My Ankle...

Well, since I have gotten my soft cast off, I have started to do a little running.  The first couple days I did some running,  I just ran about 100 meters.  No problem.  The first day I really ran, I ran for 7 minuets and 44 seconds, probably just under a mile.  Super exciting!!  Then 2 days later, I ran 0.8 miles.  And, another 2 days later, I ran for 13 minutes... and, my ankle didn't feel that great.  On days that I didn't run, at first I did some biking, and then I started to do elliptical workouts.

Last Monday, I started to do a running workout... with the girls.  YEAH!!  We were doing four 0.6 mile repeats.  We would run a loop (about 0.6 miles) fast, take a 3 minuet break, and do it again.  We were going to do it 4 times.  I was to do whatever felt comfortable, since I was still getting back to running.  I was going to take it one by one, to see how my ankle felt.  I made 2 of them.  Towards the end of the second one, my ankle acted up.  Oh my ankle!  So, I didn't do any more running, and finished my workout on the elliptical.

Since I have done some real running (not 100 meters), my ankle seems to still be irritated.  It is mainly impact that irritates my ankle, but of course, I feel it sometimes just walking.  When I am on the elliptical, my ankle is feels fine, but I'm not sure it was doing it much good a while after I was done.  As the day goes on, my ankle only gets more swollen (not as bad as before I had the soft cast on though).  My coach, Vies, says that with a sprain, I should be ready to run by now... it wouldn't take this long to recover.  After he found out that my ankle never really turned black and blue (which most sprains do), and that it wasn't getting better, he thought it probably wasn't a sprain, but a stress fracture.  So, he insisted, to me and my Mom, that we go back to the doctor immediately and get another x-ray, to see if it is a stress fracture.  My coach wanted my Mom to plead with the clinic, so I could get in asap (thankfully this doctor is good about getting athletes in quickly if an injury occurs).  My coach just wanted to know what was wrong with my ankle.  He didn't want any guessing.  He didn't want me to be out of running, if I really could run.  He didn't want me running if I really shouldn't be.  He didn't want me doing any other exercise if I shouldn't be doing it.  He wanted to know what was wrong, so that I could get back running asap (hopefully by sections).  And, when I do get into the doctor, he want me to make sure to ask lots of questions, like what the recovery time is, can I do pool workouts, and questions like that.

So, the doctor was able to get me in this morning at 7:30.  They took another x-ray.  No brake or fracture.  So, he concluded that I had a stress reaction in my growth plate, and a stress reaction can lead to a stress fracture.  Since my growth plates aren't fused together (I'm not done growing), my bones are rubbing and bagging against each other at my growth plate.  To cure this I just have to rest.  Thankfully, I can still walk on it.  And, yes, I can bike and do pool workouts.  But, the elliptical still has some impact (wasn't helping it at all).  Now, my coach wants me to go over and do pool workouts with another school's cross country team... he seems pretty excited about me doing that.

I was just at the foot doctor this last Monday.  I don't think I have ever been to the doctor this much in such a short amount of time.  I was at the doctor on Monday to get fitted for orthotics.  I go back on September 24 to get them, and I am to aim to have it better by then.

Now, something nice.  Flowers.  I LOVE having flowers in the house, especially in the winter.