July 30, 2008
"Enough of this running shit."
Posted by pete at July 30, 2008 12:16 AMI am Jack's Pete's impending arthritis...
Broke my ankle in February of 1989. It was a truly impressive 50 foot plummet that caused my talus bone to "shatter" - as the orthopedist put it - into three pieces. The screws in the tibia are from where the surgeon had to reattach the end after sawing it off to get to the sweet, sweet ankle bones.
I was told at the time that I'd probably walk with a limp, but I'm pretty sure the doctor was just trying to scare the shit out of me. I didn't PT 'til I died, as Sgt. Hartman might recommend, but I busted my ass to the point where I was walking pretty normally within 6 months.
And, because I'm an idiot, I started running. It was slow going at first, but eventually I was making it up to 3 and 4 miles at a pop. Thing was, right around the four mile mark, my ankle would just lock up. The range of flexion, only about 45 degrees max on a good day, completely disappeared, and I'd end up limping back to my apartment. The same thing happened when I tried picking it up again about ten years ago.
Rather than accept this as a rather blunt reminder that I'm not exactly built for speed and content myself with cycling and the elliptical machine, I started running again a month or so ago. I made 3.5 miles yesterday, which is the farthest I've gone since the late 20th century, so naturally I'm worried about the dreaded ankle lock. I've been doing some different flexibility exercises and my trainer (okay, the trainer at my gym) has suggested a few things, so we'll see.
I don't really have an ultimate goal. I'd like to get up to doing 10Ks, but I doubt my joints (the non-mechanically reinforced ones) would appreciate much more than that. Mostly I just want to be able to easily outdistance the guys I go camping with should any bears/mountain lions/swamp folk ambush us in the woods.
Funny. I, too, took up jogging about four months ago, after a decade+ hiatus. My motivation was also hiking/camping related, which is something I’ve really gotten into since returning to CA.
heheh…..keep running!
I feel for ya. An arthritic right hip ended my running days last year, majorly pissing me off. Now I’m stuck on an elliptical, which is fine, but I miss the exhilaration of a nice, long run.
I just sprained my ankle on Tues. The doc told me yesterday to outline the alphabet with my ankle to keep it flexible. That is when it comes out of the aircast it’s currently in.