Stressed Out, Plan Fractured

I knew it was a little different than normal pain right from the start.  For one, it was on my shin - not many muscles located on the shin-bone.  It was just nagging at the beginning and didn’t really bother me during the run, but it would tend to get sore after.  After a while, the soreness would usually go away, until one day it didn’t.  

I would wake up and limp to the shower, then limp down the stairs and to the car, and again from my car to my desk.  But when I got to the gym at lunchtime and hit the treadmill, I would hobble for the first quarter-mile or so, and then it would be fine.  Almost like it just needed to warm up.

One hour, two hours later... I’d get up to walk and be limping again, usually with slightly more pain than I had when I got up that morning.

I persevered.  I thought I was being a wimp.  There were so many good things going for me – I had lost a lot of weight, I was significantly improving my pace after just a month of focused training.  This past Monday I ran my fastest 4-miles all year.  I was focused on setting a PR in the upcoming NYC Half on March 20^th.  I wasn’t letting anything get in my way.

Until this.

On Tuesday I woke up more hobbled than usual.  It wasn’t just a limp, but a painful limp.  I knew then that something was wrong, and it was beyond the normal soreness.  I couldn't grit my teeth and toughen it out.  What could this be?  In a little over two years of running, I’ve had some other injuries that slowed me down.  One was a calf strain that went away after four weeks.  Even in those four weeks I was able to train painlessly on the elliptical machine.  I battled gout a few times which keeps me off my feet for a few days, but that pain goes away.  I didn’t really know what this could be – shin splints or a stress fracture were my two most likely candidates.  I didn’t need to look far for information when I found  this incredibly informative article on Runner’s World.

The article described my pain perfectly: stress fracture.

I called up a friend who works at a medical clinic and asked if she could diagnose it.  She said they only had access to X-rays and that it would be difficult to see – especially early on.  An MRI or bone scan would likely reveal it.  With a $5,000 deductible, I’ll take my self-diagnosis: Stress Fracture.  Six-to-eight weeks rest.  I quick took out my calendar to see how many weeks it was until the NYC Half on March 20… just about six weeks.

Dammit.

This was supposed to be my year.  I was doing so well.  How could this happen?  I can think of a bunch of ways:

                -I had gained 15 pounds after the Marine Corps Marathon in late October and running with the added weight probably put too much stress on my bones.

                -I was pushing my runs quite hard – sometimes twice a day.  I ran 175 miles in January – more than I ever had before.

                -I was loving the fact that I was maintaining a run-streak.  It got over 30 days and I couldn't quit - even on planned rest days I made sure to get a few miles in.

                -I hardly cross-trained at all.  Running puts a pounding on your legs.  Historically, I always try to get some workouts done on the elliptical, swimming, or on the bike.  This allows for calorie burn without the persistent foot-to-pavement pounding of running.

                -I just got a stand-up desk at work and I use it for at least 4 hours a day, if not more.  Being on my feet that long is different than the sedentary office life I was used to in the chair all day.   Good for me?  Probably.  But different.

And though it’s easy to say “6 weeks rest,” it’s not that easy to practice.  If I rest for a full 6 weeks, I simply won’t be in shape to run 13.1 miles at all – forget about the PR.  I mean, Thomas Davis played in the Super Bowl with a broken arm.  The thing looked like this --- this is his actual arm, not a wrap of any sort:

  

But I can't run for six weeks with a little teeny stress fracture?  How frustrating!

So I have to find a way to train and not increase the risk of injury.  The plan is for the next 2 weeks to use the elliptical and bike and just burn calories – low intensity but long duration.  I still need to eat well on top of that and continue to lose weight.  The goal was to get to 210 pounds by March 20, and I’m still 12 pounds away.  But I have to be careful not to push it too much.

I had devised a spreadsheet to track my progress.  Up until now, the progress was pretty linear - in the right direction and on target to achieve my loftiest goals after the first month.  This injury has blown that up completely.  I need to heal.  I don't want to wait.  It's upsetting me.  But what else can I do but take it slow and hope for the best.