I have some major news today. Yesterday was a day I will never forget due to two very awesome things.
First, I completed my first semi-long walk outside with no pain.
This is big news because every time I have walked I have had some aching and pain from it, but today there was none!
I walked for an hour and half. I originally wasn’t going to go this long, but Wes and I headed out to a local trail near his parent’s house for him to do his workout and I just kept walking.
I happened to look at my phone that I was timing it on at 45 minutes and was shocked I’d been walking that long. I guess I was just in the zone. I turned around and walked back finishing out the hour and a half.
It was a little cool outside but absolutely beautiful. The perfect fall day and I am so happy to be in North Carolina right now and not Erie, Pennsylvania where we just got out first snow of the season.
Remember how I mentioned in yesterday’s post that if you aren’t focused on the right things that you can miss the beautiful and simple parts of life? This was one of them. Every part of the run was relaxing and beautiful.
I don’t miss it and I am looking forward to staying away from it for the rest of the week.
After I finished my walk I walked over to find Wes doing some drills on a small soccer field.
This is when exciting thing #2 happened for the day.
Wes suggested I try out and see where my leg was at and attempt to do some “shuffling” across the grass field.
I say “shuffling” instead of running because I did the running motion but didn’t pick my feet up all the way just a little shuffle.
I only did one width of the field and it wasn’t very long but there was no pain!
This was a good start and I am happy with it! I doubt I will be trying this again this week, but just the movement of running again made me so excited to start back one day!
I have learned that it is so important to celebrate the small things!
I still may be a ways away, but I am making progress and that is something to be happy about!
We had another residency dinner last night and then got to bed early. This dinners are really exhausting and it didn’t help that for some reason I got a crazy headache after we finished dinner.
I’m sorry for the quick post today. We have a lot going on, but I may have something REALLY special coming for you tomorrow, so stay TUNED!! 🙂
Have you ever gotten lost on a run/walk and gone further than you thought?
What is something small you can celebrate today?
Yay for no PAIN and shuffling! That’s a big thing to celebrate. Your walk looks like a beautiful place to get lost in. One small thing I am celebrating today … we don’t have the snow the weatherman said we would. While it wasn’t outside I did get lost in my thoughts during a run on the treadmill and when I looked at the display I noticed I had been running for over an hour and a half. I cover the display because I think it mocks me 🙂
That is awesome! I can’t wait to get lost in the treadmill again one day soon!
Back where we are living they got about 8 inches and I am SO thankful for not being there!
First off – that is awesome! You *know* there will be ups and downs, but every positive step means something. Watching my wife recover and checking her ankle swelling and range of motion and so on every day, I know it is a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs … but victory is victory!
Haha … I actually enjoyed the small dusting of snow this morning, but not so much the patchy black ice! I don’t like winter when it is cold and brown, I prefer that there at least be a bit of snow around. Well … actually I’d prefer more fall-like weather year round …
Yes cold and brown winters are NO fun at all! I hate them! I do enjoy the snow around Christmas but that’s it – then it can go away, but it NEVER does! It is nice to have a break and be in NC right now!
Every victory is a small victory! I will take what I can get 🙂 Hope your wife’s recovery continues to be speedy!
Amazing!! You’ll be back to running before you know it, just don’t jump back too quickly (i’m sure you know this already haha)
Haha yes I keep telling myself this every single day! As does my husband! baby steps! 🙂
I saw something on Tumblr today (side note, my younger son is insane on Tumblr, which I barely touch … he already passed 10,000 posts … at 15 … and less than a year with a smartphone!) …but anyway …
‘Avoid the Terrible Toos’ – too much, too soon, too fast.
Although it is something you are well aware of, I think it is something we ALL need to keep in mind!
Love that! I should put that on the background of my computer!!
i’m just excited that you’re feeling better and not worse! that’s what i’m grateful for today.
Thank you! 🙂 I am too!
