My ankle had been doing better...until yesterday. I'm not sure if it was a bit of jogging outside, a big-gear bike ride, or an aqua jog, but something I did in the past few days made my ankle sore once again. The big-gear ride was a test to see if I can ride long this weekend. My ankle failed the test.
Things that help:
(1) Getting Retuled -- Todd raised my seat, installed wedges to rotate my feet thereby more evening distributing my pedaling load laterally across my foot, moved my cleats to the lateral outside of my shoes (again, more evenly distributing my pedalling load), and moved my aerobars up and toward me. I've extremely comfortable and think the new shoe/cleat/seat height modifications will help me ride a bit while I recover.
(2) Cork heel risers in my shoes seemed to reduce my pain almost immediately.
(3) I wear an ankle brace when I'm walking around a lot. The brace prevents me from twisting my foot, which is good because my ankle is most painful when I twist while under load.
(4) The Stick massage -- When I first had Stacey roll this thing over my calf, it was so painful she could barely press down. Now she can press as hard as she's able and I'm fine.
Anyhow, I'm off to a sports med doc the week after this coming one. Hopefully he tells me more than rest, ice, etc.
In the meantime, I've gained almost 10 pounds. My power:HR ratio is an all time low. I've been reduced to aqua-jogging. Aqua-jogging! Oh well, my fitness will recovery (however, the dignity I've lost from aqua-jogging may be gone forever). Still, so long as I recovery by February I should be good for IMCdA.
Instead of training myself, I now train my new puppy, Ozzy:
"Getting Retuled" is way better than "getting FISTED". Worst time ever.
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