Yup, that's the verdict on the ankle.  It's broken!  It didn't seem to be getting better, so on Friday I went to see an orthopedist.  And the X-rays revealed a broken ankle.  Specifically, an incomplete fracture to the medial malleolus. 

 

So how was I walking around for three weeks with a broken ankle?  And how was I riding my bike (almost 100 miles!) during that time?  I think a lot of it is because of the "incomplete" part of "incomplete fracture".  So it's not as bad as it could have been. 

 

The doctor said these things normally take about six weeks to heal.  It's already been three weeks, so hopefully I've only got three more to go.  He gave me an air cast to wear, and he isntructed me not to ride the bike (or run, obviously).  Hopefully I didn't do any more damage to it during the first three weeks without the air cast.  It never hurt much, so I don't think it's all that bad.  (Knock on wood). 

 

But it still stinks.  I already had to cancel a Half Marathon and a marathon relay.  Now I've cancelled my trip to Oregon for the Eugene Marathon this coming weekend.  And I think my running of the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon on June 1 is in serious jeopardy.  Even if I'm fully healed in three weeks, I will have gone six weeks without running.  And then I'd only have two weeks to get ready for the marathon.  I'm sure it'll behoove me much more to ease back into running, instead of trying to run 26.2 miles almost right away.  Most importantly, I want to make sure that I don't do any permanent damage to myself. 

 

I've been trying to keep a good attitude about this.  I've been running for a while now.  Since I started logging my runs in January 2005, I've logged 4007.4 miles.  (See my running log; link at left).  And in all that time, I've never had a serious injury.  Sure, I've had a couple bumps and tweaks and what-not.  But nothing that sidelined me for an extended perioid of time.  So maybe I was due for something like this.  And if I'm only out of commission for six weeks, that's not so bad.  Heck, that time is already half over.  I'm sure I can make it the rest of the way.  Didn't I just say in my last post how amazed I was at how six months flew by?  So I'm sure three more weeks will be gone before I know it. 

 

I want to be able to run for many many more years.  Maybe 30 years or more.  So the last thing I want to do now is rush back and do myself serious harm.  I'll take it easy and do what the doctor says.  And I will periodically post about my progress...

This post is a little late, but our daughter Jillian turned 6 months old on April 16!  I am amazed that half a year has gone by already.  These past six months have really been great, and we could not be happier with our child.  It has really been a pleasure to watch her grow.  It's amazing to think that she will be walking and talking soon.  We look forward to every minute with her...

In other news, my ankle has still not healed very well.  I attempted a run yesterday on the treamill, and it did not go well.  I can walk and ride my bike just fine without pain.  But as I increased the speed on the treadmill, the pain got worse and worse.  I didn't even attempt to increase beyond 5.0 mph, and that means I am nowhere near being able to run a marathon. 

The Eugene Marathon is in 11 days.  I now have serious doubts about being able to run it.  I have made an appointment to see a Sports Medicine doc for Friday, and I'll see what he says.  But my guess is that I'll be cancelling my trip to Oregon.  I am not happy about that, and I am not happy that this stupid little ankle injury is taking so long to heal.  I guess this is a sign that I am getting older.  Oh well.  If I need more time off, so be it.  As long as I eventually get back to 100%, I can live with it if it takes its own sweet time to happen...

My ankle continues to get a little better every day, but it's still not 100%.  I've been able to bike on it a few times, but I haven't attempted to run yet.  It's been almost two weeks since my last run, which I believe is my longest drought since I started tracking my runs.  But I don't think the drought will last much longer.  I think I should be up and running (so to speak) within another couple of days.  The Eugene Marathon is still almost 3 weeks away, and I'm fairly certain that I'll be back to normal by then (knock on wood).  I just hope all the time off hasn't made me unprepared for a marathon.  I guess that remains to be seen...

Yup, I twisted an ankle this past Saturday.  It has sidelined me from running for a while. 

 

I didn't injure it doing anything fun or dangerous.  It's not like a twisted it while fjording a river at Mile 22 of a trail run.  No, I just mis-stepped while walking down a flight of stairs.  I was carrying something and thus couldn't see my feet.  I had thought I had reached the bottom when I actually still had one step to go.  So my foot landed wrong, and "crunch"!  I went down in a heap, and my ankle has been quite sore since.

 

There has only been a little swelling, and it's not very black and blue.  But it does still hurt to put weight on it.  I had signed up for a Half Marathon on Sunday, which needless to say I bailed on. 

 

I am still somewhat hobbled, but I am feeling a little better every day.  After reaching a new monthly high with 200 miles in March, it might not be a bad thing that I am giving my legs some rest now.  But I am getting a little antsy now with five days (and counting) without a run.  April won't come anywhere close to 200 miles, I'll tell you that.  I very well might not reach 100. 

 

I do think that I won't miss any more races.  I hope to be back to normal in a few more days (knock on wood).  I guess we'll see...