Peroneal injuries and returning to running

I've had about a dozen blogs in my lifetime, so there is no reason for a fancy first post.  Here's a little bit of background to get you started:
About 4 weeks ago, I was about 3 miles into what was going to be a 5-6 mile run when I started experiencing some left ankle pain.  I slowed a bit, but after a few minutes it was clearly only getting worse.  I cut my route short and was completely limping by the time I got home.  After a week of rest my ankle was still swollen so I found a foot specialist who diagnosed one of the most acute cases of peroneal tendonitis (or tendonosis) that he's seen.  I've been in a walking cast ever since.  Last Friday when I went for my follow-up (with my left shoe in tow, fully expecting him to say that I could resume all normal activity) I was completely disheartened when he said 3 more weeks of the boot were in order to insure the injury heals completely.  He did say if I was pain free, I could start taking "days off" of the boot when I am expecting minimal activity.  For me, this means days off, as I tend to be pretty active at work.

Fast forward to this weekend.  I've been pretty medicated for the past week because I ALSO got my wisdom teeth out last Friday (the past few weeks have pretty much consisted of my body falling apart), so it's been hard to tell if I'm actually pain free.  After a few days with no pain-killers, my ankle was indeed pain free so I took this opportunity to be boot free for a day.  I also went to get my stride assessed at a local running store because I'm pretty sure my injury was exacerbated by wearing the wrong shoes.  I was completely mind-blown when I watched the video of my stride!  No wonder I was injured.  I totally over-pronate when I run.

This image (not mine) is of the right foot, but both of my feet
looked like the image to the far right when I was running! 

Over-pronation can lead to peroneal issues because the peroneals (which run along the outside of the ankle, into the base of the foot) act in "over drive" to try to prevent the foot from over-pronating.  Under-pronation (or supination) can also lead to problems with the peroneals because rolling the ankles outward can cause stress on these tendons (I'm not a doctor, but this is what I was told and it makes sense).


Anyway, it is not at all surprising that I have problems in this arena -- I have really flexible ankles and I ran into similar issues with dance -- there are plenty of pictures of me like this, with sickled feet which I had to work pretty hard to correct.

See how bendy (and unsupportive and
ugly) my ankles/feet are? I can't even
believe I posted this.  Photo credit to
Robert Salas.

As it turns out, even though I was wearing a "support shoe," it wasn't providing enough stability for my needs.  I also seem to have gone up a shoe size? Either way, I walked out of the store with a new pair of Brooks Ravenna 6 road running shoes.  My gait with these shoes on was remarkably different, much more neutral and it felt much easier to run.

Plus, they're really pretty.

I decided that since I had new supportive shoes that this was the ideal situation to try to return to running.  Remember when I said I was supposed to be in a walking cast except for minimal activity?  I'm pretty sure he didn't mean "try to run after 4 weeks off" when he said that.  Nonetheless, I have been itching to hit the road again and I've lost so much training time for my June 21 half marathon that I had to get out there and try to do a short work out. I took off for a super short (like, one mile) run during which I alternated walking for 3 minutes/running for 3 minutes (which, by the way, made for my slowest logged mile ever)  I would be lying if I said it was completely pain-free, but the pain was mild and I came home and iced for 20 minutes and now I'm feeling alright.

It may not have been the best idea to try so soon, but I'm afraid of how undertrained I might be for this race (I know, I should be more afraid of perpetuating a pretty bad injury, but that's not how this perfectionists brain works) and also, I just really miss running.  It felt so good to even put on a pair of running pants and a sports bra and get out there again. I don't plan on trying to run again for another few days, but if I stay pain free I plan to get out there again before my next follow-up with the MD.  As for now, I'm planning on finishing watching the A's lose this game and drowning my sorrows of this game, and the Warriors loss, in a mug of red wine and a lace knitting project.  Let's all take a moment to send some good juju to Bay Area sports teams this week.