Running Shorts in my Laundry - Part 2

*The Old and The New (running shorts buried underneath)*

Months of hardly running meant my bi-weekly laundry most likely did not include running shorts. However in the last week of 2011 and first week of 2012, I counted four running shorts in the laundry basket. Whoa! That could only mean I was pounding the pavement again though few and far between in a two week period. From zero to four runs in two weeks is an accomplishment for me nowadays and I’ll take it. At least it breaks the sometime monotony of indoor cycling (that didn’t sound quite right, but WTH).

 So how has running been like lately. Well, to give the ankle tendons a break on the road, I keep the jogging part to four minutes and walk for one minute. That is nothing new of course except nowadays, I keep the total minutes to about 50. Anything more than that and my form deteriorates. I try to use my quads more to absorb the shock but those muscles tire more easily (believe me, it's not an efficient way to run but it protects my ankles to a certain extent) than when I run in my normal stride in which I use the lower leg muscles more. I’ve also tried experimenting by skipping some of the walk breaks. Also in the past, I would stretch my hamstrings and calf muscles before and after running. This time I just stretch the hamstrings after running. I’ve always known that you are not supposed to stretch an injured muscle or joint but out of habit, I kept doing it until two weeks ago when I decided that it was time to try something else. The wobble board doesn’t work well for me either because the movement irritates the fragile posterior tibialis tendon. So far, not stretching before the run has worked except I feel very stiff at the start and it’s hard to get going. Before my ailments started I used to do plyometrics to get a bounce on my stride at the start of a run. I can’t do that anymore.

On my run last Sunday morning, I passed by my former training partner’s house and saw her on her way to her first hash run. We exchanged pleasantries and she asked how I was doing with my injuries. I told her what has been going on and she said “that’s the Noel I know”. I think she meant that I was hard headed, which I took as a compliment. Oh by the way, it used to take me about 20 minutes to run to her house but now it takes me 25. Did it matter? Not really. That day I made another contribution to my laundry basket in the form of running shorts, which is more than I can ask for. It was a joy to be running outdoors again and absorb some vitamin D from the sun.

Speaking of laundry, I finally replaced my mid 1980’s era laundry basket. I can’t believe that darn thing lasted about 25 years! If only there was a way to replace ankle tendons…

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Running Shorts In My Laundry

I had been biding my time before venturing to run again. I figured that each day that I would be able to hold myself back from running, would be another day of healing. So what about running again? After three weeks or so of resisting the urge to do so, I tried running a couple of times on the treadmill the other week at a very, very slow pace. The first time, I did a 4 minute run then a 1 minute walk for a whole hour. The second time, I was able to do a slow jog for 40 continuous minutes. Three weeks of rest didn’t do much good for the developing PTTD on the left ankle.  However, as usual I had good days and bad days. The following week, I did a couple of jog/walk workouts for an hour each time. Then on Monday morning I was able to jog for an hour and five minutes non-stop on the treadmill without too much strain on the ankle tendons. I may never be able to run hard again or for extended distances but for now, some running shorts have been finding their way to the laundry basket again.

To try to strengthen the muscles around the ankles, I’ve been doing toe contractions where you scrunch your toes as if to pick up objects from the ground. Although it helps a little, it hasn’t been enough so I had to find other strengthening workouts. I had been looking for Thera-bands which can be used to rehabilitate my ankle tendons, but couldn’t find any in drugstores. I found something similar and cheaper at Walmart with the Gold’s Gym brand name (Thera-band is a brand name by itself). With these wide rubber bands, I could do ankle flexions, extensions, and eversions with resistance, which I hope would strengthen the muscles surrounding the ankles. How much it helps remains to be seen. The left ankle has more potential to be rehabilitated because the posterior tibialis tendon has not ruptured, but the there isn’t much I can do with the right side since it ruptured a couple of years back.

While looking for Thera-bands, I saw that drug stores are now selling pulse oximeters for home use which costs about $50.00 (Pulse oximeters measure the level of oxygen in the blood).This was a surprise because in the past, only healthcare professionals can buy these and you probably would have needed a prescription from the doctor. Anyhow, I If I looked, I would probably have found a cheaper version of pulse oximeters at Walmart too.

                So there it is. I’ve taken the first tentative steps in my attempt to return to running or jogging. My muscles seem to have forgotten how to do it because they get sore despite the slowness and short distances. Nevertheless, it’s better than having to ride the stationary bike all the time and I get to wear running shorts again instead of just cycling shorts. If my laundry basket could talk, it would probably ask – “where have you guys been?”

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