YES…while visiting relatives in Colorado a couple of years ago…we were hiking in their back yard (foothills of the Rockies)and what we thought would be a 3 mile hike turned into at least a 6 mile one because we took the wrong loop. It was almost noon when we finished, hot, and 5 very thirsty people. We didn’t bring water ~ our phones ~ or any thing….good thing we didn’t have any other issues. 😉
Wow!! That is awesome though! It is funny how sometimes we can get lost in something and completely not realize how far we are going! I just love the beauty of this time of year!
Though I have to say on a 6 mile hike I think I would need some water!!
That’s awesome!! Just listen to your body and it will tell you when it’s ready.
Agreed! Small baby steps – but I will eventually get there!
That is such exciting news that you were painless today! 🙂
When we moved to our new apartment I would get lost on my runs almost everyday because I would try out a new route and end up not knowing how to get home! haha, good thing I run with my phone!
Yes! That is a good thing you had your phone! Yes I loved getting lost when running! It lets you put your mind at ease and relax!
I don’t mean to be mean and I so don’t mean to sound rude, but you are NOT letting your injury heal. You simply have NOT had enough time pass. Are you under treatment from an Orthopedist? Do you realize that a femoral stress fracture is VERY SERIOUS? Its hard for me to read your blog because I feel like I’m watching a car accident in slow motion. You continue to push yourself and you are calling it “recovery”. This is NOT recovery. This is going to lead to recurring if not catastrophic injury. Who is your DR and are they sanctioning all of this elliptical work and 2 hour walks and whatnot???? Seriously, are they? I worry for you.
Melissa,
Thank you for your input! I do understand your concern and I will try and address them the best I can.
1. I have not been able to go to a doctor because I do not have insurance. I have been to them previously for the one I had in my tibia and they did an x-ray and CT which is costly WITH insurance and without insurance it is even worse and since I lost my job I cannot afford that at this time.
2. I have consulted with some Dr’s I know and they all say around 4-5 weeks it is good to start cross training. I try to stick to the pool as much as possible but while I am traveling I do not have a pool so I do what I can. While walking is dangerous (I posted about it when I started that I did do too much) I learned from my mistakes.
3. It has been 8 weeks so at this point there are people that are COMPLETELY healed. Everyone’s body is different – some require 5-6 weeks some don’t heal fully until 12-14 weeks. I don’t know what my time line is going to be yet, but I go off how my body feels. If I feel any pain I stop and I haven’t had pain in about a week now. I’m not going to start running any time soon and when I do walk longer walks like yesterday I stick to non-paved surfaces like grass and gravel and this makes it easier on my leg. I did not mean to walk 1.5 hours, but I had no pain so that is a positive sign.
4. I have femoral stress fracture NOT a femoral neck stress. I only say this because the femoral neck are MUCH more serious. While any stress fracture is serious I do believe that by listening to my body and taking things SLOW I am doing the best I can.
I understand everyone heals differently. I am no longer rushing and I only do what I know I am ready for. Yes, I made a mistake once during my recovery and I will not make that again. I could show you numerous others who have done much more than me and been fine and then others who have to take off for 6 months, my point is everyone is different. I have taken full responsibility in the past for my shortcomings and mistakes that caused this, but I am taking the necessary steps.
While I understand your concern that I didn’t see a Dr I just simply could not afford it. I have talked to 2-3 dr’s I know about it however and discussed my plan for coming back.
Alright I think that kind of sums it up, but I DO appreciate your concern and hopefully you can see where I am coming from. If you have any further questions or concerns about my recovery feel free to email me saralovingontherun at gmail dot com. I’d be happy to talk with you further!
Thank you! 🙂
YAYYYYY!!! So excited for you! I know you’ll take it slowly :).
I randomly found your blog by Googling “stress fractures recovery in runners” – I was diagnosed with not one BUT TWO stress fractures in my right foot at the end of September (after a failed BQ attempt on Sept. 8) — and I’ve been trying oh so hard to recover since then. My wedding was October 6th so that kept my mind of it but now I’m so anxious to get back to running — got the go ahead from my doctor to slowly start on the elliptical and ideally transition to outdoors by December but I still feel the occasionally pain so I totally feel your frustration and excitement about your long walk!!
Anyways – this is clearly a ramble but it’s nice to know someone out there right now is recovering from stress fracturing nonsense as well!!