It’s hard to believe I’m now four weeks deep into a calcaneus stress fracture. Everything else in the world seems more important. Even if I was healthy, like any runner, all my races are canceled or postponed. I get to start a slow return to running in another two weeks. So I guess I’ll begin counting down to that.
I will say, with everything shut down, I miss the pool. I appreciated and enjoyed the ability to disconnect away from everything-just put my face in the water and swim.
Anyway, after last week and doing little to nothing, I decided to start doing some core and strength workouts at home. Instead of focusing on what I can’t do, I’ve focused on what I can. I wrote an entire post about at-home workout apps that I’m enjoying and I’ve started doing that. It gives me some routine in the morning.
I don’t have a lot to say about workouts this week. I pick a 30-minute strength workout to do each morning. I try and do a different one each day and have alternated between arms, core, back, and core. I don’t do anything high impact or weight-bearing just because I do, after all, have a broken foot.
How I’m Feeling Physically:
I got a stress fracture in my calcaneus on March 1st. I’m almost positive of that because the pain after the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Run came on fast. Since then, I haven’t had a lot of pain, if any. Now I’m at the point if I’m not wearing my boot, I forget which foot it is. I know I need a couple more weeks of not running. I want to think I’m healing because I’m not in pain (literally my pain is zero), but I haven’t tried to run on it and I haven’t taken any long walks or hikes either (which not hiking was one of the harder parts for me).
How I’m Feeling Mentally:
For injury and myself, the pendulum swings in either direction: either I don’t take an injury well and I’m devastated or I’m sad but it doesn’t ruin “everything.” Right now, with everything going on, my stress fracture seems like a small ordeal. In fact, my follow up X-ray as well as doctors’ appointments have been canceled. Which is more than understandable.
I am having a harder time dealing with missing the pool. I finally felt like I was getting back into it. I mentioned I miss swimming for swimming, not swimming to cross-train for running. When the pool finally opens up, I don’t know where I’ll be: swimming or running?
I’m handling the injury extremely well. Excluding all current events (hard I know), I think if I were running well, I would have been a lot sadder. But I was running nearly 10 minutes slower than my half marathon PR and 20 minute 5ks didn’t feel “easy.” (which in a different life ago, they did). So I know the break was what I probably needed.
Posts from the Week:
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Questions for you:
How is your training going?
How are you doing with social distancing?