Well then!

Shame on me for the lack of updates, and oh what an update there has been. After my last post, I did go out for a nighttime trail run and it went superbly. Got a little lost with my weak headlamp, but it was really fun and I felt good. Two days later and I decide to do it again. This time the plan was a longer run around the less technical loop over at Winnekenni. I was about two miles from and about .5 a mile into the woods when on a downhill my foot must have slipped either into a runoff ditch or a impression in the trail because I sprained my left ankle badly, the pain exploding so hot and quickly that I can't even remember the motion with which the sprain occured. As I lost my balance I fell forward landing on my hands before turning onto my right side and getting abrasions from the gravelly trail from my right shoulder, down to my right hip and finishing up on my right knee. I distinctly remember letting out a howl and then immediately thinking, I wonder if anyone heard that.

Just like after my crash on the mtn bike in May, I shot up off of the ground with little regard to anything that might be wrong. Instinct just sort of lifted me up and I tried to weight my left foot with little success. I looked at my hands and started to pick out the small bits of gravel that had lodged into my palms. I've had light sprains and painful twists in the past so I did my best to walk it off and wait for the initial pain to subside to see if I could continue on...I waited. And waited...and waited some more. Pretty quickly my mobility went away and I could feel my ankle blowing up like a balloon. Time to head home.

Of course I didn't have a phone with me, I mean, that would have been a smart thing to do. So I gimped it the two miles home. Every so often I would try to jog in order to see if it was easing up and maybe then not so bad and also to expedite the journey. However each time I'd make it about 100 feet before abandoning the run in favor for a brisk walk. Each step sending jolts of pain up my calf and giving a sickening squish as my ankle flexed with tendons that weren't tight enough to quite hold everything in place.

About halfway there I shined the beam from my headlamp onto my foot and that's when I knew that this was not something that would heal in a few days. Still with my sock on my ankle looked like someone had stuck a grapefruit inside of it. This realization made me a bit light in the head, but it also made me move. The last thing I needed to do was stand around and freak myself out anymore, I had to get home.

Finally my street came into view. I labored up the stairs to our place and practically fell into my wife's arms. Icing and ibuprofen commenced immediately. It was after 9:00, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend the next three hours in an ER waiting room so I collapsed in a rough sleep and went to have x-rays in the morning. The swelling was about the same but I was relieved that there was no break...just a bad sprain.

So the past week has been a battle against the swelling. I've been icing, popping fish oil, walnuts, berries, anything known to reduce inflammation. I've been taking twice-daily doses of Glucosamine/MSM and eating a ton of Tuna. And it's actually paying off. The pain is much better. The swelling is down, though not gone and the bruising is getting better every day. The picture above does no justice for how this thing looked at it's apex.

So the plan is this: in the gym most days. This week I'm swimming at least twice a day and if the pain continues to improve I'm going to try a spin class. But I'm hoping that by next weekend I can try a road ride. I'm targeting early November for a return to running...road at first. But back on the trails by Thanksgiving. And yes, I'll be going back out at night too. People sprain their ankles when it's light out all the time. I'm not going to give up something super fun because I got hurt once!

(Remind me to come back at re-read that last sentence after my 18th nighttime sprain!)