I went to the doctor on Friday because I suspected a stress fracture in my left foot. I could barely walk on it, it had started to swell and I couldn't bend any of my toes which is pretty much how my foot felt the last time I had one. The nice doctor confirmed that I have a probable stress fracture. These don't even show up on x-rays until about 4 weeks into the injury and by that time you are mostly healed so she basically told me to skip it -- the treatment is the same either way. So...I'm in the dreaded walking boot for the next few weeks. Even small children are noticing my new ridiculous fashion accessory. Today a three year old in REI saw me gimping around and asked, "Mommy, why does that person have on two different shoes?"
I last had a stress fracture in 2006 that took almost six months to fully heal (and I still can't really bend the last two toes on my left foot as a result). Last time I'd go run thinking I was better only for my foot to be throbbing immediately after the run, I still drove my manual transmission car (with a left foot stress fracture pushing in the clutch -- a terrible idea) and I didn't ice as much as I should have. To speed up my recovery time, John has been kind enough to trade cars with me until I can drive mine, I am going to force myself to wear the boot all the time and I'm not going to run until I am fully healed. I caught this one much earlier than I did the last one so I'm hoping I am only out of commission for less than a month.
I think the fracture was caused by wearing my running shoes too long. My ankle and heels have been bothering me for a while and my friend tried to heal me a few weeks ago when we were in San Francisco.Just ignore the person dressed as an elf in the background...Bay to Breakers is a crazy race and we all wore silly costumes! Ultimately, the healing didn't work and I needed to try a different strategy so I went and bought new shoes. It is so easy to forget to buy new shoes -- particularly when I have a so many pairs of the same shoes (Brooks Adrenaline) in my collection.
Even though it is annoying to be in pain and wear this stupid boot, I'm trying to take it in stride (pun intended). Training for the Marine Corps Marathon doesn't start until the end of June so I should be healed in time to get the entire training cycle in. This weekend, my friend Jamie came up to from Atlanta to celebrate turning 30 with me and we had a great time eating our way through DC, Alexandria and Arlington (drinks at POV, dinner at Evening Star and crab cake benedict brunch at the Carlye). Next weekend I'm a volunteer pourer at a wine festival near home so at least I'm going to have a really good time during my newly found, extended rest time period. For the time being I guess this blog will be about the recovery of a stress fracture than any real training stories -- but getting injured is just part of the fun, right?
Weekly Mileage Summary:
Monday: 5.5
Tuesday - Thursday: 0
Friday: .25 miles, walked 2
Saturday - Sunday: 0
OH, NO! I'm so sorry! That really sucks. Here's hoping you caught it early enough for it to just be a small bump and training can start as scheduled!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam! You are sweet :) I have a good feeling it is just a small bump, both literally and figuratively. The swelling has gone down enough I can feel the little bump of the crack...hope your running is going well in this (almost) summer heat!
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