should i ride with a strained ankle?

[young Ed]

I am an ex long distance runner. 6 marathons and countless half marathons and 10 milers. Plus all the training miles.

I am 55 now and have worn all types of trainers. Regardless of what you wear, if you run long distances over a long period of time, it will, without doubt cause problems with your leg joints, either hips, knees or ankles.

Now I ride a Kickbike and don't run anymore. I have found the Kickbike drops right in the middle of the two things I enjoy most, running and cycling, but without the battering the legs get when running. I get the workout I need, help save my legs and cover greater distances.

I wish I had known about Kickbikes years ago.

I found the best medicine for strains and sprains is rest. Twice as much rest as you think you need.



Steve

i too am longer distance running wise and will go for an hour or two with no real breaks and happily cover 6 or 7km in an hour
what sort of distance so you cover in one day on a kick bike? is it not hard to ride on sand like that? and where was above photo taken?

Aha, I just had a look at your profile. It says you are just 15. When facts chan
I run 5K
Walk usually about 8-12 miles when walking with the local group.
Cycle usually about 30-40 miles over the weekend
You will find that all those activities at those levels are usually considered "leisure" or moderate and not challenging. They are very similar in effort needed.

oh yeah forgot to say that i'm 15 and probably still growing. though i do hope my feet and legs don't grow anymore i really have to squeeze and end up kicking and scuffing the door to get in and out of the back of cars and i am feet size 12!
when i have the time and effort i will do a 30 miler but it's not all too often but i am trying to increase my distance now and am planning a little ride to the isle of sheppy some point when i can ride without gloves and running is usually a few miles at a time
Cheers Ed

 

[summerdays]

Do you have hypermobile joints? That could be the cause of you often twisting your ankles for example. As a kid I often seemed to do it, and people just used to say I was bendy or double jointed. I seem to be less flexible now, and can't bend my thumb round to touch my wrist any more, though other joints still over extend.

I would get advice from the doctor as I suspect it has probably changed since I was a kid. I mostly carried on with things.

 

[young Ed]

Do you have hypermobile joints? That could be the cause of you often twisting your ankles for example. As a kid I often seemed to do it, and people just used to say I was bendy or double jointed. I seem to be less flexible now, and can't bend my thumb round to touch my wrist any more, though other joints still over extend.

I would get advice from the doctor as I suspect it has probably changed since I was a kid. I mostly carried on with things.

could well be my thumbs aren't unusual but i can just about stick both legs behind my head and i can dislocate my shoulders when and as i want! and i get back pain fairly frequently but i just put that down to a bad sleeping position
Cheers Ed

 

[ColinJ]

i too am longer distance running wise and will go for an hour or two with no real breaks and happily cover 6 or 7km in an hour

Don't you mean miles? There is a 6.5 km (4 mile) loop that I do 2 or 3 times a week here which involves a 185 m (600 ft) ascent/descent and I average 7 km/hr (just over 4 mph) walking on that. You must be running faster than I walk!

 

[Julia9054]

It's not an unusual problem for lads your age to have due to growing so fast. My 15 year old had grown about 10inches in the last year and complains of achey knees. I took him to the doctor who said it was instability due to growing so fast. He recommended more exercise!

 

[steveindenmark]

The photo was taken on the island of Romo, West Denmark. It is very popular with wind and kite surfers. The sand is very hard but is better suited to the MTB tyres on my other Kickbike, but I managed.

How far can you go on a Kickbike in a day depends on how fit you are.

A group of Kickbikers did the entire Tour de France route this year. They were a day ahead of the tour every day.

Much more fun than running and not as hard on the legs.



Steve

 

[summerdays]

Wiki link to some more information ... I've never been assessed using that Brighton score and I wouldn't be able to do all those things now bot as a kid I would probably been able to do most of them, even now I could score 4. And the picture at the top of the page is what my daughter can do with her fingers, whereas mine the tops of my fingers don't touch when I put my hands together.

 

[young Ed]

Don't you mean miles? There is a 6.5 km (4 mile) loop that I do 2 or 3 times a week here which involves a 185 m (600 ft) ascent/descent and I average 7 km/hr (just over 4 mph) walking on that. You must be running faster than I walk!

sorry it's more walking but with having both feet off the ground at once so technically running and yes i do mean km!
Cheers Ed

 

[midliferider]

Young Ed,
When facts change opinions has to be reconsidered.
We now know that you are still a child,
You have hypermobile/ hyperextendible joints.
You are very tall and has long feet.
You need to see, as a minimum, your GP and perhaps a paediatrician depending on the experience/ expertise/confidence of your own GP.

 

[young Ed]

Wiki link to some more information ... I've never been assessed using that Brighton score and I wouldn't be able to do all those things now bot as a kid I would probably been able to do most of them, even now I could score 4. And the picture at the top of the page is what my daughter can do with her fingers, whereas mine the tops of my fingers don't touch when I put my hands together.

i got nothing on the beighton list!
Cheers Ed

 

[ColinJ]

sorry it's more walking but with having both feet off the ground at once so technically running and yes i do mean km!
Cheers Ed

Jogging!

It might be better for you to just do what I am doing - walk briskly? You can get your heart rate up without giving your body such a battering.

 

[young Ed]

Young Ed,
When facts change opinions has to be reconsidered.
We now know that you are still a child,
You have hypermobile/ hyperextendible joints.
You are very tall and has long feet.
You need to see, as a minimum, your GP and perhaps a paediatrician depending on the experience/ expertise/confidence of your own GP.

will consider turning to the gp but even if they did diagnose me with it they couldn't do anything
Cheers Ed

 

[young Ed]

Jogging!

It might be better for you to just do what I am doing - walk briskly? You can get your heart rate up without giving your body such a battering.

sorry the day i am quoting on those figures are from about a year ago or at lest 9 or 10 months and i have improved since then! and i forget if i was metric or imperial that day! so could have been 6km or could have been 7miles
Cheers Ed

 

[young Ed]

The photo was taken on the island of Romo, West Denmark. It is very popular with wind and kite surfers. The sand is very hard but is better suited to the MTB tyres on my other Kickbike, but I managed.

How far can you go on a Kickbike in a day depends on how fit you are.

A group of Kickbikers did the entire Tour de France route this year. They were a day ahead of the tour every day.

Much more fun than running and not as hard on the legs.



Steve

all that ice is not on your handle bars and backpack is it?
Cheers Ed

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

will consider turning to the gp but even if they did diagnose me with it they couldn't do anything
Cheers Ed

I have hypermobility and it can cause all sorts of issues - I know I have been there repeatedly and there is something your GP can do about it - refer you to a podiatrist. You may well find that you are walking on the wrong part of your feet, or in my case, I can walk on any side or part of the sole of my foot and my ligaments and tendons don 't hold my lower leg bones where they are meant to be - the result is that I sprain my ankles a lot and have done just about everything possible to them as a teenager - including a ruptured achilies tendon, numerous sprained & torn ligaments & tendons and several broken bones, all from minor trips/slips or just the 'ankle going over'. Custom orthopaedic innersoles have made a considerable difference to my life and now I probably only suffer a sprained ankle every 2-3 months instead of 2-3 weeks previously and if I wear the high ankle boots I'm meant to with the inner soles, I only have problems once or twice a year.

As for cycling with a sprained ankle - you have to be careful. If it is hurting and you carry on, you will cause other problems - I know I tried carrying on with my JOGLE back in September after falling and spraining my ankle the first night out from John O'Groats. I carried on cycling for 7 days until the pain became too much and I was physically unable to ride any further. That injury is still causing me problems and twinges even now, in January.