Ankle advice?

[Smoggie79]

So I graduated at the end of May and continued running 30 mins, 3 times a week for the first few weeks of June on country roads and concrete tracks near my home. My 5k time was inching closer to the elusive sub 30 and I was pleased with my progress.

However at the end of June I moved house, and mainly have been running on grass (around a field) since then. Over the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing a lot of pain in my ankles - not so much when I run but afterward, especially the next morning when it hurts to walk downstairs! I'm now leaving several days between runs and I can feel my fitness and speed dropping off 😓There have been a few times at home where I've stood up from sitting and had a shooting pain up through the back/side of my ankles when I've put weight on them....is all this down to running on a softer, less even surface? Should I go back to concrete???

Any advice from anyone who's had similar issues would be much appreciated, I don't want all the hard work I put into graduating to be wasted 🙁

[Ant50 Graduate]

Hi, I’m sure there are people on here a lot more knowledgeable than I am to comment but all I will say is take great care to get this resolved before pushing on. I say this from experience.

After about 2 months of consolidation runs, I did a run which felt absolutely fine (no pain) then several hours afterwards my left ankle became very swollen and sore, to the point it was 2-3 weeks before I could even really walk on it and 10-12 weeks before I started running again.

As soon as I could run, I had my gait analysis done and whilst my original neutral shoes where fine, I went for some with a bit more support. Today, several months later my left ankle does not feel as strong as my right one and sometimes I get a shin splint pain only in my left shin, which I suspect is related to the ankle pain. Still no idea what caused all this but I suspect the original run at the start of all this was on an uneven country road with a strong camber, so I suspect my ankle was rolling without sufficient support.

Sorry a long post which doesn’t really help you, only to say make sure you sort this before you go on, otherwise you might regret it later on ! I know I do !!!

[Smoggie79 Graduate in reply to Ant50]

Ouch, sounds like you've really been through it! Good advice though, thank you 👍

[EThomas Graduate]

I started getting discomfort in my left ankle after graduating after running. I never had any discomfort running though. It felt that I had kicked my ankle. I didn't run for a few days and looked up ankle strengthening exercises on YouTube. There was a video for ankle strengthening for trail runners which I found useful. I mainly run around a country park, so gravel, uneven paths but occasionally will run on the pavements.

I also went to see a physio who identified that the muscles around my hip were weak which in turn was irritating my ankle. I have been doing strengthening exercises which have helped. Sometimes the issue is elsewhere in your body but manifests itself in a certain area.

Have you had a gait analysis done? If not it might be worth having one done.

While your ankles are sore it would be worth leaving the runs until it feels better as you don't want to make it worse. Use the R.I.C.E. principle.

Hope this resolves soon.

[Smoggie79 Graduate in reply to EThomas]

Thanks for your suggestions. I haven't had a gait analysis done but it sounds like it would help. I might look up those strengthening tips in the meantime too....Cheers 😊

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Have you had a gait analysis? You might need support shoes. Also higher drop shoes. Gel heel cups would be a cheap short term fix.

runnerstribe.com/features/w...

[Smoggie79 Graduate in reply to Tasha99]

Wow, I had no idea a few mm in a shoe could make such a difference! Thanks for attaching the article 😊

[Tasha99 Graduate in reply to Smoggie79]

Smoggie?? Are you from boro?

[Smoggie79 Graduate in reply to Tasha99]

Redcar! So just down the road. Are you from the north east too??

I live in the South West now but am super proud of my northern roots 💪

[Tasha99 Graduate in reply to Smoggie79]

#utb!

I’m from Linthorpe in Middlesbrough. I’m often in Redcar. Love running along the stray to Marske 😊

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Following the advice in the guide to the plan on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

It is not recommended to run flat out on every run.

If you put your 5k pb into this TRAINING PACE CALCULATOR runnersworld.com/uk/trainin... you will see just how slow you should be running 80% of the time.

[Smoggie79 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you for taking the time to reply 😊 I definitely haven't been going flat out recently, far from it....I find it much tougher running on grass!