Speed Break

I took a break from speed work this week. I guess I probably needed to since I have raced every weekend but one since the Nashville Marathon. Along with a race on the weekends I have been doing speed work at the clinic on Tuesday nights or making it up on Wednesday if I missed. Not this week.

After Saturday's run I thought I felt a twinge in my left outer knee. Monday night I ran 4 miles with Annette and Michele. It was there again, not bad but just enough to feel every now and then. I have had ITBS before and I know what it feels like when it hits. This was the start of it maybe. So I figured it was just raising its ugly head a little to tell me to slow down some.

Tonight was the first time I ran since Monday so I used the IT strap just in case. My left heel was still bugging me on and off so I put on my achilies strap also. Kelly had been shopping with Annette so she came over to run with me. She also was running with an IT strap so we made the perfect pair.

Thank goodness I didn't feel anything, or maybe the strap worked. Maybe it was the two days off. Our first mile was fast and hard @9:47. At 85 degrees maybe too fast for us but we managed. I tried to slow down some, but it seems for me anymore I tend to run faster than I should be then have to walk to get a quick breather. I guess I'm weird, but walking doesn't bother me and Annette has said that walking slows her down but speeds me up for some reason.
Our second mile was a 10:10, even warmer it seemed. Very breezy with a hot southerly wind. Our third mile slowed a little to a 10:26. We called it quits at 3.3 miles, I probably needed more but it was just too dang hot to be running. I guess I may have to start getting up early in the mornings and try to run. I miss those cool winter runs now.

Saturday we are suppose to run a different kind of race. Its called the Mt Magazine 15k and its all up a mountain. There is no winner and no times are kept. Every finisher gets a trophy and the last person to finish gets the biggest one. I have never done this one but several of our friends have done it and said it is a lot of fun. I'm thinking we may be warped a little to want to run up a mountain in the heat of the summer! Hey at least I will get a trophy!

Injury Verdict is in

This morning I went to Ortho Arkansas to see Dr. Nix. The nurse asked me some questions about where I was hurting and how I did it. After telling her my quick story she sent me over to X-ray for some quick photos of my lower leg. Didn't take them but a few minutes and I was back to the waiting room waiting to see the doctor.

The first thing he asked me was had I ever been injured running before and I told him not to the point of going to the doctor anyway. Then he said well, you have your first official running injury then. He put the X-ray up on the board and showed me where I had a stress fracture on the upper part of my lower leg. It didn't really look cracked to me but he showed me where the white outline was and he said that was where it was healing from the injury. I guess since I haven't really ran for 4 weeks had helped it heal which is good. The official name for my injury is a "proximal fibula stress fracture." He said these were pretty rare. Of course, I knew I had something weird or rare going on because I couldn't find anyone that had some of the symptoms I had, even on the internet. It seems most stress fractures are in the lower part of the leg and mostly on the tibia. The fibula is the small lower leg bone and the damage on mine is right close to the top almost at the knee. He said this is usually caused from too much pronation and sometimes too many miles. Well I knew I had some moderate pronation but I didn't think it was that bad.

This picture show the lower leg bones. Right below the head of the fibula is where mine is hurt

He asked a lot about my shoes, if they were worn, etc. Then he asked if I had any spring time events planned. I told him I was planning on Little Rock in March, probably the half and maybe the full in Nashville in April. He was really positive and said I should have no problem being ready for those events especially since I had already done a marathon. They put me in some special orthotics to help the healing and reduce any pronation and told me to come back in four weeks. He did say that I should try to not run facing traffic as this would put more pressure on the leg because of the curve of the road. I really had other questions to ask but he was gone and had the orthotics person in there before I could. The nurse told me the best thing to do would be not to run for about 3 weeks and then give it a try before I come back in. Biking or other non weight bearing cross training is ok. I also have to drink more milk for strong bones. I have been taking supplements but I guess they didn't help.

So, I guess its more time on the bike for me. Maybe I can find some other cross training that will work too. So far I haven't found much info on the internet on this type of stress fracture but what I have read seems to lead me to believe that its better than a tibia stress fracture. So, now if I can just find something to keep my cardio and endurance where I was I'll be ok. It could have been worse I suppose. I will still be able to run again in a few weeks.

