Forced Rest Days

I hate taking rest days in general. I always feel so antsy and like I should be doing something active. I usually take one rest day each week, on Monday. Sometimes though you have to take more rest days than planned. Maybe you are busy, had an unexpected obligation, bad weather out, etc. But the worst reason to take a forced rest day is injury.

Queue my swollen ankle, which has been painful and stiff since I stopped the treadmill after my 15 mile run on Sunday. I tried to brush it off as general soreness from running for 3 hours. I was so excited about my great run that I refused to believe I had hurt myself in the process.

Then this morning I woke up and swung my feet over the side of the bed. My right ankle was mysteriously puffy under the ankle bone. I think icing and resting has decreased the pain and swelling some, but that could just be wishful thinking.

Of course I spent the better part of the day googling "sprained ankle," "broken ankle," and "swollen ankle after running" to see if I could diagnose myself. My best guess at this point is a sprain. I just got the green light from my sports medicine doc after my hamstring follow-up, I have too much pride to go back for a new injury this soon.

So, I will wait it out. Pray the pain and swelling goes away and I am back to running soon. I hope my ankle understands that I have a marathon in 7 1/2 weeks and this is pretty bad timing.