Oops I did it again (Update 2)

Initial Challenge; Update 1 (three weeks); Update 2 (seven weeks); Final Update (fifteen weeks)

Seven weeks into the protocol, I can say with confidence that my ankle is mostly functional! There is still some visible swelling, but no one wants to look at my ankles anyway, so I don’t care!

Last week I took Daughters 1 and 2 on the Junior Wolf Run, a boot-camp inspired obstacle course that involves running, jumping, climbing and a lot of mud and trees. My ankle was fine. I also ran a 5K at a 5:28 pace – I felt that the next day, but basically, everything seems to be heading in the right direction.

The only problems I still see are that my right ankle gets stiff after a couple of hours sitting still – which is manageable but shows that there is still something not quite right – and running faster that about 6:45 pace causes pain and stiffness the next day.

In terms of protocol compliance:

Inflammation: I continue to eat clean-ish, low carb and gluten-free but not strictly Paleo. I am also ingesting Vitamin E, Ginger and Turmeric consistently. I did experiment with a Vitamin E oil for application on the skin. Messy and not realistic. I did not notice any benefit from it and abandoned it after a couple of weeks.

Mobility Routine: This was a complete fail. I never did it seriously so it does not contribute in any way to my outcomes.

Achilles Running Socks: These things are great. I don’t have any desire to switch back to ordinary running socks but will have to test a couple of 7:30 pace runs with ordinary socks to validate their effectiveness.

Slant Board 3×10 mins: Probably doing this 4 days per week consistently. I do feel the stretch, although I still have not gone to 30° angle; probably time to start that now.

Ankle Splint at night: I have used this consistently, only missing three nights when travelling. The velcro tabs are starting to get a bit ratty, and it is time to ween off, probably only using it on nights when I have done a run during the day.

The point of the ankle splint is to keep my foot in dorsiflexion through the night and keep the Achilles stretched. While it works great and eliminates morning stiffness in my ankle, I have noticed a tendency for my foot to twist clockwise at night, causing mild soreness on the inside of my knee. Instead of sleeping on my back, I am tending now to sleep more on my side to avoid this. No particular consequence to the quality of my sleep, but a side-effect of the protocol and interesting as these things always need a “whole system” approach.

I experimented also with Bulgarian Split Squats once per week for 5 weeks. That was doable but I am not sure it really added any significant benefits.

In summary then, the measures that I believe were effective and necessary are the ankle splint, the running socks and probably the slant-board (although that is probably interchangeable with a regular mobility drill.)

I expect one final update in another six or eight weeks and case closed.