Ortho tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the big day. I get to go see a Sports Medicine Doctor at Ortho Arkansas. Does that mean I'm an athlete or just dumb for getting hurt? The Doctors name is Richard Nix and he is supposed to be a runner so hopefully he will at least be able to tell me something. The not knowing and trying to figure out whats going on is the hard part. Between that, deadlines at work, and the crunch to get Christmas shopping done I'm not a happy camper. Oh yeah and then there is the cold dreary weather.

On a bright note I went on the Christmas Lights Run with the Cruisers tonight. I wasn't even going to go but Annette talked me in to it. She got Kylie to go with us so i knew I would have someone to walk with. That little girl took off at the beginning though and I ran slowly trying to keep up. Annette and Vicki was there the whole time too so it wasn't bad. I think we got about 1.7 miles in mostly walking. What little bit I did run was more of a limping, foot shuffling run.

Afterwards everyone was invited over to Vicki's for snacks and fellowship. Had some great food and some great company with the other runners. We took Kylie home and she told her mom that she "did 1.7 miles". I failed to mention that I carried Kylie on my shoulders for probably 3/4's of a mile. Made for a good short workout anyway.

Attempting to run again

Well tonight was the night. I took my brand new Garmin 305 out of the box, programed it and got ready to head over to the track for about 45 minutes of run/walk. Since the temperature was in the lower 40's it gave me a chance to try out my CW-X running tights also. My goal was to run the straights and walk the curves then see how the leg felt.

I started out with a brisk walk around the track. My marathon partner Jane was there running with Sara. It was nice seeing some people I knew at the track. After a nice warm up I started to run in the first straight. Well, it wasn't good. When my right foot would hit the track I could feel pain. I could still run, but not well. It felt about like it did during the marathon other than when I walked, I could walk pretty fast with no pain at all. I walked probably one whole lap before I ran again. Same thing, same pain. Hard to describe really, but it seemed to be more on the upper back of my calf. So whatever it is, its still not healed up.

It's pretty discouraging to not get to run when you can pretty much feel yourself sprinting around the track. The good thing is I still got some miles in. Even though it was more walk than run, I ended up with a whopping 2.6 miles in 45:25. Thats an incredible 17:04 pace. Probably the slowest 45 minutes I have ever logged but if it helps the leg I'd gladly do more.

I'm seriously considering getting an Ortho appointment but I have heard so many stories of mis diagnosis I just don't know. If I had a good diagnosis at least I would know what to treat and how. As it is now I'm at a loss what it really is. I would have thought that after almost 4 weeks of no running at all, the healing of whatever would have been much further along. As it is now, the only healing I have is that I can walk good again and fairly fast. Maybe I'm just getting impatient and need to give it more time.

Leg

Well about the time I thought I was about to get all healed up, now my leg is hurt in a new place. Last night I responded to an EMS call with the FD. We had a 15 year old male with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In the process of helping get the patient on the backboard, I had to squat down almost to the ground and I could feel some pain in the back of my leg, just above the joint itself. Hamstring maybe? I'm not sure. I just know I didn't bend that way long and got on my knees instead. It probably didn't help that I was trotting to the ambulance to get needed supplies. It's just weird because now my calf feels fine. It's probably one of those tendons that is not quite all healed up yet. I really don't think it's that bad, just need a few more days.

I'm so ready to start running again. Thank goodness I have the bike I can ride inside or outside. And today I received my new Garmin 305 from UPS that I ordered from Walmart.com. I'm not even going to take it out of the box until I start back running.

