So it looks like I’m going to have to pull out of this weekend’s 10km race, the Teach First London run. Having got up at 5:00am this morning for my run it was disappointing that within 10 paces it was clear that my ankle is still not happy. It’s fine when walking, isn’t swollen and only hurts if I press the inner ankle area, but it really doesn’t like running. So it was back to bed for an hour, giving me time to ponder what to do next.
I really want to race on Saturday as it’s a flat course and the weather looks like it will be to my taste, but if I had to choose I would rather be fit for the back to back trail races we have planned at the start of November. So I am going to be grown-up about this and continue to rest it for now and make sure I do everything I can to get it back to full strength as soon as possible. The annoying thing is that I am not entirely sure what caused it. I did roll one of my ankles slightly in the Women’s Running 10km race but I can’t be sure which one it was, and this ankle had had some pain in the week leading up to that race anyway. Whether I rolled or jarred it in one of my training runs, or whether it’s down to my work shoes (now binned as they gave me massive pain after the race) it’s hard to say but I think now may be a good time to get my gait reanalyzed in case it is something to do with my foot strike. I was analysed a few years ago and found to be “normal†but I suppose things can change and I’d rather be sure that my trainers aren’t helping to make matters worse.
It may just be my body crying out for some rest as well. I’ve just worked out that I have been running 3 times a week for the last 21 weeks, and this is definitely the most significant period of exercise I’ve sustained in a very long time. Fingers crossed I’ll be back on it soon as I’m really missing running. I certainly didn’t think I’d be saying that when I started back in April!