I've had 4 stress fractures before--1 in each femur and 1 in each shin--and I thought that I could avoid that by taking tons of calcium and sticking to the 10% rule, but evidently not. My left ankle always hurts because I sprained in a few years ago and it never healed right, but in the past two weeks it has started hurting WAY worse than usual. I can suck it up if it's just a muscular thing, but this aches and feels overall awful, even when I'm just walking around during the day. I'll be at around mile 6 and I feel something give way in my ankle/heel, and from then on I pretty much want to die. The reason I think it's a stress fracture (or maybe a bone spur) is because it's definitely a single, small location in the back of my heel. My entire foot hurts, but it all stems from that one location.
And in my OTHER foot, formerly the "good" one, I've started getting this feeling in my four small toes that they're going numb. It's hard to explain, but it's sort of a painful numbnes... Read full entry
mjstone05 says:
Sounds like a bone spur in your left, maybe neuroma in right? That would be very atypical- bone spur could happen by slamming down on heels while mortons neuroma by exclusive forefoot running. Damned if you do, damned if you don't huh? I don't have a solution for you, just commenting. Maybe go see a sports doc, then pedorthist for orthotic. Maybe work on form. I don't know, just some options. Toughing it out works- but only if there is nothing REALLY wrong. Maybe try sticking to track running for a month or so- sounds incredibly monotonous, but if it works, whatever right? Good luck.
So it's been just over 10 weeks since I started training specifically for the marathon, and it's been going pretty well. Sure, I feel like I have stress fractures in my inner shins, but meh; they'll have to wait til October. I've generally been doing mileage and lifting during the week with one speed day on Thursday and a long run on Sunday. Apparently getting on the treadmill and cranking it up for like 20 minutes really helps you get into shape, because I just won a 5k the other day with no other speed training.
Not only am I faster and definitely able to run longer distances a lot easier, I am starting to look more like a marathon runner and less like the 400-800 meter runner I've always been. Sure, I still lift a lot to make sure I don't get the "Kangaroo" thing going on with the tiny upper body and the huge legs, but I'm definitely a lot "leaner" looking now, and other people have noticed, which is nice.
And since I'm getting into the higher distances now, like 12+, I fi... Read full entry
rpduffy says:
Hey thanks for the encouragement. I had a great run today and feel much better about my progress. You are absolutely correct, I need to go ahead and accept it now that their will be good days and bad as I add milage. Thank you for the kind reminder (and advice). Good luck with your training. I read some of your posts and you are certainly in a better place then I! Go get 'em!
I'm doing everything right-- stretching after runs, sticking to the 10% rule, running on the treadmill when I can, taking calcium-- and I STILL feel like I'm breaking my goddamn bones when I run. I did 10 miles yesterday, which was a painful reminder of the fact that a marathon is a little less than THREE TIMES that. I have a while before October, but I honestly am starting to wonder if this is even good for me. I can see a half marathon because 13 miles doesn't really damage you the way 26.2 does. In any case, I've had four stress fractures before and I can't see how I'll avoid them now. I have bruised bumps on the inside of my shins, and I lie awake at night FEELING MY BONES ACHE. This is not a good feeling; let me assure you. I like having a goal and sticking to it, and it takes a real lot for me to abandon my goals. So let's just say I'm sticking to it, but I'm almost positive that I'm doing permanent damage to myself right now. Great.
First of all, if someone other than me is reading this, let me clear one thing up: I'm not writing this for other people to read it. Basically, I hate when people blog under the delusion that other people care about their shit, particularly their exercise-related shit. If you DO care, then by all means, keep reading. But again, this whole thing isn't for entertainment or charity or to impress anyone... I am merely bored.
So in sum, I'm writing this as a diary, and the way I communicate to myself is through this kind of inner monologue.
After track finished and law school started, I managed to keep up my workout schedule pretty well. But anything gets old if you're repeating it over and over and over, week by week, and you don't have any larger goal besides looking good naked. I know I'm in good shape right now, but I'm fucking bored. Even one of the trainers at my gym came up to me and said, "Man, you do the SAME thing every week," and he gave me a free training session. ... Read full entry
