Pain on outside of left ankle

[Ewg2000]

Advice pls: I’m due to go forR3W5 tomorrow (sat) but since my last run (thurs) the outside of my right ankle has been sore - behind the boney ball bit. Should I run on it or wait until it eases off? Don’t want to lose momentum really but also don’t want to do more damage

[mrrun Graduate]

We’re not doctors but l suffered from a serious ankle injury so l, to an extent, can relate.

First, you don’t run through strain, pain or heavy discomfort. That leads to serious stuff that could happen in split second.

Second. Rest up, listen to your body and if any bad signals, vague pain or suspicious feeling then wait a bit longer.

Finally! You’re in no rush, you’re not a pro. We do it for fun and health, no point in risking a serious injury. I did it twice, ran through pain and busted my knee and ankle, wasted time, spent money on docs, nearly stopped running, repeated the entire program.

Simple choice!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

mrrun has given you great advice...rest up if in any doubt or pain

[Ewg2000 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Old floss, MrRun - thanks both. I will take your advice and will rest up for a while.

[Mercmancouchto5k Graduate]

Hi - I have had very slight pain in exactly that place since I started couch25K. But I hadn't run for over 40 years. Until now had put it down to the imperfect way I wear my training shoes. For the first five weeks I only had the fist three pairs of holes laced up, preferring to leave them loose on my feet. At week 6 I threaded the fourth pair of holes, the shoes felt like they gave a little more support, but I can't say they are super comfortable always. Until I read your post, I put it down to needing to buy properly fitting running shoes. However, on reflection, I broke my ankle about 20 years ago stepping down from a truck and twisting my ankle on the kerb, ending up rolling under the engine bay (I am laughing as I remember, and have forgotten how excruciating that pain was at the time). Anyway, I ramble. When I feel the slightest discomfort, it reminds me how easy it is to break a bone or get a fracture. That pleasure comes with age. That is why I try to jog almost like I am creeping up on somebody. Sarah Millican says something quite prolific in week 3 I think. She says try to think you are running on one side of a hedge and somebody else is looking at you from the other side. They should not be able to tell if you are walking or running. I took that advice very early on in couch25K and I feel I have had to consciously limit my zealousness when jogging. Now it is natural - I see some runners taking huge strides and bouncing up and down, and I think - wait till you get to my age. You will respect keeping those G forces to a minimum. If you don't want to stop completely, think about going back to do a week 1 or week 2 sequence, and really try to concentrate on minimizing the lift for each jog step. Be careful not to trip over on pavement stones though. I do that when I am walking anyway, so am aware of this risk I hope this helps.

[Ewg2000 Graduate in reply to Mercmancouchto5k]

Thank you ... I’ve been resting it and it is much better. I’m not going to be able to run next week anyway so the timing is good for even more rest! . I think going back to some of the earlier weeks as you suggest will be good when I start up again .. I definitely don’t want a full on issue & I want to see this programme through and so I might go and see one of those gait people and get some new trainers to see if I can stop it recurring ... should have been my 20min run today and I’m disappointed not to achieve that but to your point “slowly slowly catches monkey!” .. 🐌🐌