50 replies to this topic

[Cowboy]

Hi All

I just thought that I would give everyone an update on where I have been and how I have been going with my Stress Fracture..

About 3 months ago my Sports Doc diagnosed me the best she could without having a Bone scan to a Stress Fracture. So the gruelling 6-8 weeks off running began. To make sure that I wanted my Tibial Stressy to heal properly, I took 11 weeks off. During this time I found a love for cycling and swimming and also doing the couple of weight sessions in a week.

Seeing a podiatrist and physio, I had to change the way I stood and walking and eventually when I could, how I ran. I rolled in too much and practiced on a wobble board, how to stand on one leg, concentrating on the outside of my foot so I didn't roll in.

During this time I also upped my calcium intake and also took Silica, which I am still taking, I also on occasion did self massage and cold packs.

About 4 weeks into it I was getting fed up, the spot was still tender and at times when I had to run across the road to avoid being run over, the spot came to light again. I was not sure if the massage was helping or making it worse, but did give an understanding as to if the spot, swelling was going down or not. Eventually I got fed up with the self massage as well and forgot about my leg as I concentrated on swimming and cycling.

Finally at week 11 I decided to start again. I found this great website on a Seven-Week Schedule for Returning from Injury:

http://www.copacaban...s-fracture.html

I still had my old shoes and used them which were still ok and started my runs on a treadmill. After a week of running the spot came back again and I was getting frustrated with myself. I decided not to do any self massage but kept icing it. After about 3 weeks the pain had gone, but did feel something again. When I could run 20mins straight, I decided to take my runs to the road. I traded my Asics in for a new pair of brooks trance. I then went back to the Seven-Week Schedule and started from the start again so I could get my legs used to the road. I had waiting this long, and without paying for the advise, I decided this was the best course for me. I have been for four runs on the pavement so far and nothing, the swelling is practically gone and I am getting no pain or tenderness.. So I am now up to, Run for 12, Walk for 2, Run for 12, Walk for 2, Run for 10. I have entered to City to surf, which I should be just about ready for, knowing that I probably will not be as good as last year, I am just as happy to enter and try

From this experience I have learned....Do not over do it, do not increase km's crazy like the way I did, give your body time to heal, rest so the next time you go at it again, you are stronger....Have the right shoes and replace them when worn.

I would also like to thank everyone here for their advice, its been of a great advantage, I would have never have known half of what I know today..

Coolrunning is truly a great thing for RUNNERS!!!!

[Gronk]

Nice work Cowboy. I'm sidelined with a SF at the moment and plan to use the seven week schedule that you recommended or perhaps the Pfitzinger one.

Either way its 39 days to go for me.  

[Emrun]

Well done Cowboy, good to see you on the comeback trail, I read all your threads when I first suspected I had a stressie.

FWIW here is my Stressie Tale.....

My last "proper" though painful run was on 8th May, a week later I had a bone scan and 2 days later had the bad news, 2 tibial stress fractures, one in each leg.  At first I was gutted and could only think about how I was going to lose most of my first AV season and all my goals for the year were dissolving before my eyes.

So on the 9th of May I threw myself into the Pete Pfitzinger pool running program and with a few exceptions have pretty much been in the pool just about every day since, including marathon 90 minute "long run" sessions on Sundays.  

I chose to go down the Sports Medical professional route and have been 100% happy with my decision to go that way.  My doctor was invaluable in advising me both on my cross training and rehab program.  Had I not seen a doctor I would have kept myself fit with some light swimming, spin classes and the elliptical trainer.  However the doctor nixed both the spin and the elliptical as these would have put too much stress on my injury, I believe that if I had not had her telling me to stick to the pool the injury would still be lingering.

I am now half way through my run/walk program which consists of run/walk every second day for 21 days, I started this 6 weeks to the day after my diagnosis -
Day 1 & 3 - W4 R1 for 20 minutes
Day 5 & 7 - W3 R2 for 20 minutes
Day 9 & 11 - W2 R3 for 20 minutes
Day 13 & 15 - W1 R4 for 20 minutes
Day 17, 19 & 21 - W1 R5 for 30 minutes

Then on Day 21 it is back to the doctor to asses how my legs are feeling and discuss the strategy for the return to normal training, speedwork and racing as well as ensuring correct practices are put in place for prevention of further injury.

