Yesterday morning I dropped Wes off at his first residency interview and went and found the nearest place I could park for 3-4 hours.
I ended up finding a Panera and ordered some delicious oatmeal and strawberries.
It was delicious! I got a couple great hours of work done in preparation for the craziness of the next few days.
We will leave straight from Blacksburg, VA once his interview is over and head down to North Carolina to stay the night at my in-laws before heading to the next interview. It will be nice to visit and break up the drive.
I thought it was about time that I gave you all an update on my femoral stress fracture recovery. It hasn’t gone quite as planned, though I do still see the light at the end of the tunnel.
For my newer readers here are a few of my previous posts on my stress fracture:
I Have a Femoral Stress Fracture
My Femoral Stress Fracture Recovery Plan
My Stress Fracture Recovery Supplement and Vitamin Plan
As of Thursday I will officially reach the 7 week mark. That means for 7 full weeks I have not ran a single step. It feels so long.
I wish I could say I am closer to running again than I am, but as I have learned through this process it is always better to play it safe.
As you know from my recovery plan, I took the first 3 weeks completely all from all activity. I let my leg heal and besides walking around in normal every day activities I did no other forms of exercise outside of core work.
After the 3 weeks was over I began cross training. I have focused on:
1. Swimming
2. Pool Running
3. Spinning
4. Walking
I did well for the first couple weeks. I focused on the less weight bearing activities and then I jumped the gun.
I began incorporating walking into my routine. As with everything else I seem to do I went in too hard too fast and believe I may have re-injured my stress fracture slightly. If I had stuck to slow easy walking I would have been fine, but instead I went in too fast and for too long.
I don’t believe I re-fractured it, but I do know that I set myself back a couple weeks due to this.
Lesson learned: an extra few minutes of cross training is not worth an extra 2-3 weeks of recovery and no running.
At this point I am still not quite sure when I will begin running again. If I could give you a time frame I would say I would love to be running a tiny bit by the first of December, but I know I can’t rush this.
I am still having pain sometimes and I know until there is absolutely no pain there will be absolutely no running.
The traveling we are on right now is actually really saving me. I have made myself pretty much stick to non-weight bearing activities (basically swimming and pool running) and since I don’t have access to a pool while on the road I am giving my leg some extra rest.
I have begun focusing on some weight training and core work again. These are vital to make sure that I come back stronger than I was before.
I am also still sticking to my vitamin regiment and making sure that I am eating a healthy and balanced diet as much as I can.
I know that by giving myself a little more “rest” during this travel that it will enable my leg to re-heal in whatever way it needs to.
I guess that is about a wrap up of where I am. 7 weeks in and I’d say I have another 2-3 weeks to go at least, even though that is very hard for me to admit.
Please tell me I am not the only one who jumps the gun on things. Are you an all or nothing kind of person? I am and I need to break the habit or I am going to end up injured forever.
I know the feeling and I’m sorry your dealing with this. I’ve been in a cast and then a boot for 3 weeks now for a foot stress fracture. This no weight bearing stuff sucks and I’m not following doctors orders much at all. I’m just not one to sit still and rest. I haven’t ran in 5 weeks and I miss it terribly!! Sending healing powers your way!
Thank you Mandy!! I know it is so hard! I keep trying to push to hard then hurt it worse then set back even more. I THINK I am finally learning my lesson but is so hard and I HATE not getting a good sweat in every day!
Hope your healing goes quickly too!!
haha … not REMOTELY the only one! 🙂
I think I’ve mentioned that my wife badly wracked up her ankle (pulled all three main ligaments, two tendons and a muscle) while simply out for a walk with a friend the day after her birthday (Oct 1st). She is on a long, slow recovery – being late 40s with several times doing similar injuries (never nearly as severe) means a very long time back. But she is impatient …
We had been talking to a couple I know from work and the local statistical society about an elliptical machine they wanted to sell, and we finally got it just over a week ago. Lisa was so excited that when she looked at it she hopped on to check it out … and in the course of two minutes playing around her ankle got pretty swollen … it was a sign.
