Sidelined

I was hoping I wouldn't have to write this post, but I've come to the realization that I am injured and that I need to sideline myself from running until I heal. This injury isn't from my recent face plant. It happened the morning after!

Last Friday I went for a run in the morning before I left for an overnight business trip to Houston. I don't typically run on Fridays. But since I wasn't going to be able to get my Saturday run in, I decided to run Friday morning instead.

Everything was going fine with my run. My energy has returned. My legs feel strong. I was zipping along at a faster pace than usual. I was having a great time!

About three miles into my run, I was going down a small, rock-covered decline, probably going too fast and not paying enough attention, and it happened...

I rolled over on my ankle.

I am pretty sure I didn't break it. But I certainly wasn't able to put my weight on it. This was very different than the pain I experienced during the Cross Timbers race. I am used to pain in my ankle due to shifts in the weather. But this wasn't that pain. This was different. With the "weather pain" I can still put my weight on my ankle. With this one I could not put any weight on it. I immediately knew I had injured my ankle.

The pain isn't really in my ankle but instead on the right side of my right foot. I found the following picture online. The "sprained lateral ligament" indicated in the picture is exactly where I feel the pain.

Source: Tweakfit.com

So I called my wife and asked her to come and pick me up. There was no way I was going to be able to make it back to my bike at the MADD shelter. The closest access point was Far Gate. So my wife grabbed a set of crutches and headed to get me, and I slowly hopped and hobbled toward Far Gate.

By the time she arrived I had made it about half way up the paved road. I'm not sure how long it took, it felt like forever. I used the crutches to get back to the car.

When we arrived home I saw that she had already made a bucket of ice water. She's a good one! I stuck my foot into the water and keep it in there for about 10 minutes. Then, took it out, had a quick shower, and back to icing my ankle.

For the next couple of days I practiced the RICE thing. By Sunday morning I was able to put my full weight on it. I even jogged around the house a little bit and my ankle was feeling OK. I was surprised at how quickly my injury had healed (so I thought!). But I decided to skip my planned long run. Better to skip it and let my ankle heal completely instead of pushing it and injuring it further.

I also took my typical Monday rest day.

Yesterday I decided to give it a test run. I rode my bike to the MADD shelter at the Northshore Trail, then jogged toward Far Gate. About two miles into my run my ankle started to feel a little sore. So I turned around and headed back to the MADD shelter. By the time I arrived back at MADD my ankle was REALLY sore. It appears I jumped back into it too soon.

I've decided to sideline myself from running in order to let my ankle fully heal. I am rather bummed about that, but I know its the right thing to do.

However, that doesn't mean I have to quit exercising! I noticed on my return bike ride that the riding didn't seem to bother my ankle. So instead of running today I am going to go for a mountain bike ride along the Northshore trail. I'll see what my ankle feels like after the ride. If it feels OK, I will probably switch to biking for a week or two to give my ankle time to heal before resuming my training.

Worst case scenario I will have a like fun riding the trails!

Anyone have some general guidelines on how long it takes to heal an ankle sprain? What do you do for cross training when you are nursing an injury?