed/injured the Peroneal Tendon on my left foot. It turns out that there are two Peroneal Tendons (Peroneus brevis and Peroneus longus, i.e. one short, one long). These tendons run from my lower calf muscle (I'm confused about which muscle exactly) along the outer edge of my left ankle, under the ankle bone (that part that protrudes out from your foot), ultimately connecting the calf muscle to bones in the ankle itself.

The pain in my ankle is directly below that outer ankle bone that protrudes out from the ankle and to some degree, tender along the back of my lower calf/ankle area.  But I don’t remember an event (like tripping, slipping,  or stepping on or through an uneven surface that would have caused the injury.  I just remember that it started to hurt some hours after running (never during) and especially the day after. And it hurts enough for me to not run for a while.

So, in doing some research I found what it was that was hurting me (the Peroneal Tendon) and the standard therapy is simply rest, as in "don't walk, run, stand.."  Obviously very impractical.  Nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drugs, aka NSAID’s, such as ibuprofen seem to help, but I tend to try not to use it during the day since I worry that it will mask the discomfort, leading me to overstress the injury – so, when I use ibuprofen I’ll do so at  night.   But the bottom line is that I am forced to ease up (as in “not run”) for a while.

(I found this image at http://footphysicians.com/footankleinfo/peroneal-tendon.htm)

The tough part is that I don’t know for how long I need to ease up for.  I’ve read reports ranging from a week to 3 months (that won’t do….).  As long as it hurts, I’m definitely not running.  I posted the question on the active.com/community forum, and although its gotten a lot of hits, no one has ventured an opinion yet.

In the meantime I’m occasionally wrapping and massaging my ankle, along with some gentle stretching.  Icing doesn’t seem to help, but the use of a pressure wrap makes it feel much better.  I’m hoping for a quick recovery – too much good stuff to eat and drink during the holidays and besides, I really miss being out there…

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