Can I run while Ankle hurting?

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samonmission
samonmission Posts: 62 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all,
I am practicing for my first half in Dec and I am at a 11 mile practice level so far. I just increase my mileage every week by a mile or so. Since last couple of weeks my left ankle started hurting to the point that I am limping all through the week. I got better on Saturday and then ran 10 & 11 Miles on Sunday.
I was fine during the run but afterwards my ankle started hurting really bad and its still hurting 3 days after. It aggravates me to not able to exercise or cross-train because of my ankle but I am also worried to hurt it more if I don't pay attention and keep running.
What would be your advise ?
I am using right Fitted shoes and stretching before & after the runs.
-Sam

Replies

  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. You need to see your doctor and find out why it's sending the message. If training is leaving you limping all week there is a problem.

    You say your shoes fit well, but were they professionally fitted? Look in to this.

    No you should not keep doing something that is causing you to limp all week., if for no other reason than that limping is harmful to your back, hips and knees.
  • mikej1978
    mikej1978 Posts: 362 Member
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    Pain is weakness leaving your body. Press on! LOL, really whatever you feel you can do go ahead.
  • kill3rtofu
    kill3rtofu Posts: 169 Member
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    you should figure out what the injury is exactly and probably rest,,, it won't get better if you keep running on it. maybe try biking until you get better
  • Katla49
    Katla49 Posts: 10,385 Member
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    Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. You need to see your doctor and find out why it's sending the message. If training is leaving you limping all week there is a problem.

    You say your shoes fit well, but were they professionally fitted? Look in to this.

    No you should not keep doing something that is causing you to limp all week., if for no other reason than that limping is harmful to your back, hips and knees.

    I agree with this, and will add an idea. Ride a bike to keep your cardio fitness level up while your ankle is healing. It is much easier on ankles and knee joints.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,538 Member
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    The body can mask pain while exercising. If you're in pain for several days after or off from exercising, it's an injury worth getting checked out by a qualified physician.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • _jamieb
    _jamieb Posts: 15
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    you should figure out what the injury is exactly and probably rest,,, it won't get better if you keep running on it. maybe try biking until you get better

    Agreed!!!
  • judilockwood
    judilockwood Posts: 134 Member
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    agree too. should see a doctor and find cause
  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    Pain is weakness leaving your body. Press on! LOL, really whatever you feel you can do go ahead.

    Pain that leaves you limping all week is NOT "weakness leaving your body" and if you "press on" through a stress fracture you can be crippled for life. Pain that leaves you limping all week is a message from your body that something is wrong.
  • ChrisS30V
    ChrisS30V Posts: 157 Member
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    I'd be very careful about continuing to run with any kind of lingering soreness in the ankle/heel area as it wouldn't be much of a stretch at all to develop tendinitis, especially if you have been rapidly increasing your mileage. As others have said, definitely see a doctor and cut back on your mileage. A tendon injury is not something to fool around with.
  • spookiefox
    spookiefox Posts: 215 Member
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    So, that's seven "see a doctor" and one "press on!"
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Can I ask what kind of training plan you follow??

    I have done my fair share of races and coached a few people through their first HMs and I can't figure out why, if your race is in December. you're already doing LSRs of 11 miles at this stage? :huh:

    If you're new to running I suspect your ankle problem is plain old over ethusiastic overuse.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Take a look at Hal Higdon's Novice HM plans and take a look what distances you should be running at this stage of your training.

    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51131/Half-Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program

    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51312/Half-Marathon-Novice-2-Training-Program

    Or if you consider yourself Intermediate....

    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51132/Half-Marathon-Intermediate-Training-Program

    If all you've done is 5ks (looked at your profile) I suspect you simply pushed the distance too soon. Cardiovascular fitness develops pretty quickly. Muscular-skeletal strength in joints and bones does not! Failing to take a patient approach with distance will bring you nothing but overuse injuries.
  • l911jnt
    l911jnt Posts: 164 Member
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    I had a really severe sprain 3 months ago. I ave tried pushing forward with excersize. Found out quickly it only sets me back further. I can't jog or dance around on it without pain. I can tell if I do I won't even be able to walk everyday so I don't. I suggest dialing it down for a while. Trust me, you don't want to push it. it sucks having to use crutches to walk, slowing yourself down and relying on others.
  • YoBecca
    YoBecca Posts: 167
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    Give it some rest, ice it (put youself on a schedule, ice it 20 minutes every 2 hours or so).
    But it sounds like you need to give it some compression while you run and during your recovery. Get an ankle brace that gives a decent amount of compression and wear it during every long run, and for the rest of the day (at least) after. Get in the habit of icing your ankle as part of you post-run recovery.

    I had this same issue when training for my full marathon, once the miles started getting high. My physical therapist said it's pretty common, especially with high mileage an big jumps in mileage. It got TONS better once I started using compression (I also used calf compression sleeves, so had some compression in the entire lower leg/foot on that side). Also, keep in mind that when your miles get up above 10, you need some REAL rest days between.


