does this at least get me HTFU points?? (Read 767 times)

Ok, so I"m going with this gets me a shitload of "acting really stupid" points, but hey, I can hope...anyways, so since march I've had shin splints. Thinking I could just run through them pointed me in very wrong direction. Friday, two days before pittsburgh marathon, I decided to go the doctor, on urging (more forcing) of my caring mother. I get an xray and MRI done. Xray shows no stress fractures, but doc schedules MRI to be sure. Doc had left the office when I got back to talk to him about the results, so I ran the marathon not really sure what was wrong. (I wasn't in too much pain saturday and sunday, so I figured it would be ok). I finally went back to talk to Doc yesterday. Turns out I have a "moderate stress reaction". If I had waited too much longer it would have turned into a stress fracture...There was a big white spot on the MRI in the middle of my shin, so at least I could see it. So Doc (and some annoying little resident) diagnosed me, and stuck me in this stupid air cast for a month. Fortunately, running the race didn't cause this, it just didn't help at all...The annoying thing is, I'm having a ton of pain inside my ankle, not on the spot the stress reaction on my shin is. What's up with that?? I mentioned it to the Doc but he didn't think much of it. But it hurts to walk on it. Is the effects of this stress "reaction" in my shin just heading to my ankle, and that's normal?? He said I can bike, swim and walk once a week. And then said hopefully it will be better in a month. I told him I have to leave 29June for army stuff and he said hopefully it will be healed but he doesn't know... So my great training plans for this summer basically got screwed. My plans to focus on my 2mile time to get ready for the army stuff I'm going to are shot. I just hope to get better and still be able to run MCM in the fall. So I really need to xtraining ideas to keep in shape, especially because I'm going to be leaving in two months and not being able to keep up my running is going to screw me. Biking is my main plan if it doesn't hurt too much. Weights, swimming if I get access to a pool...any other thoughts? What I've learned from this ordeal: For me, racing is not about overcoming pain. It's about as running fast as I can. The pain is just the way the body speaks to you, a side phenomenon. It's silly to try to overcome it or attack it. We talk about the "pain" of running as if it were a single phenomenon. Actually, in running as in life there are many different sorts of pains, and one can learn to distinguish these pains in order to respond to them differently. It is very rare that generating the sensation of "pushing through it" is the appropriate response to pain. My sense is that generating that feeling is just layering one type of pain on another. Don't ignore your body when it's telling you something is wrong!!! If I would have just taken care of my leg back in march I wouldn't have screwed myself this way... MTA: the quote if from Jeff!

So sorry! and i'd give you HTFU points, for sure. I love the pictures -- you get extra sympathy since I can actually picture your poor casted leg.

Deep water running in a pool should be fine. Get an Aquajogger waist belt- they are really good. I have done this while healing from knee surgery (a fracture) and used my ipod in a plastic bag tucked into a baseball cap. It's boring, but with music you can eke out 30-45 minutes.

Meg, that's tough luck. The pool running worked OK for me, too. I Googled it and got ideas for different kinds of workouts to keep them more interesting. Hang in there!

My plans to focus on my 2mile time to get ready for the army stuff I'm going to are shot. I just hope to get better and still be able to run MCM in the fall.

Sorry to hear about your injury, Skeeter. Don't sweat the 2 mile test. The Army will wait (running profile?). Get healthy. Smoke the MCM and the 2 mile test will take care of itself.

Thanks dave, I certainly hope they can put me on profile although I know a girl who had a v-ball injury and she wasn't allowed to go. *sigh* Just gotta get better, that's all! lol Tbone, thanks for answering my question. That sounds like something the Doc was trying to say. I certainly hope that's the case, and that it's not some new injury down in my ankle! ahh..that or I'm just turning into a hypochondriac heh. Oh, and I think the cast makes me look fat..haha!