This week can best be summarized as living my life, working and doing me. I had no sudden interest to cross train like it’s my job. That being said I did have an urge to do something. I didn’t want to sit around completely for 4-5 weeks but I didn’t want to feel pressured as if I had to cross train through this injury. I waited until I actually wanted to work out or do anything. This injury is different from any I’ve ever had mentally. Mentally, I’ve always struggled with injuries and recovering. I think that is because I was in college and had a “race” that I was preparing for. There were no second, 3rd or fourth races…there were no cross country championships every week. While I had a marathon I was training for, there are plenty of marathons in the sea of running. I’m also a little bit older and maybe wiser (in running at least) that I know there will be a time I will be running again. This isn’t the end of the world and I shouldn’t make it the end of the world.
Cross training:
On Monday, I got into the pool. It felt surprisingly nice. On Tuesday, lifted a few weights (realistically I just gossiped with a friend lifted a couple things). As much as I would like to say I worked out, it was really a social hour for me. Thursday and Saturday I went swimming. Nothing hurt more while swimming (I kind of do a one leg flip turn thing and use a pull buoy). So I consider it a success.
Foot recovery:
My foot saw drastic improvement until Wednesday. Wednesday it seemed to hurt a lot more and combined with being tired, it put me in a foul mood overall. I felt as if I was making great progress towards healing and then Wednesday, I just hurt. Thursday it felt “more normal” again, so I learned not to judge recovery by a single day. That being said, I’m no longer limping at all. I’m not going to break any race walker records but I’m also beating the elderly crowd into the diner.
I know I’m making slow steps but I’m at the stage where I’m not grateful for the progress I am making. I want more progress and I want it faster. It doesn’t work like that so I’ll stay content and not rush anything. All in all I’m making the progress the doctor expected me to make, so my recovery is good.
This is kind of the general foot pain for the week in summary. One day I’ll go back and get my art degree, and 10000 dollar camera for blogging…but today is not that day.
Bone density thoughts:
Something I’ve been realistically worried about was my bone density. While I’m not underweight and haven’t lost my period, it’s still a realistic concern. I’ve had two bone breaks in the last year. I was it by a cyclist last year (that ended with a small fracture) as well as this stress fracture that seemed to come out of nowhere. I decided to schedule a doctors appointment on Tuesday to get blood work done. I would rather be safe than sorry in that situation. Osteoporosis is a big deal and something that you cannot bandaid later in life.
I drink milk almost everyday and by eyeballing my nutrition for a few days, I get about 200% of my daily calcium intake through milk, yogurt and cheese. That being said calcium isn’t the only factor and who knows how much my body is absorbing. I do realize there are other vitamins that play a huge role in calcium absorption too.
All of my worries were put away as the doctor said I have strong bones and all of my blood-work came out normal. It honestly really surprised me. I was expecting to be low in something (anything) because of both bone breaks. I might be over-analyzing because I was hit by a cyclist but in my opinion, two breaks is a lot. It’s positive I am within my ranges but it still doesn’t explain where my stress fracture came from.
I would say in total in this week was a very positive week for me both mentally and physically. I got some nice easy workouts in the pool and I am recovering well. Mentally I feel pretty good overall too.
Questions for you:
How much calcium do you get daily? What are your main sources?
How was your first week of September?
Glad to hear the blood work came back with everything normal. I get most of my daily calcium through milk and a multi-vitamin. I haven’t been drinking as much milk lately; just find other things to drink (water, beer, etc.).
My first week of September was good. Highlight was my baby girl starting her first year of high school! I’m very excited for her; high school was the best time of my life; I made a ton of friends I’m still in contact with today, including my wife. The adventures she’ll have!
I was just thinking yesterday that I bet a lot of running injuries are partially caused by outside stressors. I read somewhere that running causes a stress response in the body (hence overuse injuries), so it seems like that combined with other sources of stress, like school or wedding planning, could lead to unexplained injuries. Maybe I’m just looking for an explanation as to how I got injured off barely any running, but I think it makes sense considering my hair literally falls out when I’m very stressed and I know that mentally I don’t handle stress very well. Maybe your bodies energies just weren’t going toward keeping you healthy. :/
*body’s energies
Maybe who really knows…I’m honestly not that stressed but it could have been all of the years of solid training I built up. I’m sorry to hear you got injured off of barely any training. 🙁
Caffeine inhibits bones from absorbing calcium, and it also leeches calcium from your bones. I don’t know how much caffeine you drink, but you have said you like coffee a lot, regular and decaf. That, combined with outside stressors may have contributed to your stress fracture because it wasn’t allowing your bones to strengthen and calcify between the runs.
