Admission of Guilt

Hello friends. I have bad news. I have been waiting, hoping I wouldn't have to write this post, but today I realized that it's time.

I hurt my ankle. Well, I didn't hurt it, really I think it hurt itself. I didn't fall down or anything.

The 5k training was going really well, actually. I was starting to find my groove. I got the wardrobe thing down, started covering my ears, got the intervals timed out correctly, etc. I was actually starting to feel like a real runner. Then around the end of week 3 of our training program, my left ankle started to hurt a little, but only when I ran. So I figured, maybe it's no big deal, just a little adjustment my body needs to make, you know?

Not so... it got progressively worse, and so I grilled Amy since she's basically my running coach. She said as long as it wasn't radiating up to my knee, it was fine. Well, sure enough, within a couple of days my left knee started hurting. But again, it was only when I ran, so I still didn't worry a whole lot. I thought maybe I just needed new shoes, so I started running in different shoes to see if that helped. Then one morning, I woke up, slung my legs over the edge of the bed, stood up, and BAM!

I mean, seriously intense pain in my ankle. Couldn't walk. Hurt. So. Bad.

So, I tried soaking it in epsom salt, which didn't seem to help, contrary to my dear mother's belief that an epsom salt bath will cure any problem you have. (I love you mom.) In her defense, I have often soaked in epsom salts after a rigorous hike, or if I'm just feeling achy, and it actually does help a lot. And epsom salt is cheap at any drugstore...you should pick some up and give it a try.

Then I asked Mom, who is also an amazingly talented massage therapist, if she had any other ideas to relieve my pain. Then she proceeded to convince me that I had a stress fracture. She has had a stress fracture before, and all of the symptoms seemed to match mine, so I proceeded to freak out and start checking into my insurance to see if I could get myself an x-ray.

Finally, while gently probing with my curious fingers around the ankle joint, I found something. I found my peroneous longus. And it hurt. I was actually glad, because finding a sore muscle, to me, negates the existence of a broken bone (which, I know is not necessarily true, but let me have my moment). I have been working on this muscle to try and relieve some of the constriction, and I can say now after over a week of sitting on my ass, that my ankle is feeling a bit better. But, I still feel a little twinge of pain when I walk, so I'm not 100% sure my troubles are over.

Needless to say, and to finally come to the point, we are NOT running the planned 5k on December 7th. I have now learned the importance of building in plenty of extra time in your training plan so things like this don't screw you over. But, as soon as I am feeling fully mobile again, I will be picking up where we left off, and setting a goal of my own to run 3 miles anyway. So, I'm not a total failure.

P.S. Give some kudos to Justyn. He's been running his tushy off without me, which is no easy task especially when I was like, "Nah, just skip it. Don't go. Sit here on the couch with me and watch CNN and eat Mississippi Nilla Mud Cake." (Yes, that recipe is forthcoming. Just a little teaser for you.)