Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Doc: Run in 4 Weeks


UPDATE: the orthopedist reviewed my films and confirmed I have two stress fractures. The good news is that my injury is not as bad as was originally thought.

MORE: the doctor suggested I run easy, every other day, in 4 weeks. I protested whether that might be ENOUGH time off, but he seemed to think, as previous chatter indicated, my condition wasn't as severe as other cases. Sarah also confirms this. I, after reviewing other cases, believe this is also the case (ie - other people can't walk, are in constant pain etc, whereas I usually only feel pain after intense exercise).

I have not run in 2 week and will not run for another 4 weeks. Unless I need to revisit second grade, this means I will have had 6 total weeks completely off.

The following 10 weeks I "build back up" to where I left off so that by December I am in full training mode again or, as he put it, "ready to hammer" - that is the 16 week plan. By March, I will be ready to race. He told me to take it easy and use "comfort as a guide".

The big mystery is HOW did I get this injury? He suggested my legs/gait must be fine and thought it was simply a matter of training too much, not a muscle imbalance, which is what Sarah thinks. I replied that I hadn't done any major bumps in training and that my overall progression is actually quite conservative. Additionally, I haven't run MORE on roads or MORE on trails or MORE hills etc. Perhaps this is simply "paying a toll" for being a runner? This doc was one of those behind the recent stretching study, the headline of which indicated that runners will eventually get injured whether they stretch or not. It's a brutal sport and some get hurt more often than others and this is more and more frequent as we age.

In the meantime, I can swim, bike or water run...the latter I'll look into pursuing (though my pool is now closed for the season)

I should be running by October 18th when the cool air will begin to blow through the trees.

8 comments:

Joe Wiggy said...

This is very good news! I would recommend going to the MAC pool off of Executive blvd. i believe it is only 5 bucks/day but they have monthly deals that end up being cheaper. I would do this with you as I will be adding pool running in as my recovery weeks are rapidly approaching. Overall good news! You will be super fit come March/April! Eye of the Tiger baby! I mean Fox.

PR said...

I pool-ran at the Bethesda YMCA when I had my stress fracture, and I could even get the diving well to myself in the morning. Glad to hear you'll be back soon--hope to see you in NC in December for Club XCs!

RM said...

GDammit...is this going to be the turn of another super fast runner turning into triathlete/making it harder for me to do well at races??

I've also found that if you try and figure out how you wound up with an injury like that, you'll drive yourself crazy. Just the breaks, no pun intended.

As the name suggests, it's a fracture caused by repetitive stress. Had you run 10 miles fewer per week for the last year, it still may have happened. Yet in other years, you may have run 10 miles more per week and nothing would have happened.

As runners, injuries become just another tale to tell on the road. Now at least you'll be able to include yourself in conversations when they turn to injuries!

Sarah said...

I am still standing my my theory of muscle imbalance.

St. Vincent's Sports Performance in Indianapolis treats many of the top athletes in the nation. Their program focuses on assessing and addressing the body’s muscular balance to decrease risk of injury.

http://www.definingsportsperformance.com/

Can't do much about the two stress fractures you have - just let them heal. We now should work on preventing this from happening again!

Steve J. said...

Glad to hear you won't be out as long as originally thought. I really don't think there's anything you could have done to prevent this injury. Besides making sure you are getting enough calcium and are changing your shoes regularly there's not much else you can do. If you're a runner there's a risk of getting one of these, comes with the territory.

Chris Vames Sloane said...

Jake, this is great news, I wish you the best in your recovery. You will be back kickin everyone's ass in no time. You are a more experienced runner than I am, but remember to learn as much as you can about any injury/setback, as well as your body. I believe running does beat up your body and injury can be inevitable, but at the same time it can also mature you and maked you much stronger/wiser.

KLIM said...

Yes Joe, lets go water running.

PR - where the heck is the YMCA in Bethesda?

RM - no chance. Maybe a sprint someday, but that's it.

Andy said...

If there is one man/animal I can't imagine on a bicycle, it'd be Jake Klim (AKA THE RED FOX)