It's been a while

So I went out and did the Quay 5k.  I felt GREAT!!  I mean GREAT, till the next morning when I couldn't walk.  I will say though, that my prediction of time on Saturday morning of 55 minutes was dead on.  I actually finished in 55:40, still under an hour, but definitely needs to improve!  My son though, and his little speedy legs, finished in 31:27.  He did an AWESOME job and I couldn't be more proud of him!  Yet again, after a very short, mere 3.1 mile run/walk, my ankle was swollen to the size of a small cantaloupe, with no flexion AT ALL, and it was really painful.  I decided enough was a enough and it was time to seek out a foot/ankle specialist because obviously the reason that the original orthopedist gave me that my ankle pain was nothing more than the fact that I was fat, was accurate.  Besides, if my weight was the only reason my ankle was painful and swelling, wouldn't that effect both ankles?  I mean, really?!?!

So I called and made an appointment with a foot/ankle specialist, and my appointment was on June 10.  He recommended an MRI, which I had on June 14, got the results on June 24.  I have a small fracture in the talis bone of my foot, it is old, but healing, but running isn't helping, so no weight bearing exercises allowed AT ALL!  I had told him I was doing CrossFit, so he even went so far as to say no squats, lunges, jumping, walking excessively or running. 

I followed the directions given, even wore the doggoned boot down to the beach when hubbs and I wanted a romantic walk on the beach.

Followed up with the doctor yesterday.  Still experiencing a lot of pain and swelling, more pain in the boot than when I wasn't wearing one, but maybe that's a good sign?  At any rate, he explained in detail what the surgery would be like to repair my ankle, which included taking cartilage from my knee to put in the ankle to help the cartilage re-grow, or some other inorganic substance that imitates cartilage, or maybe even from a cadaver.  At any rate, in the interim, he felt like 4 additional weeks in the boot and a cortisone shot might remove the necessity of surgery, so that's what we are doing now.  I won't even begin to try to describe the pain of a needle going all the way through your ankle joint, I'll leave it to your imagination, but we'll just say, the doctor figured out quickly that I could indeed curse like a sailor.

So, next follow-up appointment is August 12, at which point I'm praying for an eviction notice from the boot.  I'm also still waiting to hear back from the doctor about whether or not I can swim between now and then, or if it is too much stress on the joint.  He did tell me I couldn't even run or walk extensively in the pool, so I'm betting swimming is out too. 

And the doctor said.....

I went to the doctor yesterday, he redid the x-ray on my foot and ankle and confirmed that there is no fracture.  He suggested that the pain I am having appears to be consistent with tendonitis and is something that is basically an overuse injury.  He recommended taking an additional week-and-a-half off.  He also recommended running every other day, and cross-training on the other days.  He said that if it is painful, Ice and Ibuprofen are excellent options.

I also went online yesterday and found that there are KT tape applications for what I have going on, so when I do start running again, I will be using those to see if they help to minimize my symptoms.

I will be starting Couch-2-5k plan on March 11th and working toward the Quay 5k in June.  I won't run more than 3 miles between now and then, and I am hoping that my hard work will pay off with a 5k time under 40 minutes.  After that I'm going to start doing additional training, speed training, and longer runs, in the hopes of doing the Diva Half Marathon in DC in September.  If and only if I finish the Diva Half in under 3:30 will I consider attempting the Princess Half Marathon again.  I want to have no doubt in my mind that I can and HAVE completed a half marathon in under 3:30.  I will then continue to train to improve for a Half Marathon on Valentine's day in Myrtle Beach.  I would love to have it under 3 hours.

Krista

injury update

Well--after my slow recovery from the Princess Half marathon 2 miles I had gone to an orthopedist who suggested I have surgery on my ankle to "clean it out" which would sure-up the tendons and ligaments in my ankle and also get rid of the bone chips and things from the years of repeated ankle sprains, etc.  He said that it was totally up to me, but I felt tlike this would be the only way to get my ankle to cooperate with my fitness goals and running goals. 

