I’ve openly said (many times) that I”m running the NYC Marathon this year. And then last week, I mentioned I “officially” started training. For most people, this is normal. For me, statements like these awaken the injury Gods, who then seem to hone in on my every move until BAM. CUE token marathon training injury.
Previously it’s always been overuse injuries (plantar fascitis, tendonitis, left IT band, right IT band…), so this time “they” decided to mix it up. So while I was running along on the bridle path this morning, I all of a sudden felt the ground come up to meet me as I severely rolled my ankle. Surprise!
The problem is that I’ve sprained said ankle many times before in my gymnastics days, and when it goes, it goes. A kind, fellow runner who witnessed my accident helped me up and made sure I was ok. I managed to hobble home before it started pouring, so I guess there’s one plus. Almost four years running on the path without falling at all. Seriously, W.T.F.?
It has felt progressively worse since I returned home, swollen quite nicely, and walking has become more than a little challenging. Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh (big Snookie whine).
In the past, stuff like this has really gotten me down – not being able to run drives me bananas and can make me quite cranky (not to mention just downright depressed). Not being able to continue marathon training makes it even worse.
But as I’ve alluded to before, recent happenings in life has really helped me put stuff like this in perspective. So, although I still think this injury and pain really effing suck right now, I’m staying positive and remembering that everything does happen for a reason.
Today the plan is to rest and work from home, ice, elevate and hopefully I can get in to my sports doc for a quick x-ray, an air cast and his blessing to run again soon (fingers crossed).
Happy (injury-free) running, all!
Question: How do you deal with injuries during training?
Ugh Kelly I’m so sorry! This ALWAYS happens to me too… I’ve gotten plantar fasciitis, ITBS (recurring… it hurts so much!), femural stress fracture… it sucks, but the best thing to do is lay off it and do some cross training that won’t aggravate the injury. You’re far enough away from the race that you have plenty of time to heal and train! Don’t get discouraged… you’ll make it!
Thanks, Katie! 🙂 Agreed in that ITBS is THE WORST. Hope you’re injury free at the moment!
Oh no – what a way to start your training! 😦 Hope your poor swollen ankle feels better soon!
Thanks, Shelby 🙂 Hope you’re feeling good as well!
I’m sorry to hear about your injury…funny…i just started training for the nyc marathon myself so i did a search and your blog came up. I played soccer all my life, through school, in college and professionally for 4 years but had to stop because of all the damage i did to my one ankle. I took time off from athletics in general and this is my way to get back into it. But i know all about ankle injuries….see what your doctor says and i would consider taping it when you get back to training on the pavement. You can do a brace which is more convienient but if you can tape it, it’ll be better in the long run i think for the support of the ankle…and you might have to tape it all the way through to the race because even though it’ll be healed it’ll still roll real easy…then following the race, when you start training again i would try to train without the tape……since i’ve gotten back into heavy training on mine, its felt good so i’m going with it and just try to listen to it and observe it if its swelling(another thing you’ll need to do for the rest of your training leading up to the race), but i’m trying to train without any tape and crossing my fingers that i don’t injure it…i’m 5 years removed from my playing days so i’m hoping my ankle problems are behind me and i can train injury free….if i can help in any way with advice for the ankle feel free to ask…i wish you luck and take care of that ankle and don’t turn your back on it!
Brian
bbenson821@gmail.com
oh no that doesn’t look good – i just emailed you today asking if you were still injury free – sorry 😦
Argh – what a bummer! I hate to say this, though, but an injury like this seems like a better option (to me) than an overuse injury. At least you know exactly what you did and what you have to do to heal up. And you get to limp and look sad, which is kind of fun…
Anyway, hopefully it’s a minor thing and you’ll be back at ’em soon. Watch out for potholes.
I totally agree – better than an overuse injury for sure. So I’m considering myself lucky! I’m going to work on the limping and looking sad today 🙂
I have faith in you Kel – you’ve had lots of experience with injuries and by now you know what you have to do to rehab yourself. You’ll be running again before you know it. Better that this should happen now – it could have been October…….
Thank you Caren. You are certainly right
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