Road Cycling - Sprained ankle from nowhere?

It must be the beginning of the season as this looks to be the third "my feet hurt" thread today.

Anyway, I went to bed Thursday night and woke up with an outside sprained ankle (right foot) for no reason what so ever. Throughout the day the sprain got progressively worse despite having an office job, now today, Saturday, it is stiff and sore as though I had a major sprain, but no swelling at all. I can barely walk.

My Thursday ride was nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing I could think of is that I moved my seat forward about 2cm before the 20 mile fast paced ride. This was the hardest i rode this season on the new rig and new shoes.

Anyone ever experience this? Any ideas of adjustment I can make to insure it does not happen again. I know my info is vague, but I just can't understand how this happened. The two things I came up with is a cleat adjustment (might be too far forward, but I have 200 miles of comfortable riding in the current position) or a shoe problem.

I've sprained and broken this ankle several times in the past but not had any problems for years. I've kept it wrapped, elevated, and even soaked it in the jacuzzi for an hour. All of which seemed to make things worse, why i don't know.

I asked my boss (once an athlete) and he just laughed and said thats what happens when you get old (I'm 38).

Thanks for taking the time to read this and trying to help.

ehenz

It must be the beginning of the season as this looks to be the third "my feet hurt" thread today.

Anyway, I went to bed Thursday night and woke up with an outside sprained ankle (right foot) for no reason what so ever. Throughout the day the sprain got progressively worse despite having an office job, now today, Saturday, it is stiff and sore as though I had a major sprain, but no swelling at all. I can barely walk.

My Thursday ride was nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing I could think of is that I moved my seat forward about 2cm before the 20 mile fast paced ride. This was the hardest i rode this season on the new rig and new shoes.

Anyone ever experience this? Any ideas of adjustment I can make to insure it does not happen again. I know my info is vague, but I just can't understand how this happened. The two things I came up with is a cleat adjustment (might be too far forward, but I have 200 miles of comfortable riding in the current position) or a shoe problem.

I've sprained and broken this ankle several times in the past but not had any problems for years. I've kept it wrapped, elevated, and even soaked it in the jacuzzi for an hour. All of which seemed to make things worse, why i don't know.

I asked my boss (once an athlete) and he just laughed and said thats what happens when you get old (I'm 38).

Thanks for taking the time to read this and trying to help.

ehenz


Sleepwalking?

What pedals are you riding? Did you fit them yourself?

55/Rad

You could have rolled over wrong in bed and sprained it.

I'm riding SPD (left overs from MtB days) with Specialized bg road shoes. I fitted them myself and had no problems with them in the Fall. The cleat is positioned slightly behind the ball of the foot. Centered, as not to pronate. I'm not sure how I arrived at that, but I followed some formula or directions.

I got moving around today and it felt better (it always hurts the worst the second day, so they say) If it feels good enough in the morning I go for a short spin and see if I can duplicate the sprain pain. If I find it, I should be able to figure out whats wrong (at least I hope so).

If nothing hurts, it may not have had anything to do with my cycling, but I would still not want this to happen this summer on a big "to do" cycling weekend. Maybe I (or that blankity-blank dog of mine) slept on it funny.

Thanks,

ehenz

Could be a stress fracture (an overuse/overtraining injury)- it would only show when you were doing any impact activities, and can happen like you described. You'll want to see a doctor to be sure of what's wrong and take some time off to heal.

Koffee

I have had this before, though not to that extent. I have weak ankles on account of being a competitive swimmer for a large portion of my life before college. I think it has to do with standing up and stomping on the pedals, maybe going up a hill. If you tilt the bike too much while standing and stomping, then the outside of the ankle can get strained, simply because the pedals keep the foot in level with the bike, but your body is upright. Combine that with the force you put on the pedals, then you could do some damage if your ankles are not up to the task.

I don't know if this is the reason, but my own experience with hurting ankles after rides seems to correlate with this explanation.

BR

I have had this before, though not to that extent. I have weak ankles on account of being a competitive swimmer for a large portion of my life before college. I think it has to do with standing up and stomping on the pedals, maybe going up a hill. If you tilt the bike too much while standing and stomping, then the outside of the ankle can get strained, simply because the pedals keep the foot in level with the bike, but your body is upright. Combine that with the force you put on the pedals, then you could do some damage if your ankles are not up to the task.

I don't know if this is the reason, but my own experience with hurting ankles after rides seems to correlate with this explanation.

BR

Thanks Brian, I think this was it, your explanation seems logical (I was sprinting as hard as I could up a small steep hill. Koffee has me worried but the ankle seems fine today (did not ride yesterday). I hope it was a sprain and not a stress fracture. Time will tell.

Thanks again,

ehenz

A few years ago, I woke up at about 4 am with a sharp pain in my shoulder, like someone punching you while you're in a deep sleep, you don't really feel it cause you're still half awake. I went back to sleep and about 5 seconds later felt another pain and this pop in my shoulder. Turns out I dislocated my shoulder in some weird position in my sleep.
It could also be you could've gotten your ankle caught on the side of your bed between the wall or at the edge of the mattress and the bed post or something.