Injury Advice

[Biscuit_Queen]

Hi, hope everyone is well out there and managing ok in this strange situation.

I thought you might be able to share some advice.

At Wk7R2 I ran outdoors for the first time and strained my ankle a bit, nothing major, it just felt a little bit tender and as if it was bruised. I could still jog so persevered with run 3 of that week. It became more sore so it seemed best to take a break. I think the soreness was because the ground sloped down at one side in a particular spot, and I’d used karrimors instead of the trainers I used for the treadmill.

I’ve now had two weeks off, which feels like a lifetime, and have since invested in a treadmill so that I can continue with the flat surface I’m used to and not have the added worry of being around others. However, although walking is absolutely fine, as soon as I attempted to jog I had pain. Worse than my last jog as I didn’t feel I could keep going. The pain is in the 2 or 3 inches above my ankle bone.

Does anyone have any experience of this and any advice? Do I just need to wait longer? Should I be doing stretches or anything to help it recover?

Any advice appreciated, I’m particularly gutted because yesterday should have been graduation day and I’m now wondering if week 7 is as far as I’m destined to get!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Sorry to read this. Ankles can take a while to heal as they don’t have a great blood flow... it’s best to rest them a little longer.

Here’s an article all about ankle pains runnersworld.com/health-inj...

[Biscuit_Queen in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful 😊

[Sadie-runs Graduate]

Oh no, so sorry to hear this, Biscuit_Queen! Eeeeek. Firstly, no more running until the pain has gone, that's for sure. As to what it is, really you will need a physio to tell you that – which is understandably not possible at the moment. However, some sports physios are doing online appointments (by video). I heard an interview with a physio on a podcast recently saying that he was doing "virtual appointments" and that these work quite well – 80% of all assessment is done by talking, anyway (rather than physical examining). Sports physios are gods in my eyes – they diagnose, give you exercises and a plan of action. None of us here can give you that I am afraid! In the meantime, rest up, and I do hope it eases soon.

Week 7 is not your destiny! Week 9 and beyond is...this is just a hiccup, I promise. Many people have to take time out of the plan because of injury or niggles, and then go on to pick it up again and finish. So, please don't despair!

[Biscuit_Queen in reply to Sadie-runs]

Thank you so much for the encouragement, it really means a lot 😊

[Sadie-runs Graduate in reply to Biscuit_Queen]

Seriously, I have stop-started with running because of injuries many times! The important thing is getting back to it when you can, and not giving up. 😘

[mrrun Graduate]

My ankle injury took over four months to heal and another month to get it back to normal. As a graduate l repeated the entire program afterward. My major mistake was not going to see a physio straight away, instead l ploughed on through pain, an idiot that l was. Don't do that, go see a professional if it doesn't get better soon.

[Biscuit_Queen in reply to mrrun]

Thanks for the advice, I did wonder at one point whether I should try and work through it but I definitely won’t now!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

When I turned my ankle (while walking...... what a dangerous pastime that is) I was away from running for nearly a month, however my physio said that my injury would not be exacerbated by cycling, which would keep the joint mobile, improve blood flow and work the muscles without the impact of running. It worked for me.

Having said that, it may not be at all appropriate for your injury, so getting a diagnosis is the only safe way to speed recovery.

Take care.

[Biscuit_Queen]

Thanks, we’ve got an exercise bike so I might give that a go 😊