If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all

Hello, I’m Kristen. I used to blog here regularly and then sporadically after I sprained my ankle in April. And then I went radio silent in May when my ankle didn’t heal as fast as I wanted it to (in time for a spring marathon). So now it’s October. I’ve been injured this whole time, not running, at times barely exercising, and I’m now back with my first post. We are all caught up!

It’s NOT just a sprain.

I didn’t think my ankle sprain was a big deal because it never swelled and there was no twist, trauma, or point when I knew I injured it during that fateful run back in April.

But a sprain can be a 6 to 18 month injury. That’s a major injury. It took me all summer to learn this lesson. And before I did . . .

A series of setbacks plagued my recovery: 

1. I did a trail run 2 weeks after the initial sprain caused re-sprain. Genius!
2. My physical therapist burned (froze?) me with ultrasound massage on my ankle.
3. I allowed myself to carry a bad attitude for a long time. I stopped stretching, rolling, and doing stability exercises. I was also streaky with cardio and weights.  
4. I ran 2 days in a row, 6 miles then 4 miles. Running only 1 or 2 miles was pissing me off, and I had decided it was time to be fully recovery. Ankle was not on board.
5. I lifted too heavy during weight training workouts for legs.
6. I ran 3 miles and then did 60 minutes of stair climber for (7 miles of stairs) on consecutive days. Too much impact.
7. I continued to use the stair climber.

After learning the very hard way, I’m finally back on track to recovery and taking my recovery seriously. I’m not getting pissed off about lifting light weights, or running only a few miles at a time, or at doing ridiculously easy balancing exercises. I’m stretching, rolling, and doing stability exercises daily. And I’m finally making some progress.

And, more importantly, I’m excited to run again, even if it is only 2 or 3 miles at a time, every other day, only on the treadmill, at a gym without air conditioning.

So after all this time, I finally said something nice about running.

Kristen