I haven’t been posting on Wednesdays because I’ve suffered a little set-back in my training. It’s disappointing to me because I was working out at just under 5 miles every other day. I was gaining strength and stamina. But I apparently pushed too hard. My left ankle started giving me grief almost two weeks ago.
Convinced I was just being a wuss, I pushed through the pain and continued the workouts. Until it became clear that the ankle wouldn’t support running. In fact, after three more workouts of walking progressively shorter distances, it became really clear that exercise was only making the ankle swell.
I know where the problem comes from—I tore all the ligaments in my left ankle, oh, close to 30 years ago. It took years for that ankle to heal, and apparently it’s still prone to re-injury after all this time.
So I swore off running and walking about 5 days ago. I’m treating the ankle with periodic icing, elevation and easy exercises to regain full motion. The swelling has disappeared completely in the last two days, and I’m no longer hobbling around the house. I plan to hit the pool for some swimming this week and expect to go back to walking this weekend.
I’ll baby it along this time. And I’ll do what I can to avoid more set-backs.