Thanks Amanda! I am actually only drinking about 20 ounces of coffee in the last few months. I really cut down in the summer (it was pretty hot..). I thought the same thing because I used to drink so much!
I think you’re right on not judging recovery based on how you feel everyday, it’s like running, somedays you have bad days, some are good but on the whole, you are gradually improving. I love milk and have been drinking it daily for years now so I get most of my calcium from there.
I’m not sure how much calcium I get. Good question and one I should investigate. I’m injured…again. Ugh. I do tend to overtrain. Mainly because running is my therapy. Of course now that I’m sidelined I’m miserable so I really need to be smarter. September has been okay so far. My Dad flew in for the weekend and it’s been great! He’s too far from his grand babies so I’m glad he came.
LOLZ that graph. I’m glad it’s moving in the right direction the last couple of days.
Your perspective is mature and spot on. So many people go nuts like the marathon they are signed up for is the only one on the planet and there will never be another.
That was and will be the only marathon in the history of all the marathons
Weight bearing is REALLY good for your bones, so all your runs SHOULD strengthen your bones, unless there’s something I don’t know about with overdoing it causing some sort of breakdown in bone density. Petite white women are at the highest risk though. I think about it! My mom broke her back in her 30s while we were sledding and she was told that she really needed to watch out for osteoporosis. I do enough strength training now that I’m not as concerned about it, but I just need to make sure to keep up with it into my old age! I have no idea how much calcium I get in a day. I eat cheddar on an ALMOST daily basis and kefir almost every day too. That’s really it. Also, bananas help your body absorb calcium and I just started eating them every day so maybe that helps… I drank milk EVERY day when I was growing up… Hoepfully your foot will continue to feel better and not have many bad days that trick you into thinking you’re not healing!
I hope so too Liz and I really appreciate your advice lately!
I’m glad your foot is feeling a little better! It’s so weird how sometimes they just randomly hurt. A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, mine hurt when walking around the mall. I ran that morning and no pain, but pain when I walked around the mall was weird. I took the next day off and 2 days later it was fine. Mine has also hurt before rainstorms before.
I get a lot of calcium from protein shakes, Greek yogurt, almond milk, and a supplement. Also, I’ve read where leafy greens are great sources of calcium even though I always think dairy products when I think calcium- so I guess I’m getting calcium from those too. It’s never a bad idea to get bloodwork or a bone density test after an injury, either- glad you got one!
I don’t think it’s possible to be overcautious or paranoid about bone density, since it’s so crucial for female runners in particular. That said, I think you have simply been unlucky. Believe me, I know it’s frustrating to have no real reason behind certain injuries (like my current one, but I had a million reasons for all of my stress fractures!) but I think anyone would break a bone (or six…) if they were hit by a cyclist, and foot stress fractures are less to do with bone density than fractures in other places IMO. I think the fact that you have such a lovely, gazelle-like gait and land on your toes makes you more prone to foot problems, although it looks like such an elegant stride in race photos that it’s a shame it might cause issues!
Anyway, sadly I think your broken bones are down to circumstance more than any errors in training or nutrition, and I’m happy that graph of pain has tapered off towards the end.
That means a lot Jess. They said where I got my sf was more prone for dancers actually. I just hope it means it heals faster :-). I hope your injury feels quickly as well.
Um I expect to see a vlog of your ballet routine stat.
My doctor says that it will hurt at the beginning of resting, due to healing, so there’s that. You should ask to get a DEXA scan. It scans your hip and lumbar spine, to determine if your bone density is good. I’ve had two, passed them both. 🙂
I’m glad one of us is swimming. Can you teach me how to do a one-legged flip turn? #wannabeswimmer
With my last stress reaction ( had a fracture in the past) my orthopedist suggested I up the daily 500mg calcium supplement I take to double it.
The body can’t absorb a ton of calcium at lunch so I space them out throughout the day especially since I eat yogurt for breakfast so often.
That’s great you can walk normally ! 🙂