    Frankly, unless you think you broke it, I can tell you what a doctor would say: RICE. If you are concerned, you would do better to go see a physical therapist who specifically works with athletes or sports injuries. They will help you keep moving and actually treat anything going on whith the soft tissue.
  • samonmission
    samonmission Posts: 62 Member
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    Can I ask what kind of training plan you follow??

    I have done my fair share of races and coached a few people through their first HMs and I can't figure out why, if your race is in December. you're already doing LSRs of 11 miles at this stage? :huh:

    If you're new to running I suspect your ankle problem is plain old over ethusiastic overuse.

    I am training for this since starting of July with my friends. We started with 2 miles and increased the mileage up to here now with some low mileage weeks in between.
  • RenewedRunner
    RenewedRunner Posts: 423 Member
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    Personal experience: Had slight heel pain that would go away when I warmed up. Ran on it for about two months and one day it got to be so painful that I finally went to the dr. I had "stretched" my Achilles out to the point of almost being rupture, it was pretty much see through at that point. I had to wear a boot for 6 weeks, do gentle stretching for 2 weeks AFTER I took off the boot, and FINALLY got to start running again 2 months later.

    All could have been prevented with a little rehab and stretching up front. Fix now, don't wait until later. If it is hurts, something is wrong. Muscle SORENESS is one thing, limping for an entire week from residual pain is NOT okay!

    Are you stretching and not just yanking on your muscles (pet peeve. Husband is in the Army, they yank on their muscles, stretching is different, needs to be held for a certain period of time, hitting all the major leg muscle groups?) ? Are your shoes fitted properly (not by a website by by someone in real life who isn't a foot locker employee)? What kind of surfaces are you training on? Are you doing too much too fast too soon? <-number one reason for newb injuries right here!
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Can I ask what kind of training plan you follow??

    I have done my fair share of races and coached a few people through their first HMs and I can't figure out why, if your race is in December. you're already doing LSRs of 11 miles at this stage? :huh:

    If you're new to running I suspect your ankle problem is plain old over ethusiastic overuse.

    I am training for this since starting of July with my friends. We started with 2 miles and increased the mileage up to here now with some low mileage weeks in between.

    Please look at the proper HM training plans, like those I posted. Normally you don't do 10 mile runs until you're in the last couple of weeks of training. You're a novice. You don't have years of miles in your legs. Seasoned runners often exceed the race distance in training runs but that's not your position.
  • YoBecca
    YoBecca Posts: 167
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    Looking back, you say you go up in miles every week. I don't think it's a huge deal that you're at 11 this early - lots of people stay trained at around that distance. BUT, you shouldn't be going up in mileage every week - that's likely what's causing your injury (overtraining + going up too fast). A better plan, if you only get 1 long run/week, is to alternate between going up in mileage one week, then cutting down to nearly half that mileage the next week, then increasing the following week. So, over 6 weeks, you might run (this is starting at a totally random distance): 8 miles, 4 miles, 9 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles, 6 miles, etc. Look at those training plans posted above - you'll see that generally it's not a straight increase every week in most plans.

    Good luck!
  • samonmission
    samonmission Posts: 62 Member
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    Personal experience: Had slight heel pain that would go away when I warmed up. Ran on it for about two months and one day it got to be so painful that I finally went to the dr. I had "stretched" my Achilles out to the point of almost being rupture, it was pretty much see through at that point. I had to wear a boot for 6 weeks, do gentle stretching for 2 weeks AFTER I took off the boot, and FINALLY got to start running again 2 months later.

    All could have been prevented with a little rehab and stretching up front. Fix now, don't wait until later. If it is hurts, something is wrong. Muscle SORENESS is one thing, limping for an entire week from residual pain is NOT okay!

    Are you stretching and not just yanking on your muscles (pet peeve. Husband is in the Army, they yank on their muscles, stretching is different, needs to be held for a certain period of time, hitting all the major leg muscle groups?) ? Are your shoes fitted properly (not by a website by by someone in real life who isn't a foot locker employee)? What kind of surfaces are you training on? Are you doing too much too fast too soon? <-number one reason for newb injuries right here!
    Thanks for your reply ! Yes I am stretching properly because one of my friend who is been running for 5-6 yrs now had taught me those..She told me the same thing to Rest and Ice it and yes my shoes are fitted at the Rouge Running store with the employee there. I am training on roads pretty much flat or very low elevation for distance runs
  • YoBecca
    YoBecca Posts: 167
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    The sort of ankle injury you've described isn't similar to achilles/heel/calf issues that come with, say, plantar faciaitis, etc. You can't really address an ankle injury with stretching. It sounds like classic overtraining, increasing mileage too much too fast. In addition to rest and ice, invest in some compression - either a simple ankle brace you can run in, or some compression socks/sleeves, or both. Doing an ice bath or epsom salt soak after your runs will help your ankle, as well as the rest of your bod.

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