About the ankle.

As you may recall from my race report, I twisted my ankle around mile 5 of the half marathon. Since then, my ankle has swollen up and become a bit discolored. I've been resting and icing and compressing and elevating. Classic RICE going on here in Happy Runner-ville.

It seems to be working. Today, my ankle is noticeably less swollen. Yay!

My plan was to test out the ankle on an easy 3 mile run today. That's not happening. I went in for a nerve conduction velocity test and an EMG this morning and, wow, is my leg ever sore. The NCV test involves getting shocks on various places -- for me, it was mostly my left leg, and some on my right leg, low back and left arm. The lovely shocks were followed by electromyography -- EMG. That's when they stick needles into your muscles to test their response to nerve stimulation. Or something like that.

It hurt. The doctor said it wouldn't -- said, in fact, that it would feel like a "little, tiny zap of static electricity." Um, no. That was a lie. The whole thing was uncomfortable and the needles hurt. Now, my left leg still hurts so I'm bagging the test run.

Tomorrow is a new day and I believe that one more day of rest can only do me good.

So, where I thought I'd be able to report about my return to running, I'm reporting about my continued rest. Such is life.

Fingers crossed that I'll return to the run tomorrow.

Have a good day!

~ Felice

PS: Don't miss my giveaway HERE!

The tongue bruise.

Sounds weirder than it is. The bruise is actually on my ankle, but caused by the tongue of my beloved running shoes. My trusty Brooks Addictions, the shoes I adore and have worn for years and years and years with great success, are causing me pain.

Sad day. Sad few weeks, really, because these shoes have well over 100 miles on them. I guess what is happening is that the tongue of my right shoe is digging into my ankle. I've never had this happen before! Like I said, I've been wearing Brooks Addictions for years and have never had a problem with them at all. I love 'em!

But, this new pair has been different. The tongue bothered me on my first run and I chalked it up to the shoes being new and needing to be broken in a bit. Then I felt it on the second run. And the third, fourth, and so on. I've tried moving the tongue to the side and that doesn't help. I've also tried lacing my shoes differently and that doesn't help either.

Now, I'm bruised:

The photo doesn't do my bruise justice (but it sure does show how veiny my feet are!). Imagine the bruise a little worse than shown and you'll be right on.

So, here's what I'm wondering: Has the tongue of your running shoe ever bothered you? What have you done? Should I send the shoes back? Should I try cutting the offending edge off of the tongue?

It's such a bummer. Black toenails I can handle but bruised ankles? Not caused by clumsy tripping (who, me?)? No thanks. My shoes are otherwise fine and exactly as expected. It's just this slight pain and the bruising that I don't go for.

Anyway, that's that. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

~ Felice

Don't forget to enter my Winter Motivation Booster giveaway here!

Running injuries and treatment.

Take it and Run Thursday topic: Running injuries and treatment. OK, Runners' Lounge, I'll give you what I've got!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I have a nagging, painful injury: a bunion on the big toe of my right foot. That one is chronic. Chronic, annoying and, after stopping the yoga, not getting much worse. But not getting better, either. There is little I can do (aside from avoiding high heels and using my yoga toes) while waiting for my appointment with the podiatrist but when I finally do get in to see that Magic Foot Doctor, and he magically takes away all my pain, I'll be sure to share whatever I learn.

Until then, what do I have for you? Well, you may recall that I've had several other minor running injuries that, unlike the bunion, have come and gone in a flash. If, that is, you consider a day or two a flash, which, when referring to running injuries, I do. Yes, aside from a twisted ankle last fall (which was a shopping, not running, injury) none of the injuries have kept me from running for long.

I believe that I owe my (mostly) injury-free running to the following:

• Rolling -- not stretching -- before a run. This may make some people cringe but, for me, stretching before running just wasn't working. My muscles need to be warmed up before I can stretch so I use The Stickto roll out my out my legs pre-run and save my stretches for afterward.
• Sitting on a tennis ball. OK, the humble tennis ball may just be my favorite running gadget of all. For real. At the first sign of a tight ITB, hip, or hamstring, I'm on the ball. Nothing works better (well, maybe weekly massages would but that's not in the cards . . .)!
• Resting when necessary. What I have found is that rest is often necessary. I rarely run more than three days in a row and never more than four. That's what works for me. My body operates best when I balance quality runs with rest. And when I feel an injury coming on, I'm not afraid to take an extra day (or more) off. I would much rather skip a run or two than a month of running.
• Taking on the hills. Maybe it isn't normal to love hills as much as I do but I swear by them. Hilly routes, hill repeats, hill fartleks -- I love them all. I believe that hills helps improve your form and strength and when you run them for speed, there is much less impact on your legs so the workouts are less taxing on your body. Hills are your friends!

