Sprain, Sprain, Go Away!

For those of you that befriended me on Facebook, you have already heard that I sprained my ankle last Sunday at Burke Lake Park. What you don’t know is the story behind it, so here you go…
S & I decided to try out Burke Lake at the recommendation of our office manager, Nancy, because she said it was so beautiful there & the trails were fun. S & I had never been so we decided to go for something different. We met at our office on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. & carpooled over. S found out the night before that in order to get into the Park you have to pay $8.00 per car, but only if you are not a Fairfax County resident. S & I are not so that was pretty annoying that we had to pay money just to run for 30 to 40 minutes. Thankfully, when we arrived it was too early for anyone to be in the booth so we got to slip right in without paying. Money!
We parked by the amphitheater & got out to stretch; it was freezing outside. We tried to do a warm up walk but then decided that we had better start running because the walk was not warming us up. After we started down the trail, I noticed that the trails were actual trails; I was thinking that they would be cement but they were actually dirt, rocks, leaves, branches, etc. Instantly I knew this was a bad idea & told Sandra to keep her eyes on her feet & watch out for rocks & branches because you can twist or sprain your ankle on that kind of terrain (ironic?). I started out liking Burke Lake because you were surrounded by trees & we were running along the lake which made it even prettier & of course colder. S & I’s training program required us to run a 30 to 40 minute run that day so I told S that we were going to go for 35 minutes because you always want to exceed the required time while training because if by chance you are having a bad run later on in the program you will be able to shorten your run that day because you are ahead of the program already & you won’t lose any training or time. S was fine with that so during our run, I was leading with S following, & every couple minutes I would ask how she was doing & she would say, “good.” This should have alarmed me because I have never heard S say “good” while we were running; usually it’s, “I have to stop & stretch my calves because they’re cramping;” “I can’t do it,” etc. but I just let it go & didn’t think anything of it until we only had 5 minutes left. When I asked her how she was doing she said, “I’m bored.” I told her to take the lead & S said, “but why?” My response, “because this is the longest run we have done since we started our training & you are not out of breath, you are not uncomfortable & you should be, so I told her to get in front & pick up the pace for the last 5 minutes. Shortly after S took the lead was when I went down like a load of shit (to quote my Dad). There was a rock that was sticking up from the dirt that I did not see & of course my ankle caught it & ended up rolling out; I fell on the palms of my hands & my right knee. I rolled over onto my butt & didn’t move for several minutes trying to let the throbbing in my ankle subside. While that was happening S was beside me & a family of 3 who were walking their dog stopped to help me, which was very sweet of them. I then checked my stop watch for the time & noticed that S & I only made it to 29:05. I looked up at S & showed her the watch & she said, “what?” I told her that we ran for 29:05 & then I said, “shit!” We were 6 minutes shy of our 35 minute run & I was pissed. S then commented to the family that I was the only one that would ever say that after I hurt myself. After a short rest, I stood up with the help of S & the kind man & started to walk normally. Everyone thought that I wouldn’t be able to move but thankfully I was OK...for a short period of time. I was thinking that once the family left, we could start running again but after a few seconds of walking, the pain set in & the throbbing started. It freakin’ hurt. As I gimped my way back to the car with S’s assistance, we decided to stop by CVS on our way home so I could get some supplies.
Once I got home, Dan helped me take off my shoe so I could start the icing process. After my shoe came off I was in so much pain that I just started sobbing. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife; I never remember my other sprains in high school feeling like this one. The entire time I had to ice I was completely miserable. It was a very long afternoon & a very long night.
On Monday morning I used Dan’s crutches so I could get around at work that day. By the end of the day, my armpits & hands were killing me from using the crutches. I seriously think they hurt more than they helped. On Tuesday I was using 1 crutch instead of 2. On Wednesday I was crutchless & very gimpy. Thursday was better but still pretty gimpy & Friday was the best day of the week. I was finally able to put a shoe on instead of wearing flips. I’m hoping my sprain improves by Sunday so I can at least try to jog; I’m not asking to be at full running speed, just some kind of normal movement would be nice. This whole process is very frustrating but I guess I should be thankful because it could’ve been worse: (1) I could’ve broken my ankle & been out for several weeks, if not months; and (2) I could’ve sprained my ankle closer to the 5K race & would not have been able to participate with the girls (that would’ve really upset me). I just have to keep in mind what my Dad always tells me, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
A special thanks goes out to my girls at the office for helping me all week & making me take it easy, even when I didn't want to. I can be very stubborn sometimes, as S has found out. I love you girls!

I’ll keep you all updated on my healing progress & my attempts at getting back into my running program. :o)