No change

Three years.

That feels like a looooong time.

No change, but the calf tear from 2015 seems resolved.

I'm trying to decide if a long run's pleasure (at least two days worth, if you include all the relishing) outweighs a few days discomfort and disappointment.

J

Walking up and down stairs with a calf injury

Hey everyone, here's a quick guide for walking up steps with a calf injury that is working for me. Especially apply this for larger steps.

While going up stairs, lead with the non-injured leg. Bring up the injured leg level with the non-injured leg, without extending beyond that. Also, avoid toe lift-off - that slight shift puts instant strain on the calf.

While going down stairs, do the opposite: lead with the injured leg, bringing the non-injured leg level to it, without extending beyond that.

Hope this helps!

Barefoot excitement, my first segment

I am probably the last runner in the world to hear about Strava, but if I am not then you should definitely check it out. It is so motivating - I am particularly stoked by their segment feature, which allows you to pitch yourself against the local bests. Awesome.

I am simultaneously trying to make my feet hardier for further barefoot running - something which I am sure is only really achievable by doing exactly that - running barefoot. I probably went too fast to put down the segment time and have taken off some skin, but hey-ho.

One thing I will say if you are nutty like that - try to run on the road itself. I found there was less gravel and more comfortable that way.

Back!

14 km run today, with no hitches, and I think I am back!
I may always have a fragile left ankle, and I may have to think twice before participating in technical night trail races again, but this is very positive.
Pace, however, was kept slow, although this is partly because my cardio-vascular fitness capacity has dropped.
More soon.

Another "twist" in the tale

For the second time in 4 months, hope has irresistably been growing.
I realised that my footwear made a real difference to how much my ankle would ache or even hurt after a run. The light shoes did not seem to create a problem. Having an explanation for the December sequence of pain-free runs was a big breakthrough.
I have been since working over the last 10 days on a gradual recovery programme.
Only this afternoon 7km into my "long" run (12 km) with everything going swimmingly, I twisted my bad ankle, again.
A passer-by was able to lend me a phone to call in help from my wife.
I do not know what this means - maybe it will be ok to resume again after a proper lay-off period on the same principles I have been working on.
What concerns me the most is that I am just not able to stay sufficiently focussed for long enough to avoid every rock and root, and I simply do not find on-road very exciting any more, especially now speed workouts and races are not really on my roadmap.

ankle injury and weight of shoe

http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/shoes-and-gear/light-fast-free-2014-summer-trail-running-shoe-buyers-guide_103351

Excellent (though lightweight!) guide to some lightweight trail running shoes.

My next line of inquiry is do the heavier shoes hurt my ankle more? I had a lot of success taking my light-weight road shoes to Morocco in December. Things went badly when running with heavier normal running shoes later that month.

Injury comeback?

Coming back from injury is a very difficult task, and I suspect the longer the injury, the greater the difficulty in returning with suitable slowness. Ian Sharman has some good insights on the process on his blog, although his issue has been a lot shorter.

I face a secondary issue now to do with fitness. Today I ran this easy 9 km offroad having felt really significant improvement after a 4km + 5 km + self-imposed day off. I had intended to do 6 today but went too far one way in unknown territory. Definitely a bad move.

Still, it has been amazing to do any running at all, I am grateful and need much wisdom for the next steps.

UPDATE: Feels like I might be back at square one :(