Eh…nothing.  My legs didn’t atrophy nor did I gain weight, I had no inclination to faint in the 79 degree temp on this morning’s 5-miler and my pace was exactly where I left it, requiring me to purposely slow down a few times for prudence.  All in all, I’d say I’m well rested and that tapering will never again freak me out – or way less, anyway.  It was a great week off!

Ankle Saga Continues
When I walked home from the hospital, it was creakier than usual, thanks to having raced a 5K only to be stuck in bed the next 30 hours.  So I went on ibuprofen for a few days to get a solid anti-inflammatory punch and when the weekend came, I went off it so I could see how it felt, undrugged.

Alas, once off Vitamin I, it didn’t hurt per se,  but it was still there in the background, a shadow when I descend stairs or step a certain way.  As usual, there was no visible swelling and I couldn’t even press an area to make it hurt, but just knowing it hadn’t gone despite the week off was a bummer.

So yesterday morning, I started googling on how to deal with it, wondering if I should get it looked at.  In my search, I came upon this collection of posts from an Ultra runners site that, while I’m not suffering from an achilles problem, has some good stuff in there for tendon recovery.

One happy eye-opener on that page was the Nirschl Pain Phase Scale of Athletic Overuse Injuries (here’s more info on it).  I’d say my ankle is Phase 2 which isn’t even at “take rest days” intensity, so unless it gets worse, there’s no reason to get it looked at – I’ll live with it the way many runners live with a constant niggle.  I’m sure I have tons of company on that score.

Still, I want it gone, not just managed.  The supplements in those posts looked interesting (L-lysine and glycine) so that’s something to consider, though I’m at my limit of pill-popping between glucosamine, msm, a calcium chew and now a multivitamin (I stopped taking separate iron, btw, the multi is enough).

My other thought was that maybe I could just take ibuprofen as needed, since it works really well for me and it’s not like I’d use it regularly, but I have that guilt about it, which I think I don’t need to have – it’s not crack, for god’s sake!  Still, in looking for alternatives, I started investigating ibuprofen cream, which ultimately landed me on Arnica gel.

Arnica gel is natural, it comes from the arnica flower, and has been used for hundreds of years in Europe and by tribal Indians.  It’s great for bruising – makes them go away sooner (I never heard of anything that can do that) but what got my attention was the anti-inflammatory properties – better than ibuprofen cream and with less adverse events.

My friend Lara uses it but I thought it was just for pain, not that it actually helped with inflammation and healing.  So when I read it genuinely helps bursitis and tendon issues…Jackpot!  After scouring tons of glowing user reviews at Vitacost, Drugstore.com and Amazon, I flew to Whole Foods to buy a tube.

I started on it yesterday morning (you use it 3 times/day) and knock me down, my ankle feels fab!  I felt just a tiny twinge upon waking today, so I have major hopes for this and will keep you posted as I return to mileage. The fact that it’s available in gel form is excellent – it dries super quick, isn’t sticky and no pills to swallow, yay!

Running Times Fabulosity
I’ve already posted this on Facebook, but after those months defending my position on moving to shorter races vs marathons, there was an article in Running Times this month that encapsulated my thoughts perfectly.  If you don’t get the magazine (I just subscribed, it’s only $10!) you can read the article here.

There’s also a good article on running form in the same issue.  Be aware this is a preview website that lets you view these, so if you “use up” your preview, just try again later.  Otherwise, the articles should end up on the Running Times site in a months time.

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