Crankles

Physical therapy has been beneficial in treating my knees, but sadly my ankles are now starting to go . . .especially the right one. They've been cracking here and there in an annoying but not debilitating way for the last week or so. At the start of last weeks Crossroads run, both were a little creakier than usual and after a few strides, the right one gave out. I thought it had something to do with the uneven sidewalk and the bit of ice on the roads and my general clumsiness since after I warmed up both felt OK for the 6.4 mile trip out to Cleveland Circle and back. However, Friday I awoke to a right stiff ankle that I nicknamed my "crankle" (far better to have crankles than cankles). I limped a bit throughout the day but by evening it seemed OK again. When I got up for Saturdays long run it was little stiff but no limping. Despite the lack of limp I decided not to make the trek to Lexington and do my long run from home later in the day where I could always call Dave to come get me if there were any major twangs. Thankfully I didn't need a ride, but unfortunately I turned around after only 3.15 of my 7.5 mile out and back and hit only 6.3 instead of the 15 miles planned.

Without a long run in for the weekend, I tackled the Arc Trainer for 2 hrs on Sunday. That is a wretched machine when you have to be on it for that long. For 15 miles I should have put in 2-1/2 hours but I couldn't bear it. I entertained myself watching the Olympics. . but biathlon certainly isn't the most riveting TV.

Yesterday I seemed to be a bit better and I thought perhaps I might make speedwork tonight. I emailed my RSVP this morning to get on the security checklist as I seemed pain free walking around the office. However, a few hops at on the offending crankle at the end of the day made me realize running tonight was not the brightest idea and I decided to go home. Otherwise I would be warming up with the team now getting ready for 8-10 hellish 800 meter repeats. As nasty as that workout sounds I wish I was able to do it.

Hopefully with this rest and some more ice, I'll be back in action for this weekend's 18-20 miler and then back in action at the oval next week.

Thanks to this week's donors: S&F Concrete, The Crowell Family, and Paul Elson. Fundraising total now at $4,061. On the plus side of having crankles, I was able to stuff more envelopes with fundraising letters yesterday, so I hope the donation pace will pick back up in the coming weeks with my running pace.