What a Break!

In my last post I talked about the Canyonlands Half Marathon and my failure to complete the race.  Since that time I have gained more knowledge about what caused my elimination from the race.  Though the first orthopedic doctor I saw concluded that I had several strained tendons, the doctor I saw last Tuesday came to a different conclusion and was able to back it up with X-Ray film. The fibula in my left leg is fractured.  In all likelihood this is an injury that I have had for quite a while but then I pushed it to the limit on race day and caused the bone to complete fracture.

The fracture seems to be a stress fracture, but is a complete fracture through the bone as opposed to a hairline fracture in which the bone is still intact.  Due to my running schedule, my shoes or some bio-mechanical issue with my running gait the pain that I started to feel 3 weeks before the race was likely the beginning of the fracture.  The first 2 miles of the race were relatively downhill and the constant beating my legs took as I ran caused the bone to come under additional stress.  The "popping" that I felt at mile 1.5 could have actually been the bone finally giving way and completely fracturing. 

The treatment for this injury is pretty much the same as it would be if it were strained tendons - rest and wear a "boot" to keep my leg as stable and as immobile as possible.  Two weeks after the injury it isn't too bad as the pain has mostly diminished and I have gotten used to the boot.  However when I have put a lot of pressure on the leg or I have done a lot of lateral movement my body definitely makes me aware that I have a broken bone!

The most frustrating thing for me is that I am not able to do the things that I normally do.  Walking with the boot is a pain in the butt and the doctor has told me to stay off my leg as much as I can.  The boot definitely made our spring break trip to Orlando much more interesting - but I still did it and pushed myself as hard as I could.  But that is a story for my next blog entry!

I haven't been doing really good in keeping up with my blogging in recent weeks, but I am going to try and do much better in the future.  For whatever reason I just haven't felt the desire to write.  But I kind of feel the desire beginning to return.  Also I have some really good pictures to post that will make my writing fun!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

FYSRD!