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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    NW of xtal mtn
    Posts
    636

    Thumbs down Marathon Train with Sprained& Fractured Ankle

    So, I've been training for a marathon (Seattle, it's at the end of Nov), and I f*d up my ankle doing something stupid about a week ago. Obviously, with the marathon still a long way off, my plan is to still run in it (or, worst case, switch my registration to the 1/2), so I'm coming up with creative ways to make this work.

    The ankle is black and blue and large, and we're looking at 5-7wks of I'm supposed-to-stay-off-of-it-according-to-the-doc time; wearing one of those stupid boot things now. I'd take off the boot and post naked pictures of my foot to better aid your analysis, but it's really not that arrousing-- trust me.

    This is what I've been doing so far:
    • -Cardio by swimming for amt. of time I would spend running, at a similiar HR. i.e. if my training schedule says, "run 12 miles today," which I know will take me about 2 hrs and keep my HR around 150, swimming with a pull buoy or lower body stabilization drill for 2 hrs with HR around 150. translation for non-swimmers: this is basically swimming without the legs part. Flutter kick in the pool requires a lot of ankle flexibility, and is therefore not a good rehab activity for letting your ligaments get all tight again.

    • -Basic upper body/ core calesthenics w/o much pressure on legs (plank, pushups, situps, leg lifts, bicycle drill, lay-on-your-back and flutter-kick drill)

    • -Limited yoga for body alignment (my knee and hip are getting weird due to disparate leg length from boot)


  2. Any suggestions/ ideas for better utilizing this non-running time? I'm thinking I'll ease back into running for part in a couple weeks, see how it goes, but til then, it looks like a bad idea.

    Also, in the past, I've done the eliptical and stationary bicycle with a boot on as an ankle has healed (which has been great), but my current gym has a rule against it (they reprimanded me 2x now, and it's kind of an upscale place with snooty trainers everywhere, so I don't think I can get away with it. stupid liability issues), and I'm not at the pt. in my recovery yet where it doesn't hurt like a bitch to put any kind of pressure on it at all.
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  • #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Couloirfornia
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    8,871
    Aquajogger? That's what they had us do in college XC when somebody pulled up with a stress fracture.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ernest_Hemingway View Post
    I realize there is not much hope for a bullfighting forum. I understand that most of you would prefer to discuss the ingredients of jacket fabrics than the ingredients of a brave man. I know nothing of the former. But the latter is made of courage, and skill, and grace in the presence of the possibility of death. If someone could make a jacket of those three things it would no doubt be the most popular and prized item in all of your closets.

  • #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    NW of xtal mtn
    Posts
    636
    ^ forgot about that. Thanks.

  • #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    NW of xtal mtn
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    636
    bumpity, bumpity. no one else has ideas, really?

  • #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    under the hogback shadow
    Posts
    3,234
    I can feel your pain..so to speak. I was training for the Boulder Marathon, sept 20. A couple weeks ago I developed severe hip pain that only got worse. I had to stop running which killed the marathon plan. Doc thinks I either sprained a ligament or developed arthritis. So I'm in PT getting manipulated. Since I might not be able to run long distances anymore, I'm not super motivated to keep the training program going. Nor do I have a gym membership to make use of various fitness equipment.

    But what can you do while you recover? Since you are wearing a boot, I guess cycling is out. Water jogging is you best alternative if you can manage that. Maybe a stationary recumbent bike? Rowing trainer? (although this will work your upper body more). You might be able to keep your aerobic fitness up. Good Luck!

  • #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    227
    Depending on the severity of your fracture, I'd be impressed if your ankle will be up to the hammering of a marathon (or a half) at three months. I'm recovering from an ankle fracture (details [ame="https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165641"]here[/ame] ) as well. If you're already in a boot, it sounds as though you've only stress fractured something or perhaps fractured something high up in your lower leg, if that's the case, then my input might be an upper bound on your recovery time.

    At exactly three months post-op, I was able to jog about 100m with tolerable pain. At about 11.5 weeks, I wandered up an easy 4000' hike up a fourteener at about half my usual pace. I've spent a lot of enjoyable time in the pool. Walking in the pool definitely helped me make the transition back to full weight bearing status. Three months have gone by surprisingly quickly in retrospect, and I've attended to a lot of other things I've needed to get done. The first month sucked, particularly the first two weeks, but it got better fast.

    Once I was cleared to partially weight bear in a boot, I began gently cycling out of the boot, using pain as a guide. It was fun, and good for the psyche, but it was easy to overdo things (my ankle takes about a day to let me know I've overdone something). Swimming's been great, and just walking has proven quite therapeutic (the aforementioned hike apparently gently broke up some scar tissue). Along some axes, my range of motion remains limited by the slow swelling reduction inherent in ankle healing. I continue to be amazed by week over week improvement. The muscle atrophy from a couple of weeks' immobilization was significant, but it's coming back reasonably fast.

    Slow is fast.

    If you're dead-set on the Seattle marathon, getting an excellent PT will probably save you a week or so off my times for return to activity, particularly in strengthening some of the musculature associated with stability. My biggest worry was pushing too hard too fast - good PT would have helped keep my worries and expectations in line with reality.

    Good luck! !

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