training injury, second opinion, please! (long story...sorry!) (Read 524 times)

Hello all...I have recently sustained an injury which seems rather dubious to me, and what my doctor says is "probably" a minor stress fracture...while many of the symptoms fit, the xray doesn't back it up, and I'm curious if any other runners have any comments on this type of injury. Here's my whole scoop: I've run casually for around 10 years. I generally (mostly in the warmer months) have always run between 12-20 miles a week depending on weather and mood throughout spring, summer and fall. I have run the Louisville Mini (half) marathon for the last four years without any extra training (or problems, for that matter)...I would say the casual peak I've been at was about 22 miles a week last summer with at least 2 runs a week being 7-9 miles. I've never had anything more than minor soreness, which was nothing a week off couldn't fix. This year I decided to get more serious with my running and decided to attempt the Louisville Kentucky Derby Full Marathon....I read a couple books and chose Hal Higdon's first timer's plan, which I started in Jan. and followed religiously. Up until the following, I had only experienced moderate calf pain, from time to time which I was always able to stretch out. About 2 months in, I ran a step-back run (previous long run was 14 miles) of 12 miles and felt fine. The following tuesday I ran my first training run of the week (4 miles) and afterwards had fairly severe pain in my lower legs (I'll do a pain description next paragraph). I stretched considerably, and decided to give the next day's 7 miler a shot...it was a little rough starting but I finished fine, with little to no residual pain. I chose to skip my next short run, and rest on friday, so as to have 2 days of rest before my 15 mile run. The run was a disaster. I finished, but probably shouldn't have, and had to take numerous walking breaks due to pain, and was terribly sore for several days after that. I figured it was old shoes, bought a new pair and rested nearly a week. I felt much better, was able to ice stretch and soak any soreness away, and decided to try a 4 mile trial run. The first mile was fine, but I had the same painful run afterwards and 2 miles in, I just chose to walk home. Here is a description of the pain I've been experiencing: Primary pain is in the left leg. It is on the inside front of the tibia, and is not only sore in general, but is sore to the touch. It's further towards the front of my leg, but not on my shin, definitely not anywhere in the calf. It's been painful going down stairs, and does bother me at night. However, it does seem that walking around on it makes it feel better than staying off it entirely. I have noticed some connection in a diagonal with my ankle that feels "off." I also have persistent minor pain in my right calf, right in between the upper calf and soleus. It feels fine resting and walking, but I have noticed that I can make it hurt by putting my foot flat on the floor and pushing down towards the floor with the front my foot (big toe mostly). The pain is minor and feels more like a muscle strain than a hurtful soreness. I have been to the doctor, and he said the right calf just needs a few days rest, and that I "probably" have a stress fracture in my left tibia, but that the x ray was inconclusive. I mentioned that I have resigned myself to not doing the full marathon, but would like to still try the mini if possible. He said that should be fine, and that the elliptical trainer should be fine to use for now, and I could start running on pavement about 3 weeks before the mini. I was skeptical of the elliptical being fine, but having exercised the last 2 days, I'm shocked to find that in addition to being fine, working out on the elliptical trainer has eased 85% of all my symptoms! My legs felt better after my workout yesterday than they have in 2 weeks. The area on my left tibia is still sore to the touch, but I have no discomfort on stairs, and the pain at night was virtually non existent! So I'm confused, and was hoping any others with similar experiences would be interested in talking with me about this...sorry it's such a long story!

I had similar pain along the tibia and the doc was expecting stress fractures. Instead, it was severe tendinitis caused by not breaking in orthotics. That was in late December, and I've just started running again - albeit very slowly. I was in PT for 2 months and learned lots of stretching, balance, and exercises to strengthen the legs. Pain is 95% gone now, and I've opted to work through the rest of it. Remaining pain seems to move around the ankle bone, but that's where the attachments are. Going down stairs caused tremendous pain with this. I bought a foam roller and roll that area regularly. Massage also helps. BUT, your first step is probably to get an MRI to make sure it isn't a stress fracture.

Thanks everyone for the advice...I'm definitely not running on it for at least a month. Since the elliptical trainer actually makes it feel better, I'm very satisfied with that as a temporary solution. I really think it's more tendonitis than a stress fracture because I feel like it changes a tad from day to day...either way, in a month hopefully everything will feel much better!