This morning I awoke and decided that it was as good a day as any to head out for a run to test my injured ankle (or rather Tibalis Posterior). You see I am trying to get myself fit so that I can run the Sydney Running Festival Marathon on 19 September. The distance is not a problem, however I would love to get some tempo work done in at least the last 5 weeks.
Having been to see my physio for the past two weeks, she has used the ultrasound on me and initially we ruled out the dreaded stress fracture, although now I am not sure and so am heading to one of the best sport doctors in Australia next Tuesday. Hopefully by then I will know what I am facing.
It won’t be a massive drama if I can’t run it as they offer the chance to defer till next year, but it is the 10th anniversary of the marathon and I would like to take part and make it the past 4 years in a row for me. Still it would be foolhardy to try and run hurt. I am really glad though that this did not interupt my Comrades training however.
The past two years have seen heavy training and racing schedules for me and perhaps this is just the body saying that it wants to have a little time out before the next big one.
You see I just want to know what is going wrong with my body and how I can rectify it. I already know the cause of said injury which was almost certainly a combination of new plyometrics and an intensive speed session a few weeks back. This was too soon after the Comrades and my body was just not ready for it I believe. Also big flag for all, I think while plyometrics are great all round conditioning and great drills, they should be done following recovery runs of about 5-8km and not on the same day as tempo work or speed drills.
We as long distance runners are constantly seeking new ways and methods to make us faster, more efficient and stronger runners. I for one am always willing to try out new things I have heard about. Some of these have agreed with me and some I have cast aside as not working for me. As Dr Sheehan wrote, we are all an experiment of one as runners and sadly no one has managed to come up with the magic formula that will universally work for all of us. I guess this is part of the mystique of long distance running and why we keep coming back for more. It is a game of chess on legs and forces one to alter your game plan not to beat others but to silence those voices and feelings inside yourself.
While my ankle felt better than it has on previous attempts at running in the past week, it is by no means healed and there is work to be done.
My experiments this morning lead me to trying out strapping the offending ankle and then wearing two pairs of socks (I have found two pairs of socks have worked with plantars previously). I have also come across the following video by a sports doctor in New Zealand which may be useful to any readers suffering lower limb pain or weakness. – Sean Muller
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