Incase you missed last week, I was having a little bit of ankle pain. After several tests including an MRI, the doctors were able to figure out I have a fifth metatarsal fracture. I haven’t run in close to three weeks, so I’m well on my way to healing. It’s interesting because I posted I mentally felt like I needed a break about 2 weeks ago, and it could have been my bodies way to signal about my foot. This means I’m no longer training for anything, but I will be working out. Since I have the whole MRI on my computer, why not attach a photo for blogging right?
This will be a two-part post since I feel like I have two separate thought processes to go along with the injury. The first is this post dedicated to my training which is obviously affected.
The second part (which I’ll post tomorrow) is my thoughts on how I got this injury.
It was incredibly shocking to both my doctor and myself to discover a minor crack in my fifth metatarsal. They guessed it was a sprained ankle or something muscular in the peroneal tendon. It was shocking to me as well considering I have normally been living for the past month.
So how long do I have of no running?
Right now about three more weeks. Since I haven’t run for three weeks, I have three more to go. My fracture in my fifth metatarsal takes 4-6 weeks to heal. To give you the reality of my foot is it doesn’t hurt right now. I’m walking, moving and being an average person (minus the running). I do think that’s part of the problem; I don’t feel or even appear to be injured.
Right now I feel as if I could honestly run. I’m not doing anything stupid to hurt myself more, and I’ll continue to rest.
What do I plan to do for the next few weeks?
I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started to plan my “attack.”
Recovery/Bone Building Plan:
Is that a thing? #bonebuilding
- I’ve already upped the necessary vitamins to continue bone growth. While I already take a Vitamin D and Calcium supplement, I’ve increased the amount. Before my fracture, I took Vitamin D and Calcium supplements.
- Bone Stimulator: I’m lucky my father in law has a bone stimulator in his back pocket. This isn’t necessary, but it sure is helpful.
Workout Plan:
As far as a bone break goes, it’s the best case scenario. I’m not training for anything during the summer; I’m already about halfway healed, and I have a lot of different resources to keep me working out. It doesn’t feel like I’ve broken anything. I’ve never been in pain, and I’m already three weeks into healing.
I don’t have a need to complain about my injury because I’m able to do other things. If everything goes well, I should be running by the end of the month. Running being minimal miles, not in full training mode. If it hurts, I won’t do it. So far, the only thing that bothers me is running, but I’m not doing that.
I’ll take some workout classes, elliptical, swim and do core. I’ll do things I didn’t “have the time” to do while running.
I’ve already gone to my first spin class which wasn’t too bad.
Figuring Out Causes…Plan:
I’ll ramble away tomorrow, but I’m prone to metatarsal fractures. Why is that? I received a bone density test and (shockingly) everything came back normal. To be honest, I expected to have low bone density or be deficient on something! While my last fracture was two years ago, I’ve had a few fractures in the last six years, and it’s a few too many.
So I’ll continue working with my orthopedist and doctor to find the root problem. Once I can run in again, I’m going to get a full gait analysis.
Questions for you:
How was your week of training?
Have you ever had a gait analysis?
Good luck with your healing! Even though 4-6 weeks seems like a long time, when you think about it, it’s only a blip in the radar. It’s interesting you have had a few of these in the last few years and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on it tomorrow. My body seems to be “prone” to more tendon / joint issues, I have not had a stress fracture (knock on wood!!) but I’ve had many bouts of tendinitis Grrr 🙁 I’m taking a break from running due to my hamstring feeling a bit sore after my half marathon and the training for that which was at the end of May, and it’s getting a lot better which I’m thankful for. You’ll heal up in no time!!
I agree with you that 4-6 weeks is such a short amount of time. Luckily I’m almost at 4 weeks by this point. Thank you for stopping by Lindsay, I appreciate your words of wisdom.
So sorry to hear this 🙁 I hope that it heals up really quickly. Thank goodness you’ve been taking time off or it could have been much worse!
I’m interested to hear your thoughts tomorrow on how/why this happened. Sometimes I swear it’s just random. I am relieved to hear your bone density is good! Hang in there and try to enjoy the other activities for awhile.
sorry to hear this 🙁 I’m injured as well and it just sucks, but sometimes it’s the world’s way of saying “let’s use this time to plan”. we get stronger in other ways and we come back with more knowledge and more excitement than ever before. hope you have a speedy and successful recovery!
So sorry about your injury. I’m glad you’re not in a boot or crutches or anything, but sometimes that’s even harder. With my injury 2 years ago, I was able to do a lot of cross training and many things, and I remember people asking if I could walk the 5Ks I was signed up for because they saw me boot-less. I could walk for daily life (i.e., into the gas station or grocery store), but not a 5K! Good call for doing spin, the bone simulator, and just resting overall. Plus making sure you get adequate calcium and vitamin D is a great plan and hopefully helps the healing process as well.
So sorry you are injured. Wishing you a speedy recovery and return to running!
Awesome you are using the bone simulator! Gait analysis confirmed a few things I already knew, and seeing how much force your feet/joints are taking helps you make changes. Wishing you a healthy recovery.
wow those mri’s really do show so much! i almost had to have one when i got my stress fracture last year but thanksfully it got better and we didnt need to do that. sorry you have to take 3 more weeks off but lucky its during the summer!
Ugh getting injured is always frustrating but I do think we learn a lot from every one. I’ll be interested to hear what they say about your gait analysis when you get it. Hopefully you enjoy the spinning and other workouts until you are ready to run again!
I’m sorry to hear about your foot,,but at least you stop running at the right time.
I’m glad you are healing , and resting, resting during the summer is good for now since it does get hot to run ..
It great you found other activities to keep you occupied,and spend more time with Tim. maybe you can help him work on his cars.lol….
Happy healing hollie.
That’s a bummer, Hollie! But I can vouch for the bone stimulator– it helped my stress fracture heal in 4 weeks as opposed to six. You’re lucky you got access to one so quickly.
I’m proud of you for thinking on the bright side, because if you do have to be injured, this is the best time. My week of training was relaxed and restorative. I’m kind of burnt out. It’s extremely hot, so I have just been going for very slow, sunset jogs to my mom’s house. It’s nice to have a place to run and then sit and chat. But an air conditioned spin class sounds much better. You’re one of the strongest people I know, Hollie. If you’re strong enough to run so hard, you’re strong enough to rest when you need it. You have a wonderful life of running ahead of you.
I feel like there are two kinds of people: Ones that feel relieved after they know what’s going on with their body, and others that feel as the news is defeating. I’m definitely the former, and sort of see how you could be, too.:)
I’m so happy that you’re already on the plan of attack!
Any lack of running drives me crazy, and you seem to have a great attitude and plan but I’ll give you some encouragement from the olden days anyway. When I was in school our star basketball player Dereck Whittenburg suffered a compound fracture of the fifth metatarsal. He returned 46 days later, hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, and then led NC State to an upset national championship. Wishing you the best.
That’s a really motivating stay, thanks for stopping by and sharing!
It seems like I experience more tendon/muscle/joint issues compared to bone (knock on wood!!!), not sure which is worse haha! glad you are halfway there to healing!!
I love your IG post the other day from the pool with the Adele lyrics. Per usual, you’re being really smart and responsible about this news. And like you said, if it had to happen, now is an OK time. Sending you speedy healing vibes!