Sports Massage

Well today I got my first ever sports massage. Annette had been for her first the week before the marathon. She loved it and pretty much all the local runners here told me that I had to go see "Christy" after the marathon. With the shape that my legs were in for the first few days I figured that nothing short of an MRI, casts and lots of pain pills would help. Luckily things did get better through the end of last week and Annette scheduled me an appointment for today. All I can say is WOW. It was AWESOME. I did not realize that muscles had so many knots in them. I could feel the knots rolling out as she massaged my legs. She said I was still a little tense but I think that was because I wasn't sure how hard she would be massaging my sore spots. We discussed these up front and I told her where all my aches and pains were. She massaged all of them pretty hard at times but none of it was painful. Afterwards she basically said that my legs were trashed. They are very tight and the tendons in my calves are all stressed. She recommended taking it easy for a while to let things heal up with icing and finger massages to help too. No heat. Even though she is not a doctor, I felt much better after hearing what she was telling me. So, I have pretty much ordered myself to two weeks of rest and no running. Not sure if I can make it that long but I'm not going to run any until my leg feels normal again. Then I'll start back slow and easy. I'll probably go back for another massage in a couple weeks. I really didn't want to leave today, it was that good, very relaxing and it did help a lot. Massage will now be a regular part of training and racing for me.

Sunday Workout

I got in my first real workout since the marathon. No, I did not run. I was able to make it to my upstairs workout room and did about 45 minutes of upper body and abs then I tackled the exercise bike just to see if the leg would do it. Yes, I could pedal with no pain at all. Only time I would feel anything was when I would twist my lower leg a little. I rode the bike for 20 minutes easy. I could do plank on the floor which surprised me but I only held it for just a few seconds. I can do side leg lifts which work the IT band with no pain. So I'm thinking it's not an IT band issue at least. It has to be a calf muscle strain or tear. If it's not 100% better tomorrow I will be making an appointment with a Sports Medicine Doctor to find out for sure.

Walking is much better, Saturday I could actually put my pants on without holding on to anything. This will be the first week since I started running in August '06 that I won't log any running miles at all. Kinda sucks because last year I was able to get a couple miles in even when I had IT Band problems but thats ok, I just ran a marathon and I have no regrets at all. I would do it again tomorrow even with the same outcome.

Rehabbing an injury is just another part of training so I'm not going to bitch and whine about being injured. If your going to be an athlete thats just part of the game. Now I have a new training plan to work on and that is to get back to where I can run again.

Injury update

Today my walking strides are a little longer and it doesn't feel like my leg is going to come out from under me so I guess it's a little better but not much. I tried to get a Dr's appointment today but guess what? They are all closed! I guess no one better get sick or injured during a holiday week. Today was the first day I have been out of the house since coming home from work on Wednesday night so that was nice. I even got to use our whirlpool tub which seemed to help loosen the calf up some. I'm really not that concerned with running at this point, I just want to walk half way normal again. Being stuck in the house has allowed me some time to organize some of our race photos so I guess it's not all bad. Tomorrow I have to figure out a way to at least do an upper body workout or something.

A bunch of the Cruiser's are running the Great Duck Race tomorrow in Stuttgart. It's a small 10K race that Annette ran last year. It's a flat and fast course and most of them are just running it as a training run for the Memphis 1/2 Marathon on December 1st. Wish I could be there! Good luck guys!!

Post Marathon Wednesday

I guess its time to declare an official injury. Ever since the marathon my right leg has been giving me problems. It started during the marathon and I ran with it. At times I could barely walk but I could run once I got started. It hasn't changed much since Monday. I can walk, but only very very slowly. If I put weight on it its ok at times, and then sometimes if I twist it a little I have a pretty bad pain. Sometimes it just feels like its in the top outside of my right calf. Other times it feels like it radiates all the way up to my hip. The calf itself is still very tight. At times I can put all my weight on the leg and it feels fine, other times if I'm walking it just hits like a brick and I almost fall from the pain. It feels a lot like my IT band felt last year when it was hurt but I don't think the IT goes down below the knee. So, I'm thinking it has to be either a calf strain or calf tear. Maybe even a tendon. Worst scenario would be a stress fracture I suppose. I really don't have a clue and it is very frustrating not really knowing. I can't seem to find anyone or any info on a similar injury yet. With the holiday it's pretty much futile to try to see a doctor. I do have an appointment Monday for a massage if I can walk then. So here I am 3 days after running 26.2 miles, not even able to walk to the bathroom. What I really hate the worst is the fact that all the nay sayers to running can say, I told you so.

By the way, I really did have a good marathon and would do it again tomorrow even if I knew I would be hurt. It was that awesome.