I will admit to being a little emotional at the beginning of the week. It was a combination of some very long working hours and frustration over the lack of progress in my left ankle. There are two parts to my ankle problem (which isn’t really in the ankle itself, it just seems like the closest object to it). The first is on the front side of my leg, just to the side of the shin bone. This has been the biggest source of pain and discomfort when I’ve been running.
My second problem has been on the back side of my leg. It was almost like I would get electrical shocks through my Achilles and into my soleus. It would happen while running and sometimes it would even happen while I was walking Peat. I had faithfully been to ART but I felt like progress was at a standstill. So being slightly emotional I wrote a very whiny note to my coach late Monday night that I didn’t know if I should keep running or if I should just take a week or two off to see if things sorted themselves out.
On Tuesday I decided I was not quite ready to throw in the towel. I popped into Gord’s Running Store to pick of a Trigger Point Therapy starter kit. It contains a massage ball, a footballer (the small roller) and a foam block.
I followed the strategy in they give to massage your anterior tibialis using the massage ball. That helped to tackle the issue on the front near my shin. To tackle my achilles/soleus I essentially followed the instructions in this video using the footballer and block. After using these tools for a few days the difference was incredible. I decided to test things out on the road and went for a run on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day although the wind was a little chilly. My instructions from my coach were to try and go for up to an hour if all felt okay.
I couldn’t believe the difference in how my ankle felt. My endurance didn’t feel as good, but the discomfort I’ve been experiencing had diminished significantly. I was all smiles close to the turnaround at 30 minutes. Love the view of downtown Calgary in the background!
I managed to make it for an hour and things felt pretty good the entire time. Time will tell but I think this new tool in my toolbox may be the trick for moving past this injury. What I do know is that I had one happy ankle (and was one happy runner) after everything was said and done. Fingers crossed for continuous improvement!
It’s so difficult to get through an injury but wonderful when it’s over! I’ve just gotten over an ankle injury and here’s hoping it doesn’t return. Glad to hear that you are on the mend as well. Happy Running!
Glad to hear that your injury is slowly but surely getting better! I’ve used that smaller roller before and it works miracles!
I may have to get one of those.
What was wrong with your ankle initially? Did it just start to hurt or did you injure it? It must feel great to have it so much better.
I don’t think I injured it, but pain first presented after I slipped on ice back in February. I’m not sure if the slip and the subsequent pain are related or not. Essentially what my chiropractor told me was that my foot wasn’t aligning properly when I was running, stressing the various tendons in my lower left leg. If I stood on my left leg you could see that my ankle was collapsing. I think that yoga has helped immensely to get the functionality back in my ankle joint so it wasn’t collapsing, then trigger point therapy is helping to address any inflammation.
I’m glad you’re feeling better. Injuries are so frustrating!
I have that same kit … It’s awesome … Glad your healing 🙂
Rolling is the best. So awesome that your ankle is feeling better! 🙂
Great news!
Great news your ankle is feeling better. I use a foam roller and trigger point ball myself and they both make a huge difference.
Glad to hear you are feeling better and OMG it looks so cold there 😐
I wish i could find something like this for my glute! Glad it helped the ankle.
Yay! I felt the same way when I figured out what was wrong with my leg too!