Yet the other night we were talking and she was saying she planned to be on the elliptical before Christmas … I told her ‘wait until after the new year’.
Being injured sucks – especially when you can get out of bed and do some stuff but not ALL the stuff you want.
I am glad you are taking it slow, and hope the rest of the trip goes well!
BTW – there is a big Corning plant in Blacksburg where they make the substrates for catalytic convertors for all kinds of different cars. I worked on a project back in 2010 for a few months helping out with improvement experiments and took two trips down there. Beautiful country, but as a Boston boy it was really not the sort of place I would ever want to live … 🙂
I feel your wife’s pain!! Completely! You just want to wake up and get a good sweat in but you can’t. It’s horrible! I am trying to stay positive and focus on the good things but I just want to run!
My husband keeps telling me “take it slow” and I listen to him for a day or so and then I try to do more. He understands how hard it is because he has been there but I just feel so not myself when I can’t workout.
Blacksburg was pretty! I wouldn’t mind living there but then again from where we will be moving ANYTHING is better. It isn’t on the top of the list but it is somewhere on the list if the others don’t work out. We will just wait and see! Wes has 4 more interviews over the next week and a half so we will see all of those turn out!
Best of luck to your wife on her recovery!! I’m right there with you!
Guilty as charged of not resting enough and doing silly things which aggravate existing injuries! It is so hard!! Stay strong and you’ll break the injury cycle soon!!!
I sure hope so!! The sooner I break the cycle the sooner I am up and running again 🙂 (pun intended!)
Definitely not the only one. I always end up overdoing too soon and not allowing injuries to heal properly. We’re runners, unfortunately it’s in our nature. We think we’re only helping ourselves. Just like struggling to taper properly for marathons. Keep being smart and doing what you’re doing now. You’ll come back stronger and faster than before.
Thank you Amanda 🙂 It is true that in my mind I was telling myself all the reasons that it would be OK. I just didn’t think it all the way through enough 🙂 Hopefully I will learn from this and be stronger because of it! 🙂
Definitely not the only one!!! It’s so easy for all of us out here to say “REST! BE CAREFUL!”, but I’d be right there with you jumping the gun, and then re-learning my lesson. It can be such a hard thing to deal with (I’m sure you’re thinking, “come on, could I really get injured from WALKING?!?”), but it’s something that all of us go through, unfortunately. I SO wish I could help you out, but all I can do is keep reminding you that the fire that’s building inside you is going to make you so much stronger when you do come back for good. Continuing to send hugs your way!!
Thank you Megan! I really appreciate it! It is easy when my husband is injured for me to say “stop doing that” but when it is me I completely understand what goes through his mind sometimes! I am hoping that I learn from this and do things the right way. If I want to walk, walk slow and on grass and try to stick to swimming and such when I get back. Hoping this is the home stretch 🙂
So true, Megan! I mean, I ran a half-marathon on Sunday, so naturally I got up and ran 4 miles on Monday! When I woke my wife up after I showered she asked me ‘what about this whole RECOVERY thing’. I had to laugh … I have taught her a bit too well about the race cycle! 🙂
It’s so easy for us to tell others to slow down and rest but so difficult to heed our own advice. You’re definitely not the first person to jump the gun, I’m sure you won’t be the last but you ARE listening to your body and will be running again before you know it. When I first started running I had a terrible case of the “Too’s”. Too much, too far, too soon, it didn’t help that I was running on a treadmill set in miles and I thought it was logging kilometers … I was running 1.6 times farther than I thought 😀
Hahaha I love that! Yes I don’t think that would help!! Thank you Anita 🙂 I know I will eventually learn and get back to doing what is best for my body! I just can’t wait to be out there running again!
of course you’re not the only one! i got my stress fracture on july 16th and i’m finally now starting to feel like my old self because i can get some mileage in. my saving grace was pool running and swimming…don’t give up. it will be so worth it when you can run pain free, i promise!
Thank you Amy! Yes I’ve been very busy with pool running and swimming as well! 🙂 Glad you are back to your old self hopefully I will be there soon myself!!
