Rest & Recovery:
It’s day 5 post-marathon and I’m happy to report that I’m no longer walking around like a zombie! After the race, my hips were SO tight. I could swing them back and forth, but had serious issues crossing them over in front of my body (left/right). This video that Mike posted in the race recap comments nicely sums up how things were on Monday:
A return visit to John at Oakland Massage Therapy on Tuesday helped with the hip mobility tremendously. As for my left foot, which has gone through bouts of (self-diagnosed) tendonitis along the top of the big toe since Healdsburg, it’s been getting a lot better too. I’m really itching to run again but want to give the tendonitis a whole week off before subjecting it to any impact. My first run will be on Sunday, when the Gypsy Runner and I are planning on going for a run on our favorite trail in Joaquin Miller Park. Hopefully, the ground won’t too slippery from the recent rains, but soft enough to cushion my tender foot. If it’s painful, I’ll back off and stick to cross-training for another week to give it some more rest. I really want it to be 100% better and now is the time for recovery.
Speaking of recovery, it’s also about time for me to address the ongoing issue with my right ankle. In April 2009, I had ankle surgery, where they installed some hardware (a metal plate and 8 screws) in my fibula to stablize/counter torn cartilage on the inside of my ankle. Up until this year, I really didn’t have any issues with it. It wasn’t until after the Oakland Half Marathon in March that I began to notice serious issues with my range of motion and stiffness. As it tended to get better after a short warm-up, to the point where I barely noticed it, I was not in any rush to see a doctor or physical therapist about it. Then, as I started training for the marathon, I started to feel pain in my right hip, especially after long runs. I could only surmise that the right hip pain was somehow attributed to me landing weird on my ankle. Again, I put off going to see someone about it because I felt like I should get through the marathon first, and then tackle the problem.
So, here we are, almost a week after the marathon. What steps am I taking to address my ankle? Here are my strategies (multi-pronged, even!):
- see my primary care physician (appointment scheduled for 12/18) and get a referral for physical therapy
- do more balancing, strengthening, and stretching exercises
- possibly go to an ART or neuromuscular therapist to break up what I think is the scar tissue in my ankle
Emotionally, I’ve been feeling awesome thanks to all of your lovely comments and emails following Sunday’s race. I’ve definitely been on a runner’s high of sorts and am feeling like I could do anything! (Well, I probably couldn’t run another marathon anytime soon, but just about anything else.) I continue to feel extremely grateful for a very awesome first marathon experience.
Randomness:
I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s next on the racing front. The only race I have on the schedule is the Oakland Half in March. I’ll probably run the Brazen New Year’s Eve 5K at the end of the month, and I’m definitely considering the second half of the San Francisco Half. Besides those races, I have no idea what else I want to do in 2013.
As far as marathons go, I think I’d like to do another one in 2013, but I’m not sure which one. (And yes, there will only be one because I do not want to train for more than one marathon in any calendar year.) Part of me wants to run CIM again, as a “do over” in better weather (hopefully). It is a pretty nice course and has the benefit of being semi-local. The other ones that have been tossed into the ring are the Marine Corps Marathon (where I grew up, my sister lives there, and I can officially challenge Oprah’s time) and the Jackson Hole Marathon (never been to Wyoming/Yellowstone and my friend KH just moved there). I am too scared of the elevation changes of the Oakland and San Francisco Marathons, or else those would be on the list too.
So, this has been a pretty random post, huh? 😉
Any suggestions on what I should do with my ankle?
What about marathon or race ideas?
Howdy! My name is Jen and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like to eat, run, and blog, but not usually at the same time.
Running Tangents 
I’ve been vaguely thinking the same kind of thing. Oakland Half and the SF 2nd Half. We’re both doing the Inside Trail Rodeo Beach 5 miler on 30th Dec if you fancy switching to that instead? And then the other ones I REALLY want to do are all in September – HMB, Tahoe and Petaluma. Three Halves in two weeks. Too much??
Haha, yes, I think 3 halves in 2 weeks is too much! Unfortunately, I signed up for the Lake Chabot NYE race right after I posted this. Have fun in Rodeo Beach though! I ran there in July and it was great (though challenging).
Just what I’m not ready for…challenging!! Oh well. Love the new header…fabulous photo!
Oh, you’ll be fine! Here’s my recap for your reference — I quickly looked over the course map and I think it’s the same route. Good luck!
Thanks re: header. 🙂
You must have done something pretty serious to that ankle to necessitate plates and screws! I use to get ankle injuries every now and then playing basketball but I would do my best to give them time to heal and as I got older I started doing range of motion exercises with a band, that is probably my best advice but your ankle should be checked, WTG on making an appointment.
I am thinking about doing the Rock N Roll San Fran in April, I have the Pasadena R’N’R in February, Ragnar in late April and then the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in June. The rest is up in the air, I have to decide if I want to shoot for NYC again or do another Marathon altogether…if I don’t do NYC then I want to do the R’N’R Los Angeles.
The hardware was actually optional — the doctor said it wasn’t necessary, but that I’d be prone to bad sprains if I didn’t get it done. And since I was already looking at 6 weeks of healing for my broken leg, and because I had really good insurance, I decided to go for the metal. Just went to a neuromuscular/ART therapist today who helped a lot. I will probably write a post about that soon.
You love R’n’R races, huh? I’ve never done one. I’ve heard lots of good things about them, but have not really had the desire to run one. I’ve already plugged this once, but you should TOTALLY run the Oakland Half in late March! We could hang out in IRL! Well, we should do that regardless, especially if you’re up in the Bay Area.
Congrats on your marathon! I’m fairly new to the blog. I stumbled upon it a couple months ago while googling something about shoes. I’ve enjoyed reading and figured it was time to stop lurking :).
I live in Alabama, but my husband and I are traveling to San Francisco in June for our anniversary and are planning to run the San Francisco half (1st half) while we’re there. It will be a first half marathon for both of us, which is probably a littlle nuts due to the difficulty of the course, but I think it would be a great experience on our trip. good luck as you plan out your race year!
Thanks, Lindsay! And thanks for taking the time to comment.
Yeah, I’ve heard rough, but very good things about the SF half. It’s a great way to see the city, that’s for sure! Good luck and maybe I’ll see you there. 🙂