Sidelined

I'm injured. There, I admit it. I've been running for weeks with increasing pain in my ankles, and I can't ignore it anymore. I began with pain in my knees, but that's gotten much better. I still notice a little twinge in my right knee when I run, but it's not constant like it was for a while. I thought the pain in my ankles would be the same way. I thought I was in pain because I'm new at this and the pain would decrease as I got stronger. I think I'm wrong.

I'm not sure when it started, but it almost never goes away. I haven't run since Sunday, and I'm growing very impatient. I was happy about making progress and the potential to lose weight and get in shape. Now I feel like I'll have to start over when I'm able to run again - if I'm able to run again. Are some people just not cut out for running? I certainly hope that's not the case. It seemed to take an eternity to build up my endurance to handle a three-minute sustained run. The thought of stopping for an injury and having to start over makes me crazy.

I have pain in both ankles, but my left is the worst. It hurts all the time when I walk - except when I wear heels! Oddly enough, I wore flats to work yesterday and was limping and miserable. Today, I wore heels and felt fine. I made sure to rotate my ankles as I sat at my desk, in case they only felt better because my shoes kept them from flexing as much as walking in flats. That gave me no problems at all. I thought maybe I had rested long enough and was looking forward to going for a run this evening. But as soon as I kicked off my heels and put my feet flat on the floor, all the pain came rushing back. So instead of running, I'm on the couch with ice on my foot.


I've been reading all kinds of scary articles about sprained ankles, strained ankles, stress/hairline fractures, tendinitis, and trying to figure out whether I underpronate or overpronate. I'm very confused and getting worried about potentially making the problem worse if I try to run through the pain. I know the obvious solution is to go to a doctor, but I'm hoping rest and ice will take care of it. When I feel better, I'm also planning to go to Rush Running to see if I need different shoes to control whatever awkward motion is causing me to have issues. I still can't believe that I'm barely six weeks into this, and I'm already having problems. Just call me Grace.

One of my Twitter pals suggested that I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.


I ordered it today and am looking forward to checking it out. It's about a man who tries to run but can't understand why he has excruciating pain in his feet. After seeing several doctors, he seeks out an ancient Mexican tribe that can run for days at a time - with no warming up, stretching or even decent shoes. According to him, running is natural, and we should all be able to do it pain free. Mammals have been doing it for millions of years - why not me? I guess I'll find out. Until then, I'll be on the couch. Pouting.