Stress Fracture?

OK! I’ll admit it! I’m possibly the worst blogger ever! Along with suffering from a stress fracture, I’ve been suffering from a rare form of writer’s block called BITTERNESS! When last we blogged, it was April, I had just run the Dega Half and discovered that I had a stress fracture in my lower right shin, so as promised, here’s my “Stress Fracture” story!

A little history first. I didn’t have very many injuries in college. In fact, I only missed two races due to injury, but my right shin pretty much always hurt. Call it being a little tougher, dumber or just simply 45 pounds lighter, I could always run through it. A little massage here and some ice there, and I was good. Looking back though, I think all the miles with that pain has lead to a weak area chronically on the verge of what’s commonly known as a stress response. If I ignore it, it turns into a fracture.

This is my 3rd diagnosed fracture in the exact same spot, so I pretty much knew what to expect when I took the bone scan results back to the doc. The initial treatment was at least 8 weeks in a boot and to use crutches as much as possible.  What I was hoping to NOT hear come out of her mouth after “distal third, medial tibial stress fracture and wear the boot” was “SWIM”!!! Low and behold, no weight bearing exercises, including cycling. Go get in a pool somewhere. AHHH!!!!

You’ve all seen those clever high school track team t-shirts that say “My sport is your sport’s punishment”. That is exactly how I feel about swimming!! I like to be outside! I like to be able to talk when I’m training! I like to breath when I want to breath! I like wearing shoes! AND there is NO WAY I look good wearing nothing but tights and goggles! All of that being said, you gotta do what ya gotta do! Luckily, the only time I could go swim was at 5 AM and no one else was ever in the pool when I was there.

Cross training adventure part 2 started at 12 weeks when I got the go ahead to get on the indoor bike. I used to ride a ton, but I’ve never ridden indoors, much less attended a spin class. I think I’ve always had this stereotypical view of some spin Nazi chick at the front of the class yelling in drill sergeant fashion “QUIT BEING A WHIMP!” at everyone. My wife loves it though, so I knew that wasn’t the case. She did make it sound like I may have to actually fight someone for a bike though. Needless to say, I was feeling a little squeamish about my first class. Of course, it wasn’t bad at all, except for that burning in my chest I’ve heard heart attack victims use to describe their near death experience! In fact, I kind of like spin! It helped me answer a question that has long perplexed me. “What is the purpose of this Linkin Park music?”

The picture above is a result of my BITTERNESS! It’s been 16 weeks! I did run twice last week, but both were less than 2 miles, hardly at a pace I call “running” and the worst of it, my shin still hurts pretty bad. It looks like it’s going to be a long road back, but I ain’t gonna give up! I’m trying a few new things with different shoes and orthotics, but the biggest thing, I’m really working on my lower leg, foot and core strength, but that’s a story for another day. I’ll be back out there! Just wait!!