This past weekend though, I ran the Girls 5k at the North Myrtle Beach Diva Half Marathon, and my ankle was pretty sore after I finished.  The difference was, I immediately iced my ankle, and iced it off-and-on all the way home that night.  I could barely walk all day Sunday, but when I woke up on Monday morning, My ankle was fine.  I had no pain, no swelling, no limp, NOTHING!!  I think this is going to be totally do-able, I'm just going to havae to wear my brace and ice my ankle after each exercise session.  I really don't want to have surgery if I don't have to, and it looks like I'm going to be able to avoid it. 

Running has been teaching more and more about myself, and I'm really enjoying the learning process.  I'm going to continue down this path, and I WILL finish the Princess Half Marthon in February.  I WILL do it in under 3-1/2 hours, and I will do it strong, and feeling good.  I've got this!!

The verdict is in...

I saw the foot and ankle specialist, and he was, I don't know, amused by my previous diagnosis of having a "bone spur" in my foot.  He didn't expound, however, I would say it was clear that he agreed with me that my issues have been blown off in the past as being due to my weight.  Now the only issue is my insurance is changing on April 1st.  So, I have to go see him again on April 16 to re-establish as a patient and to give a basis for the surgery with the new insurance.  I was hoping to have the surgery on good friday, when the college I work for is closed, but no such luck.  So, basically, I have to find a surgery date that is as close to the 16th of April as possible, to hopefully get in my recovery and PT before the 5k in May and my dance recital in June.  If I don't do it before those 2, I will be WAY behind in my training to be successful for the Princess in 2013, and more importantly, the Battleship half in November. 

So--here's to a quick recovery, and an outcome that leaves me pain free and with a more reliable ankle than I have had in years!!

The diagnosis and the plan.

I went to the doctor today to get my hip and ankle checked after having swelling for over a week since the Princess.  I figured it would be a good idea to get everything checked out before I undertook a massive training effort to do a 5k in May, a half marathon in November, and ultimately the princess next February again.  I cannot afford to have another injury that kept me from finishing, so it is better to start healthy and stay healthy. 

So the good news, to some extent, is that I do not have any major issue with my left hip.  The bursa sac surrounding my left hip socket is very inflamed, most-likely from favoring the right ankle.  He said the best thing to do would be to do a cortisone injection to reduce the inflammation, and then PT to keep it from getting inflamed again. 

The not-so-good news was that I have a VERY arthritic ankle for a 37 year old woman.  Basically a bone spur and arthritis are pretty much the same thing.  You can see in the x-ray where my bone is supposed to end, and the bony growth beyond that.  He says he feels like I would be a good candidate for arthroscopic ankle surgery.  This is pretty interesting because when I have seen doctors in the recent past, they typically want to attribute everything to my weight and tell me that the way to make it better is to lose the weight, which is difficult to do when you hurt so bad every time you try to exercise.  So my appointment with the foot and ankle specialist is on March 19.  In the interim, he gave me a lace-up brace for my ankle to keep it supported and prevent any more damage to my ankle. 

I'm anxiously awaiting my training calendar in the mail.  I missed my workout this morning due to the swelling in my ankle from dance class last night.  Now that I know I can walk and do some light jogging, within my comfort zone and keeping the pain at bay.  So, while this is definitely a work in progress, It is definitely something that I can and WILL do!

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone that took the time to not only read, but respond to my previous blog post.  It means so very much to me that so many people are reading my blog and being supportive.  I will need a lot of support and motivation as I continue this journey to become a running mama, rather than a hobbling mama.  Please do continue to let me know what you think of my blog and its content!  I really do appreciate your support.

I'm going to close this blog with my favorite new quite, which I saw a lot of at the Princess Half Marathon; "The miracle isn't that I finished, it is that I had the courage to start."  This is a quote from John Bingham, who I keep hearing I need to read the books he has written. 

Thanks Again!
Krista