Wednesday marks 10 weeks since my ankle injury. It turns out that I injured myself TWICE: a high sprain on the outside and a strain on the inside (yup, that’s my fancy doctor jargon). When I stop and think about it…shit it’s been a long time, but not as bad as it could have been.
A couple weeks ago I tried my first one mile run and it was good, but not comforting as I still had many twinges. I quickly learned that warm-ups and cool-downs are extremely important for me, as is patience. (Thank you Aron for answering all of my crazy/scared texts.) Since then, I’ve been increasing frequency, length and have since ran back-to-back days, with my longest run being 3.5 miles.
I went to my final PT appointment on Tuesday and did a variety of drills to check my status. The swelling is still there, but it’s finally down as it was what lingered the longest. My range of motion is still limited and I’ll need to continue working on it, as well as rebuilding the strength in my ankle.
The even better news? My PT cleared me to try my first run outside! Now to find the perfect, flat, paved, stable, path.
To get to this point it took time, and it’s going to take a lot more time. It also took me religiously doing my PT exercises twice per day, RICE-ing when necessary, going to the PT almost twice a week, and using stim and ultrasound therapy to help with the swelling. I thought I’d share some of the exercises that I used (am going to continue to use) to help strengthen my ankle. Note: I don’t know the fancy terms so just roll with me here.
Resistance band cross-over. 3 set of 15, 2x/day
Resistance band forward pull (forward and backwards). 3 set of 15, 2x/day
Hanging ankle stretch to a toe raise. 3 sets of 20 (or general fatigue)
Wall ankle stretch.
Bosu balancing, 3 sets of 30 seconds
Speaking of rehab exercises…I need to go do some! What’s your rehab secret?
Happy Running!
Thank you SO MUCH for the animated GIFs.
Your blog as reached a new territory of coolness!
My rehabbing secret is ART. And I suppose some stretching & rolling. Meh mehhhhhh. Glad your ankle is getting better & you are heading back into the fine world of running! I would be honored to run a slow, paved, smooth & short path with you someday soon.
rehab exercises are never fun, but at least you get a pretty awesome view while you are doing it!
my rehab consists of a crap ton of stretching, foam rolling, and for awhile ART.. as well as weight lifting to get those muscles strong again
Love the location for your rehab
I’m so happy to hear you are able to run again. And back to back runs is impressive!! I did my first back to back days this week and was terrified my knee would hurt. Thankfully it didn’t!
My rehab secret is not to stop when things feel better!
I’m sure these months of rehab for you will make you SO much stronger for this training cycle.
Nice job on the exercises! Rehab is no fun but you will be stronger when you have fully healed!
Rehab exerices: foam rolling, stretching, lots of resistance band work, and pilates!
Loving the gifs!
Rehab exercises: 1-legged squats, double and single calf raises on stairs, 1-legged hip lifts, foam rolling and lots and lots of Nike Training Club! But I may just have to add more resistance band and bosu ball training
About a decade ago, I broke a bone on the inside of my foot just below my ankle bone and didn’t realize it. As a result, the bone healed on its own, and I developed a bone spur, which became extremely aggravated with my increased running mileage. I saw a podiatrist and PT, and I was given the same exercises as you to strengthen my foot, ankle, leg and hips. They really do help, so keep at it! I need to take that advice as I”ve been slacking recently.
The wall ankle stretch is amazing after runs, btw.
Good luck with the rehab! Glad to hear you’re getting better!
I love the gifs and so glad to hear that your recovery is going well! My rehabbing secret is regular acupuncture, ART and massage appointments. I also still religiously do my PT exercises daily, even though I’ve fully recovered from my injury. And recently I’ve found that doing just 20-min of Pilates and/or Yoga every day makes a huge difference in recovery between workouts.
Ugh I recognize those moves from PT… You have a great view where you’re doing those exercises!
Good luck with your recovery & your next tri!
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