UNCLE!
I’m calling a doctor. My right ankle, while fine in every other respect, refuses to let me run. I didn’t run at all for six weeks after The Scream. Feeling good, I tried running gently and easy with a lot of walking. The ankle lasted four miles before deciding I had enough. I tried a few more times, in shoes even, but no luck. Now between a quarter mile and three miles into a run, it stops me. Barefoot, in shoes, on road, on trail, fast, slow, no matter. I get zapped.
I can perform every other activity without any pain at all. I can run around with the dogs at work, where I’m on my feet all day. I can mow the lawn. I can do calf raises and stretches. I can jump up and down. All without any pain whatsoever. I just can’t run. I tried KT Tape, violating my own “Opposite of Good” philosophy. I thought maybe I could tape my tendons together, holding them in place. Nope. Maybe I’m not putting them on correctly, but they made no difference.
I can’t figure out what the problem is and I don’t know what caused it. Here’s a list of suspects:
1. stretching
2. not stretching
3. running barefoot
4. running with shoes on
5. twisting ankle on trails
6. too much repetitive motion on roads
7. too many miles
8. not enough miles
9. too many hills
10. too fast
11. trying to run, briefly, like Mutai
12. overstriding
13. adding exercises (RunnerDude, RockFit!!™)
14. aging
15. frailty
16. tempting fate by blogging about being a barefoot runner
So, sorry I haven’t been around. I’ve been feeling a little glum and pitiful. If there’s anyone whom I’ve wronged out there, now would be an opportune time to kick me.
But please, don’t feed the animals as they say. Don’t cry for me, Argentina. I will survive. Westward, Ho!
Tomorrow I’ll call the ankle guy who was on that Barefoot Running Discussion I participated in last year. Hopefully he’ll say the problem is a result of a severe ice cream deficiency in my diet.
Oh, and I was kidding about the kicking. Please don’t.
I see an MRI in your future, and entertaining blog posts with scan pictures. I also see you recovering and returning to running. The human body is an amazing healing machine. You’ll get through this.
If there’s an MRI in my future, will you organize a charity run for me? Something like the MRIs For Morons 5K.
So sorry to hear you’ve been feeling so badly. I certainly hope you feel better soon. I was in a similar situation of battling injury for several months after this spring’s Umstead Marathon and it seemed pretty dark at times. I’m just now starting to feel good again and it really is amazing how we can heal. Hang tough and get better soon, man. If anyone can do it, it’s you.
I was on a pretty good streak for a while, so I guess I’m due some darkness. Your performance at Umstead was both inspirational and an important reminder of our mortality – we all break sometimes. Glad you’re on your way back, and I look forward to chasing you (from an ever-increasing distance) soon.
You left off #17, “track workouts”.
But #16 seems like the obvious root cause.
It is a bizarre one.
You took 6 weeks off, so it’s not chronic misuse.
Good luck at the doctor. Be skeptical of them however and get a second opinion. I have seen 5 orthopedic surgeons and 4 of them were idiots who tried to sell me voodoo treatments and surgeries.
Dr. Samuel Stanley at Duke was a good one. He couldn’t fix me, but his diagnosis was spot on.
Hmmm. I wonder if the Power Balance™ bracelet would fit around your ankle…
I was only on the track two or three times, and that was because I was hoping the flatness would be less risky.
I’m going to try to get an appointment with this guy:
http://www.drjohnhewitt.com/index.html
because I know he’s (cautiously) open to the barefoot thing, and his hair is truly amazing.
His hair is awesome. I think he has a second job as a Vegas magician. Who better to work some magic on your ankle?
I concur with adding #17. My left foot is *still* healing from the beating the track gave me while attempting to run a sub-6 (I know, pathetic!) mile. Ugh.
I agree with Scott. You will recover from whatever this is. And then you will have more really good advice for people. I know it is frustrating, but this will pass.
Ha, the only good advice I have for people is that shaving cream is a scam. Other than that, every tidbit I offer should be greeted with an incredulous raise of an eyebrow.
Pray, bargain, and get to an Orthopedic. Don’t believe the Orthopedic and then repeat. Good luck. Don’t google too much.
I’m actually very impressionable, so I’ll probably believe what the ortho says. Too late about Google. Should I try Bing?
I’d have to vote for #16 as well. Hang in there and stay fit, and you’ll come out fine in the end. One piece of advice about doctors (since it seems like you don’t go to many): find out what they think of running and specifically barefoot running. I’ve been helped by doctors, but never by one of the “running is unhealthy and you should only attempt it wearing orthotics and a helmet” types.
The “staying fit” part is hard for me. If I’m not running, I start looking for bigger pants.
Dude! Duuuuuude! Dude. Your dilemma is troubling for all of us. Perhaps you could draw a picture with precise marks indicating the afflicted area(s). Then, we could supply our own hypotheses on your injury. If anything else, we would feel like we’re doing something for you.
And, if you feel the need to freak out a bit, perhaps this will help: http://youtu.be/DZg9evqG9e0
The pain comes from anywhere along a line starting at the base of my calf down to the deep achilles area behind the inner ankle. Perhaps related, the ankle sometimes make a cracking noise when I make an “o” with my foot. Doesn’t hurt, just tendons snapping over the outside ankle.
If you have any ideas, feel free to share.
Hate to hear it Josh! I hope you can come up with some solutions soon. Sock Doc (Stephen Gangemi) is not far from you and he can often find those mystery causes, thus shortening your list immensely. ; )
Well, I’ve got an appointment with the local guy, so we’ll see what happens from there.
Love your blog and follow from here in England, but this is the first time I have posted. Worth thinking what else have you got going on in your life that might be a trigger for this – mental rather than physical (though they are of course the same thing anyway, it is an artificial separation)? Given you can do all that stuff you list without a problem, perhaps it’s not a straightforward physical reason. There are theories that some ankle pains mean you are resisting change and digging in mentally; lacking mobility and flexibility…and would need to address this to move forward? Does that ring true at all?
We are trying to sell our house, as a matter of fact… but no, I think there’s definitely something not right in a real grassroots, bottom-up sort of way. Then again, my brain would want me to think that, wouldn’t it? If that’s the case, we’ll totally knock off the combined price of the MRI, PT, etc, from the price of our house. You wouldn’t by any chance be interested in a nice 3&2 in Rockingham, Co, NC, would you?
This all started with the shoes. Can’t remember you having issues until then. I haven’t been commenting… but I’m watching you! Ok, that’s creepy. Sorry
Watch away, creepy Steve. Just don’t forget to leave some dinero in the tip jar.
There, I just out-creepied you. I win!
The problem with the shoe theory is that the only time I wear shoes is on trails, which is the only place I twist my ankles. There’s the argument to be made that if I run trails barefoot, my ankles will remain untwisted. While barefoot runs on trails have been some of my favorite runs ever, it’s hard as hell to do (at least on the trails around here), and there’s no guarantee. In fact, I think I twisted my right ankle at least once “running” the Hanging Rock 12K barefoot.
One last thing: I was running barefoot (with Sunny the dog) when I felt my first zing. The night before I videod the footage for the Rock Jump!!:
http://www.barefootjosh.com/?p=2951
Jumping up on a rock like that over and over again might have been a bad choice, I think.
Have you tried squeezing your achilles tendon in order to check for possible tears or ruptures?