• Avoiding •
[2 MIN READ]
Minimizing distraction would be a good way to avoid spraining an ankle. I could read a book and walk home from elementary school as a kid, but using a smartphone and running is not the same thing. Spraining an ankle off the roadbed where there was no curb was my consequence in late August. So, why do I keep doing it? Inattentive ADHD is one reason: I’m easily distractible.
Read more: The Prequel
Is there a way to strength my ankles for when I’m not distracted? Ankle spraining that way has happened plenty of times. Rocks, sticks, and uneven surfaces are all things. Doing calf raises is one recommended exercise that’s in top web search results. That’s what JH recommended when I finished that August run. I had reported about my sprain and commented about having weak ankles when I met the buds winding down from their Shawmont 14 effort. When I responded by complaining about the difficulty of me dedicating time to prehabilitation, he suggested doing them while I brush my teeth in the morning (Physiopedia). But that doesn’t work because that’s already when I do my balance exercises. He didn’t go on to suggest I do them when I brush my teeth in the evening, but I would have said, anyway, that’s when I lie and read the Washington Post on my phone. I’m easily distractible.
One exercise that I’d been pondering is using a resistance band around my feet to do sidestepping. That’s an exercise that my physical therapist had me working on in addition to calf raises. This sprain got me thinking harder about how to incorporate sidestepping into my daily routine. Here’s the solution I conceived. I started doing resistance-band sidestepping while preparing my breakfast in the kitchen. I leave the band on my chair to remind me to do it every day. It worked for one day. But since that was only yesterday as of this writing, that’s one more, uh, step in the right direction.
The next step will be using my phone less while running. It might mean that I walk more, but I gotta protect this ankle. Compliment me, please, when you see me doing better, even if it means waiting a few more seconds for me to catch up before you do it.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe) “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT ¶Text by Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-published: Facebook Shawmont Running Club, Shawmont Running Club website, Ruminations by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Rumination with added caption
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