Hello, hello!

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time now so let’s just get down to it!

I really hope that there is someone out there who is googling:

Torn posterior tibial tendon healing time

Torn posterior tibial tendon will I ever run again

Torn posterior tibial tendon should I get surgery

Because those are all the things I was researching like crazy back when I ruptured my posterior tibial tendon 4.5 years ago. I think that’s how long its been anyway and it has FOR SURE been a long journey. My ankle is not what it was before my injury and I don’t think it ever will be, BUT it’s pretty darn good and still getting better and I (think) am happy I didn’t get surgery.

The backstory is that I ruptured my tendon bad enough that my doctor’s first reaction was to recommend surgery. I don’t know what the percentage was that it was torn, but bad enough for surgery. But then he gave me the option of not having surgery and just seeing if it would heal up on it’s own so I opted to not have surgery.

I spent 12 weeks in a boot and after that it still hurt to stand, walk or do anything. I did yoga, swam, rode the bike and started doing more high intensity interval training. If I ever did too much my ankle would let me know. Even balancing on 1 foot hurt really bad. This was the norm for a long time.

About 2 years after the injury I was able to start slowly running again. So yes, I’ve just basically said my recovery time was 2 years. I could run 1-2 miles without pain. It’s not the kind of pain you want to push through because my experience has been that once that area is angry it will stay angry for a loooong time. So to be clear, I use the term “recovered” very loosely as I went from being able to run 26.2 miles to being able to run 1-2 miles max. So if you want to recover in less than 4 years surgery might be the way to go.

3 years after the injury (last summer) I got my mileage up to 3 miles and I ran two 5K trail races. I was honestly 100% happy being able to run 3 miles. I think being able to run 3 miles is a wonderful thing.

But then this last fall (October 2016) I decided I wanted to train for a half marathon. I kept really quiet about this training and didn’t really tell anyone because I was worried that 1) my ankle would start to hurt and I would have to quit, or 2) People would tell me not to run because of my ankle.

So, I kept my training in the closet and ran all winter. We got a lot of snow this winter and I did all but 3 training runs outside in the cold, snow, rain, wind etc. It was amazing. I loved getting up early and doing tempo runs in the snow or speed workouts on the track in 15 degrees when it was still dark outside. Ok, maybe love is too strong of a word but looking back on my winter training I feel super proud of myself for going through it and it was a really good boost to my self-esteem.

I ran the half Marathon in Moab back in March, 2017. It went well! My ankle was FINE! Ok, I say fine, but what I really mean is that the injured part of my ankle was fine but a different part of my ankle totally felt like garbage and hurt the entire time. I just didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to have anyone telling me I shouldn’t/couldn’t do it (I am only moderatl. So I did it and then I went to a Dr and then I rested for a few weeks, I had to start wearing orthotics and now I’m fine!

Somewhere in the weeks after that 1/2 marathon I decided I was up for a 50K trail race (that’s 31 miles). I obviously think with my heart because I don’t think your brain ever thinks running far a logical idea. But, I made up my mind and the plan is in motion now. I have gotten smarter about my running and I hired a coach to design a training plan for me. It’s a good plan. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend working with a coach, no matter what your ability is. When it comes to running I know just enough to be dangerous. I’m the kind of person who will pull a training plan out of a book or off the internet and then follow it to a T even if it kills me. So yeah, I recommend a coach.

I am currently 1/4 of the way through my training and it’s going great. I LOVE running on the trails. I’m lucky in that I can drive less than 8 minutes from my house and be at an awesome trail head with several different trail options. I’ve been able to trail run before work and it was scary at first! I’ll have to do another post with all the gear I’ve been acquiring!

So there you go, recovery time for a ruptured posterior tibial tendon is about 4.5 years, haha!

If you want to follow my training and see snippets of my runs you can follow me on instagram @ laura_bagora

And now for a recipe. I’m actually just going to share the link for this recipe because it is out of this world good.

I pinned a recipe for something called “Bitchin Sauce” several years ago. I saw that the real Bitchin Sauce at Whole Foods a couple weeks ago and bought all 3 flavors (original, chipotle and basil) and they are all SO GOOD!! So then I finally made the recipe and it really does taste every bit as good as the stuff in the store.

So for real, try this recipe, it’s good on everything. I use it as a salad dressing or as a vegetable dip but I could also eat it with a spoon so you know…it’s good.

The only substitution I made was that I used Olive Oil instead of Grapeseed Oil but it still turned out delish.

http://www.thefauxmartha.com/2012/01/23/bitchin-sauce/