That's what works for me right now. I hope some of it can work for you, too!

~ Felice

In fact, this might be a little bwah, bwah, bwah.

Well, hey! Sometimes you come here and you get a little story about running. Other times you might get a bwah, bwah, bwah account of my latest (and clumsiest) injury. And then there are the days -- like today -- when you get a follow up. Can you stand it? An actual follow up.

Why, Happy Runner, you say, on which poignant post could you possibly follow up? Your writing is so thorough. So descriptive, so rich with detail.

You're too kind, readers. Too kind.

OK, too kind in my mind. In reality, I'm sure you're rolling your eyes and wishing I would just get on with it. Enough with these intros already!

I do have a thing for them, don't I? Yes. Yes, I do.

So. The follow up. It's not quite as big as I've built it up to be, but here goes. The ankle is feeling great! It's taken a while to get to this point but your suggestions helped. As you know, I rested for a full week and then eased back into running. For the past 10 days, I've been running with Ace bandage, as recommended, and that has proven to be the right thing to do.

My recent Aha! moment was not a fluke. I've continued to run at a faster pace on the treadmill than I normally do and that is making all the difference. It makes perfect sense: I was running around a 9:30/mile pace on the treadmill, but I run much faster outside on my hilly routes. By speeding up a bit, I've been able to find a better rhythm to my runs.

Remember back when I was participating in the Hundred Push-up Challenge? Those dozen or so weeks when I was struggling to complete the six week program? It's a little embarrassing to say but, I gave up. No judgments, please. I just couldn't keep it up. I wanted to. Really. I had visions of myself dropping and giving an imaginary drill sergeant a cool, easy hundred.

Only, it didn't work. I kept repeating week 5 and it was getting discouraging. So, I was done. Just done. Maybe I'll pick it up again sometime but not now. I will say, however, that I still do push-ups now and then and they are much easier for me than they were when I first started the program. Success! Sorta.

That's it. I feel bad that the build up was a bit out of proportion. Except that I think you're getting used to that kind of thing from me.

Back in (running) action.

After a week of cross-training, I'm back in running form. My ankle felt fine throughout my 4.3 mile run this morning and I am relieved. I took the advice of my wise commenters (commentors? comment makers?) and ran with the Ace bandage/wrap and it seemed to help. I'll probably continue to use it for my next few runs and then see how it feels after that.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel confident enough to run the 15k that I had planned on running today. It was a tough decision but I just didn't want to risk really damaging my ankle and being sidelined for months. So, I sat it out and I'm OK with that. Next year . . . watch out!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Shredded!

First, thanks for all of the ankle advice. I've continued to follow RICE and my ankle is responding well. However, I haven't run on it since Sunday.

No worries, though. There is an upside to being sidelined by a (with apologies to Vava) wonky ankle: Cross-training! This week I've gone for long walks around the neighborhood, pushing my 17-month-old in his stroller, and I've shredded.

Remember when I became a huge Jackie fan? Well, that love is now directed to Jillian because her 30 Day Shred workouts are awesome! (Do I use that word too often? Am I a total product of my '80s youth?) Have you tried these workouts? Do they kick your butt like they do mine? Could I follow more questions with questions?

Yes, they kick my butt in that It's Working! kind of way. I could get used to this cross-training, which bodes well for the winter when I'll want to shake it up a bit because I won't be outside as much.

I'm back to running starting tomorrow. A week is long enough.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

EDITED: People have asked what this shred business is so here is info on the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred.

Ankle advice.

I could use some advice.

My ankle is feeling much, much better. It is still a little bit swollen and a little bit bruised but it feels pretty good. So good that I went out for a run yesterday. Not as good as I thought so I was only able to manage a mile on the roads because of the pain when running up and down the hills. I did the rest of my run on the flat treadmill and it was fine.

Now, I rested for three days and iced, compressed and elevated. Is there anything else I should do? Should I wear my little ace bandage thingy while running? (I've been wearing it mostly for the compression, but it does stabilize the ankle a bit.) Or is that overkill?

** For the record: I did not hurt my ankle on a run. I hurt it while barely moving. I was picking out cheese and I tripped over a wrinkled floor mat.