Since last we spoke: Part 1

So in December I thought I was making progress with the ankle.  I had my eye on the Fells 50K at the end of March and the training plan I had found required me to start running by the middle of the month.  I didn't push it and instead went for my first run on Christmas Eve.  It was a 2.5 mile jaunt that I did by running a few laps around the block.  My ankle felt good the next day so I declared myself "back" and started following the training plan for the 50K.

In the early portion of the plan most of the work during the week called for 2 mile runs with longer (6 - 10 miles) on the weekends.  I ramped up steadily but slowly.  The snow and cold was consistent so all the work was done on the road.  I was fine hitting my daily 2-milers during the week and the first few weekends I capped the mileage at 8 and everything seemed to be going well.  I was completely focused on this race and stopped going to spin class and stopped lifting.  The Fells 50K also has a 23 mile division so while I was still shooting for the 50K, I knew that I could still do the 23 miler as an alternative.

In mid-January I had a physical and I told my doctor about the ankle injury.  She recommended that with such an aggressive goal of a 50K I may want to have the ankle looked at and wrote up a referral to a Physical Therapist in Reading.  I planned on going just for due diligence but didn't make it a priority.

About a week later I did my first 10 mile run since the injury.  During the run itself I had no issues.  The next day my ankle felt like it did just a few weeks after the initial injury.  Stiff, sore, swollen...it was awful.  That Monday when I got to work I made an appointment with the PT.  I was still optimistic, but I also had a lingering doubt that this was something I probably should have done in October....turns out that ended up being true.