Injury recovery

I might be the only runner capable of becoming injured while running so little.  I think I can blame pregnancy for my most recent injury because apparently all the hormones not only serve to make me cry at the drop of a hat, they also work some magic on my tendons and ligaments.  During pregnancy, the tendons and ligaments in the body become more flexible and stretch which means they can cause trouble a little more easily.  While trying to maintain some semblance of a running routine during this pregnancy, my body has rebelled against my desire to stay active.

I have avoided going to the doctor for the pain that I’ve been experiencing on the inside of my ankle for sometime now.  I’m pretty sure a doctor would just tell me to rest it, especially since I’m pregnant.  I’ve been resting it as much as I can.  I took 2 weeks off from running during our Hawaii vacation.  I did a couple test runs when the 2 weeks was up and I was still in pain.

I took another 2 weeks off and ran again at the beginning on this week.  I can’t even explain the pure joy that comes from a run when you haven’t run for a while.  Endorphins, I have missed you! I couldn’t stop smiling while I ran because it felt so good to run again.  Too bad not all of my body was in on the fun.  My ankle was still sore.  Did that stop me from running 3 miles? No, but it probably should have.  I never claimed to be smart and hey, I wanted a chance to wear by Running for Two shirt! Since I have been running so little in the recent weeks, it was much more noticeable that my body has changed.  I was more aware of my form and posture since I really felt like my belly was leading the way.

See that? Running makes me happy! Forgive the crappy picture, it was surprisingly hard to take a self portrait that included the cute shirt and giant belly

My frustration with my injury been getting to me since rest isn’t making much of a difference.  I sent an email to fellow local running blogger Miss Zippy who was kind enough to listen to my frustrations and offer some advice.  She recommended a sports massage therapist in the area.  I was lucky enough to get an appointment with him yesterday afternoon.  I’ve never been to a massage therapist before so I didn’t really know what to expect.  After I explained to him what was going on, he worked on massaging the tendons and muscles in my lower leg while having me flex my foot in different directions.  Then he taped up my ankle using RockTape.  I’ve been a big fan of KT Tape for a while so I was curious about the difference between the two.  They’re pretty much the same thing, but RockTape does not come in the pre-cut strips so you can cut it to the length you want.

All taped up

The way he taped my ankle has been helping already.  The tape is supporting the tendon and also compressing it which will help with recovery.  Hubby and I went to our first ever Back to School night at Zain’s preschool last night.  I’m pretty sure I looked super cool with my rock tape peaking out of the bottom of my pants.

It just means I rock

I think my appointment really helped already.  He suggested that I work hard at doing strength exercises on my lower legs to strengthen the area to help rehab it.  I’m supposed to do the suggested exercises for a week and then do a short test run to see how I feel.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that I can get over this injury soon so I can maintain some level of fitness through the end of my pregnancy.

If you’re in the Howard County, MD area and looking for a great sports massage therapist, I highly recommend Nic Ebright!