Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

Another day off with ice for my ankle as a precaution.  I can only feel the sprain now when I test its full range of motion, and then just barely.  Will try a few miles tomorrow.

3.0 in the nice flat neighborhood streets (25 min).  Felt good to run again, even with only 2 days off.  I'd call the ankle 95% now - I'll assume it can heal the rest of the way while I run through it (even though I know nothing about running and injuries).  It must be the most minor of sprains according to anonymous random internet websites.  Good enough for me.

Early morning run - cold and dark.  8:22 average pace felt good, definitely in the aerobic catagory.  Normally this is the run where I'd throw in some faster stuff but I'll keep it moderate this week for the ankle.  Iced it afterward (thanks Vinh) and it feels good.

Just as I was about to call the ankle fully healed, it pulls a fast one on me again.  Felt fine all day, then 30 seconds into my run tonight it starts hurting.  By 1 minute it's too painful to run on again, just like Saturday.  I really don't get it, it sems to be completely random.  I've been icing it when I can, even when it didn't hurt.  Most of what I read said it's ok to run on a sprain if you can do it without pain so I wouldn't think I've been reaggravating it (running Monday and Tuesday), but tonight would suggest otherwise.  My plan is to try again tomorrow.  If that fails I'll take a week off, then go to the doctor if it's still not good after a week.  Very confused....

AM - My wife slept in through her 5am fitness boot camp thing so I had a rare unplanned opportunity to run.  I got up and there was no pain in the ankle at all so I did what any over-eager newbie would do and put on my shoes for a run.  I felt it a little on the first couple of miles (pain was a 1 on a scale from 0-10) but then it went away completely.  Finished the 4.0 mile run with an 8:34 overall pace.  Iced the ankle and it still feels good.  So weird.  Maybe I'm stepping on it weird or there's some kind of problem with my form on the days when it hurts.

PM - Ok, another 4 miles.  Ankle started out about a 2-2.5 out of 10 then went to a 1 after a mile, and completely painless by three miles.  I made it an up-tempo run (8:00-8:05 pace for the first three miles).  Then I threw in a 3:20 half mile followed by a half-mile recovery. 7:54 overall pace for the entire 4.  The legs just wanted to go tonight so I let them.  Iced the ankle and it's doing fine.

4 more @ 8:10 pace.  Ankle remained predictable - slight dull ache for the first 2 miles only.  Hopefully good to go for my first 10-miler tomorrow.  I think I might have been babying it too much before.  Now I'm exercising it at work all day with ankle circles, etc.

Finally got in the big ten miler.  Laps were 8:05, 8:20, 8:25, 8:27, 8:24, 8:22, 8:19, 8:13, 8:19, 8:31.  8:20 average.  I wasn't shooting for a pace really, just whatever felt right.  By mile 8 I was starting to feel the burn and I could feel my form getting worse.  I'm starting to get the point of these long runs - mile 10 was sloppy and I just wanted to finish.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep it together for longer as I progress.

The left ankle, which was my problem ankle, felt fine after 2 miles again.  Now the right ankle, which I also rolled 2 weeks ago, started aching a little after mile 6 or so.  Sheez...  So I iced the right one first when I finished.  I definitely won't be entering anymore trail races again; I'm just too clutzy.

Weekly mileage cracked 30 for the first time (31.0).