This week was 42 miles of running, 2000 yards of swimming and 27 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.
Highs and lows this week. My energy levels continued to rise all week, confirming that the folate deficiency was a large factor in my struggles. By the weekend, I felt like the old me, energy-wise: the person who never struggled with the distance of a run; only with the pace of it.
My ankle/hamstring issues continued to frustrate me, though. I showed up for the Tuesday morning track workout, but was running very unevenly and my hamstring felt a bit nervy, so I decided to skip the workout.
Wednesday I felt a bit more even, so I decided to play with some very gentle 200m repeats on the track. Just....pick up the pace a little bit for 200m while trying to stay even, then jog for 200m. Not really a workout - just testing stuff out. Stuff felt OK. And then my right ankle (which had been feeling great) decided to seize up on me again. Really?
So shut stuff back down and headed back in for PT (I was doing PT every other week, but decided my frustration justified an additional appointment). After talking though stuff, we tried a new taping technique. A strip of leukotape (which is very sticky and does not stretch) was applied to the medial malleolus of my right ankle (i.e. the inside bump). The tape was then wrapped up and around the back to outside of my calf, diagonally.
The point of the taping job was to ensure that the medial malleolus (which is the bottom end of my tibia) would get gently tugged backwards every time I flexed the foot. This in turn would change the way my ankle flexed as I walked and ran.
And...even just walking I could feel improvement. Followed by confidence renewing runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including a very careful hill workout on Saturday that was more about testing stuff then building fitness. The right ankle felt better, my gait felt smoother and even, and the left hamstring nerviness dissipated, with a weird "catching" sensation in that hip easing.
This looks now like a repeat of a previous issue that I've had - loose ligaments in my bad right ankle mean that bones slip ever so slightly out of position, which in turn means that my right ankle doesn't flex quite right, which results in weird compensation injuries all over the place, including left hip. The tape is pulling the bottom of my tibia back into position and restoring the proper movement of the ankle.
In the past, I've had injections of PRP and prolotherapy in that ankle to tighten stuff up, with the understanding that the shots are a temporary solution - eventually the ankle loosens up again and I need to get it retightened. (BTW, surgery on damaged ankle ligaments is a very unappealing option - it runs the risk of making the ankle worse, not better).
So perhaps it's time to get the ankle cinched back up again. The only odd thing is that I had my ankle checked back in March by the orthopedist/prolo doctor (when I had my SI joint injected again), and at that time it was fine. It's very odd that it would worsen so quickly. But on the other hand, perhaps the folate deficiency accelerated the decline. I have an appointment with the orthopedist/PRP/Prolo doctor on Monday, so we'll see what he thinks.
Dailies
Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: 6 miles (warmed up for track workout but decided to skip it), 5 "miles" of pool-running, and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night.
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Wednesday: 8 miles with a very relaxed 10x200m with 200m recovery (the "ons" were between 50 and 55 seconds), followed with 3 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night.
Thursday: 6.5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; streaming yoga and foam rolling at night.
Friday: 8 miles easy (9:31) and 800 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 10 miles, including 8 modified Iwo Jima hill repeats - ran 2:11-2:18 up to the top (usually closer to 2:00) followed by 90 seconds jog, a very short 15 second stride, and 90 seconds jog to the bottom. Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, and 1200 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.
Sunday: 10 miles easy (9:21) and then streaming yoga. Doubled back with 6.5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.
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