Sprained Ankle and Running

JessRaddatz

I started running with the C25K program in January with a goal of running my first 5k race at the end of April. Last Saturday was the 5k and I did run the whole thing! BUT, it was a glow run and it was dark and I stepped off the side of the path and sprained my ankle. I know that I shouldn't run on it for at least 4 - 6 weeks, but what can I do to keep my stamina up? Or am I just going to have to face the fact that I might be starting from square one with running when I can start up again? Also, how do I know when I'm OK to start running again? TIA!!

WhatMeRunning

I'm not sure if this exact same activity will be friendly to your injury, but when I had a foot injury (cuboid syndrome) I found I was able to still do ellipticals with no pain. So what I did was try and do a similar effort on run days using ellipticals instead. What I did to attempt similar effort was to strap on my HRM and go until I had burned the same number of calories as reported by the HRM using the same app I had used when running. It's better than nothing, that's for sure. However, when I started running despite having the cardio capacity, I was not able to just run the same distances as before since running on the road is higher impact than ellitpical (there was some endurance still lost). But it made the initial weeks of ramping up mileage seem a lot easier.

You might see what sort of cardio you can do, and then try a similar effort just to keep your cardio capacity up. You are bound to lose some endurance and strength around that ankle, I imagine. But you can work on that when you are healed, and maybe even have some sort of options during healing that your doctor or PT may be able to advise on.

enterdanger

I have stress fractures around the ankle now and my orthopedist told me I can't do anything but biking and swimming. I begged for at least the elliptical and he said while it is low impact he wants me only doing no impact exercises. I'm in the 2-3 month range for recovery. You might want to see a doctor to make sure it is just a sprain. They can evaluate the injury and give you a time frame for running.

Edited because I forgot to congratulate you! Hell Yeah on your first 5k!

I can't wait to run again.

mwyvr

Hi Jess - first off, congratulations on achieving your C25K goal. You look super and I bet you feel amazing!

I can certainly empathize with you as a severe ankle injury sidelined me for a year, nine years ago, and that was in fact the start of my big weight gain period. I never want to go through that again and injury side-lining my progress is one of my big fears.

Ankle sprains and me are not new enemies; even when I was at my most athletic I suffered from them. I know from personal experience that re-injury through subsequent sprains is much more likely.

If you've had a less severe sprain (you aren't incapacitated, you can put weight on the food and move about even if you do feel the injury) then the good news is you probably will be able to do weight bearing work on it fairly soon.

Here's one guide to rehab:

http://running.competitor.com/2014/04/injury-prevention/rehab-sprained-ankle_101470

An article worth looking at:

http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/owners-manual-not-just-ankle-sprain

And another, which I like for the comments on re-injury rates and why, and talks about the use of balance exercises for rehabilitation but also to reduce the chance of re-injury:

http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/ankle-sprains-uphill-battle

aaliceinw

I'm also in low impact recovery after fracturing my fibula a few weeks ago. No running for 3 to 6 months and only low impact activities. It feels fine but I reinjured it last week because I thought it was okay!

lishie_rebooted

Welcome to the club!
At least you only sprained your ankle when you fell, I broke my fibula.

With previous sprains and this break, I've been able to ride the upright bike (and probably recumbant bike but I hate them so I don't use them) and the arc trainer. Elliptical might be fine as well but I also despise that.

JessRaddatz

Thank you for the links and all of the suggestions/comments everyone! I was afraid the elliptical was going to be my best bet; I loathe the elliptical, but I would hate to have to start all over with running even more, so I will take to the elliptical once I can do that comfortably. I do have a recumbent bike at home and I planned on starting to use that as my main source of cardio once the swelling is completely gone. It's nearly gone now, but I know the smart thing to do is take a full week off and then get back to working out. It's just so hard to sit around and I'm so used to having those extra exercise calories to eat everyday. I never realized how hard it was to only eat 1200 - 1400 calories a day, lol! It really sucks to finally find something like I enjoy and that works for me and then not be able to do it for so long

mrsswisspea

I have sprained my ankle 3 times in five years. This time, I was fed up and decided to truly allow myself time to heal in a systematic, step by step way. If you don't you WILL re-sprain it, and (like me) the stress will travel to the knee and make your life a lot worse than recovering properly for the next 6 weeks.

This guide has been AMAZING! I have followed it religiously, and I feel stronger and more confident: http://www.healthcenter.vt.edu/assets/docs/MCOrthoRehab-Ankle.pdf

mwyvr

My own personal experience is that continuing on with balance training has been very good for me. I've not re-injured myself in some years now and I feel much more confident now when running mountain trails than I used to even when I was much fitter.

(Mike goes looking for wood to knock upon)

In other words, once you are up and running again don't forget about your ankles.