Sorry to hear about your injury, super new to your blog and recently started following! It seems like a common theme among athletes and especially runners. They tend to be so motivated and driven, it’s almost a detriment. Hope your recovery and plan continues along without a hitch 🙂
Yes I have noticed this trend to! It is good and bad but in this case it wasn’t a good thing! Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will focus on what is most important!
I do the same thing. I find it so hard to stop running when I’m injured. I was talking to my chiropractor tonight about how my husband has no problem stopping running when something hurts, whereas I will keep pushing it and usually make things worse. He said that women come in far more often with running injuries and if guys come in its usually pretty bad because they take longer to seek treatment, and will first stop doing the activity for awhile. Glad to hear you are taking things slow! I’m sure it must be really tough but it will be worth it when you are back to running!
That is really interesting! I know my husband and I both push each ourselves too hard! It is bad because I can see that I am doing it but I still fall into the trap! Persistence and determination is a great trait to have, but when it comes to not letting yourself heal it can cause a problem. Hoping I learn my lesson 🙂
Just recently found your blog–stress fractures are no fun! I had a femoral stress fracture five years ago. I think it was about 8 weeks until I started running again after diagnosed. I did cross training (bike trainer and some core work) and then transitioned to walking, run/walk intervals and then running over the course of maybe 3-4 weeks. And my next marathon (about six months later) was my very first BQ! So hang in there, heal well and you’ll be back out there soon!
I hope I have the same success you do! I would love to BQ On my next marathon! I hope to be running maybe in another 3 weeks but we will wait and see how things go. For some reason spinning seems to irritate my leg, I just haven’t had luck with it!
Thanks for stopping by my blog 🙂
You’re not alone. I have been dealing with a hip flexor strain that i have been pushing through more than I should. It would have easily healed if I had just taken it easy for a week or two, but I was able to push through a little bit, so I did. It is healing, but taking a lot longer than it probably should. I’m glad that you’re being smarter than I am and taking it slow. And soon you’ll be over this and moving forward a stronger, faster and more important smarter runner 🙂
That is what I keep thinking about Stephanie! I sure am learning a whole lot from this injury process!!
We all have a need it/want it NOW mentality!! No patience 🙂 But you have to be smart – as you know! – or else you’ll just keep setting yourself back
Yes Yes I am finally starting to learn this lesson 🙂
totally, just keep telling yourself that unless you take it easy now, you won’t be able to BQ later. you need to be 100% when you go back to training! 🙂
Exactly!! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
How frustrating! Good idea to take it slow and get yourself better.
It is very true 🙂 Thank you!!
Hey! I meant to comment on this post days ago. Thanks for sharing your update. I was injured (officially) August 31st after an 18 miler, and I have not run for 9 weeks. This morning was my first run back (1.5 miles woo!) haha…gotta appreciate the little things now. I have just been walking my dogs during this time. I started out using the elliptical a lot, but then I thought that may make my injury worse even if I wasn’t feeling true pain. I really think taking it easy even when you really don’t want to is a good idea. That’s great that you’ve been busy with traveling to take your mind off of it. I know you’ll be back out there soon enough! 🙂
Yes the traveling is really helping to keep my mind off things! Congrats on your first run back!!! I hope that I am there with you in 3-4 more weeks but I guess we will just have to wait and see how things go!
Hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Hi Sara!
I’m really excited I found your blog. I have just been diagnosed with a femoral stress fracture by my doctor. I totally understand how you feel and it’s only been like 5 days for me. What my doctor is having me do is 4 weeks of crutches- like pretty much zero weight bearing anything on that leg. then after the 4 weeks of crutches I can have 4 weeks of daily living on my leg- so just walking to school, walking around the house, but no running or anything yet + do some PT to strengthen that leg that I won’t be using. Then only after that can I start a run-walk program! I really like following your progress though- it’s been giving me hope! 🙂
Also, the doc said i can bike and swim but no walking, running, ellipitical etc because those are all weight bearing!