L Foot, Ankle Sprain
2009-06-07 – 2009-06-20
Grade: 2
During four hours of ARDF champs racing in the Blue Hills, I rolled my left ankle moderately several times. It was swollen and slightly uncomfortable after Saturday's event, and the rocky trails on Sunday and my beaten shoes did not help.
I am able to roll my ankle gingerly, but both front sides of the ankle hurt. Stairs are slightly laborious, and the ankle is noticeably swollen relative to my right ankle.
I went on an easy run on Monday, but I'm taking Tuesday off to RICE it. I have been wearing ace bandages for a few hours at a time, which seem to help. I can walk without difficulty.
I regularly RICE'd my injury, but the general solution was rest and minimizing training. In the span of the two weeks after the injury, I went on two easy runs (where I completed my analysis of the injury), a low intensity orienteering training session, and a street-O. I severely curtailed my training, but after 14 days, my ankle feels very good.
I surmise a general flaw with my training regimen is inadequate strength training - my stabilizer muscles, which are not significantly stressed during my road runs, were not strong enough to absorb the punishment from four hours of Radio-O. I should remedy this by doing more orienteering and trail running.