Clarksburg 30K and a bum ankle

This past Sunday was the Clarksburg 30K. It marks the final race of my month long racing extravaganza. Whew. I am exhausted! I am also possibly injured. It was inevitable right? I mean a person runs a race every single weekend and they are bound to get hurt right? I tried so hard to just run these races as training runs and yesterday I did manage that fairly well but I guess in hind sight I probably should not have waited for the final race of the month to do that. I probably should have incorporated that somewhere in the middle eh? NIKE and Portland were not run with full steam but I did run them back to back on courses with extreme up hills and down hills. The Apple Hill Harvest run was the same thing. It was a short nice 3.5 miler but with some intense hills. Oh yeah and I was pushing a jogging stroller complete with full size Peanut inside.

Yesterday’s goal was to run race pace or slightly slower. I did not exactly manage that but I did end up that way. I started out mile 1 at 8:10, mile 2 at 8:20, mile 3 at 8:30, mile 4 at 8:40 which I held steady for a long while or at least until the pain arrived and then I went from 8:40 to 9:15. I was able to speed up a bit but only because I wanted to finish.

What bothers me most is my body felt fine, minus the intense pain shooting through my right ankle. I have finally dialed in my pre race ritual situation so that my digestion and fueling are down to a perfect science. Unfortunately no matter how much Gluten Freeda Banana Maple with Flax Oatmeal I eat it can’t really help a sprained ankle. Thanks for trying Gluten Freeda!

Yes. You read that correctly. Sprained Ankle. My favorite sports doctor, Dr. Lau was at the race as well and he was generous enough to tell me that he wanted to see me after the race to assess the pain I’ve been having lately. Before I get to the injury specifics I have to share that this ankle pain is so bizarre. There was never swelling or pain any other time except when I was running more than 10 miles. Weird right? But the pain that would come was excruciating and lasted for probably 30 minutes post race and then disappeared. That is until yesterday of course. Right on cue at mile 10-ish the ankle started hurting and the unevenness of the Clarksburg country roads made it that much worse. By the time I finished the pain was off and on unbearable. Mind you, I can still run but it isn’t pretty. I crossed the finish line and jumped hobbled right into Dr. Lau’s line. I was in so much pain I could not even stretch my horribly tight muscles. Race wise, I finished with a pace of 8:40 which is my marathon goal (har har) and I was 12th in my age group but the CIM marathon looks like it might be slipping from my sights each race I run.

Dr. Lau worked tirelessly on me even with a long line of people behind me. I adore him. But he finally stopped and had a really sad look on his face. He said he thinks I might possibly have a high ankle sprain sustained most likely from one of my trail runs. It hurts so late into a run because of the pressure and pounding finally setting in. It swelled too for the first time ever. Not sure if that was race related or if it was from Dr. Lau poking and pulling. Right now he suggests that I not run all week. Cross train he said . . . what is that? Ha! I am running junkie. My cross training usually entails the elliptical which isn’t really much different from running. It is too dark at night to ride a bike.

I am listening though. I am heating and icing and not running until Sunday. I am however doing what you’re not supposed to do and that is google everything there is to google about a High Ankle Sprain and from what I have read, it isn’t a good thing. I am stepping away from Google before I talk myself into a depression about this whole thing.

CIM is still possible. I am not losing hope (or the money I shelled out) just yet.