Set Back

Recently my training to run in the New York City Marathon hit a set back. One Saturday I felt some pain in my foot. I stayed off it as much as I could for a couple of days and it was feeling better so I decided to continue my training. That didn't last long. After a couple of training runs I realized it wasn't getting better and the training runs made it worse. 

I knew I needed help. I made an appointment to visit a podiatrist. They were helpful. They examined my foot and took some x-rays. They diagnosed me with a stress reaction in my foot. While this wasn't a good diagnosis it could have been much worse - at least it wasn't a stress fracture. 

The doctor's orders were to stay off my injured foot as much as possible. They even gave me a large, black boot to wear to help stabilize my foot. They told me I would need to wear it as much as possible for two weeks while I recovered. The more I stayed off my foot the more quickly it would heal. 

Even after two weeks I still wasn't where I wanted to be. While my foot felt better there was some pain when I walked. My foot would also swell if I put pressure on it. The podiatrist took new x-rays and it was healing. They assured me this is part of the process. They told me I could ditch the boot when I no longer had pain walking in my regular footwear. It took a little longer than I hoped, but I eventually I could walk without pain. After that I needed to have 5 days of normal activity with no pain before I could start running again. 

The whole process was quite frustrating. Not at all because of the doctors - they were excellent. I was frustrated with myself. I should have reached out to a professional as soon as I felt pain. Luckily, the week I didn't reach out, did not result in further injury. Running with the stress reaction could have resulted in a stress fracture, which would have been really bad. 

When I received my initial diagnoses I felt depressed. I disliked wearing the boot. It was a constant remainder of my inability to run. It was also hot and often got in the way. Not to mention that it was uncomfortable in general and took forever to put on and take off. I had a hard time feeling motivated to get out of bed in the morning, especially in mornings when I would have been going on a training run. I put a lot of pressure on myself to hurry up and get better so that I could continue to train. I loathed social interaction with my boot. I didn't want to answer people's questions about my injury and how it would impact my marathon training. I spent the weeks I was injured feeling stressed and disappointed. 

My whole injury situation was frustrating. I had no ability to change what had happened. I also had no way to make my body heal faster. I had to listen to the doctors and trust the process. It was hard, but that is what I did. 

While I was recovering I found ways to stay active and maintain my fitness from my recent training. I bought equipment and began aqua jogging. I am sure I looked absolutely ridiculous running laps in the Daybreak pool. It was a good workout (closest thing to running I could do) and totally worth it. I also began riding a stationary bike, as well as taking occasional bike rides around my neighborhood. I did everything I could to find low impact ways to maintain my cardiovascular fitness, while I patiently waited for my foot to recover. 

I also recalibrated by expectations. I won't be able to complete the marathon training program that I started. My training so far has created a good base. I threw out the old program and found a new one that will work better in the time I have left to train. This program focuses on getting to the finish line, rather than on training to complete the race at a specific goal time. 

My doctors also stepped in to help with preventing the reoccurrence of this injury. I have high arches. These arches make me more susceptible to shin splints and stress reactions. My doctor built custom orthotics to wear while I run that should help me avoid these types of injuries. 

This injury was unexpected and disappointing. Despite the set back I still plan to run in this years NYC Marathon. Here's for better health and no more unexpected set backs during the next few months of training.