I was also referred to a Pod for gait assessment and am picking up a pair of custom orthotics tomorrow.

Having a dedicated sports doctor overseeing my recovery and return to running has been worth every cent to me and all but $25 of the consultation came back from Medicare, I also got a fair bit back from the bone scan as well.  In my case I went with the bone scan because despite having 2 Stressies there was no discernible hot spot that could be felt with a hands on examination.

Added to this has been 2 courses of anti-inflams, increasing the calcium in my diet (my intake was pitifully low), self massage every night and professional massage to break up the adhesions, dry needling to manage the swelling and icing nightly.

Whether you choose to have a doc oversee your injury or take care of it yourself the most important thing is to maintain a positive frame of mind, Stress Fractures suck, but you can wallow in self pity or strap on the floaty belt, get in the pool and deal with it.

For me at least there is finally some light and the end of the tunnel and I will soon be able to test whether or not all this pool running has paid off.  I reckon I have worked harder through injury to maintain fitness and not gain weight than when I am not injured, hopefully this will also bring a new discipline to my training.

To anyone else out there unlucky enough to sustain a long term injury please be assured that all you need to do is reassess your goals for the medium term, start a cross training program and you WILL get through it, it may sound sappy but positive thinking is the key  

[glenda]

4 and a bit weeks for me before I can run. Pftitzinger also has a great deep water running program which I am following. I have had longer time off in the past but not due to injury so I think coming back this time I will be  a bit more tentative. Of couyrse if I hadn't run on the fracture for 4 weeks I might be closer to my comeback than I am now. Just shows you don't get any smarter as you get older.

[moby]

Good to hear these positive reports of peoples recovery.  

It is 24 days since I broke down with a metatarsal stress fracture in my left foot.  No prior pain or warning it was just suddenly there.  I go back to the podiatrist in 7 days to see where it is at.  I haven’t been water running, just spinning on the bike.  Never would have imagined I'd be looking forward so much to being able to walk 4mins and jog 1!

From what I’ve read it is not unusual to have some strange sensations at the site of the sfx once you return to light running.

[cliffold]

Can't believe there are so many out there with the dreaded stressies

I went down on a bush run on Boxing Day with a hip stress fracture just 6 months after a heel stressie
Took 10 days to get positive diagnosis (MRI) then onto crutches for 3 weeks
I knew I had osteopenia but didn't take it seriously enough
My GP told me I would never run again - (he is now my ex GP)
Always told him I had a high calcium intake but when I calculated it properly I was only at 50% of the recomended allowance so now take a supplement (as well as the Fosamax)

Was going so crazy with inactivity, even swimming hurt, that I resorted to a couple of sprints on crutches over the little hill at olympic park.  Got a lot of strange looks (and raw underarms)

Bought a $30 bike which I was able to ride by March then by about week 16 got into once weekly jog/walks after a ride to warm up
Just as those rehab programs say, the first few times running it's like you've never run before
I read every thread on this site and followed all the links to come up with a training program
Downloaded a training diary then modified it to incorporate a "stress" factor so I could track not just distance & time but total stress for the week.  It's just guesswork but I know I mustn't increase the stress by more than 5% per week.  (if I do then I need a softer week following)

I have built up to a weekly total of 15k (if low impact & flat & slow) and am pain free.  Am very cautious about downhills on concrete (run up the hills and walk down for safety).  I would love to be running more often & longer but must be patient

Did a 12k fun run recently with a huge smile on my face.  Will do my first City to Surf this year, then as I build up will do a first half then full then........6ft in 2009 then bury me at Caves house

It's such a pleasure to be back running I won't take it for granted ever again.  I will be disciplined and keep the increase slow and build up a base as all the experienced runners on this site tell us.  

Even though a newbie I feel profoundly for those long term runners whose injuries may prevent them from returning to running for a much longer time than I've had to put up with

Hang in there

[MPHinLondon]

Great to hear everyone is on the mend. I too had pains in the same spot 10 weeks after non running, in fact the sesation was exactly the same when I had the SF, so much so I had another bone scan..

Anyway I was told it was 'phantom pains' (is that like growing pains?) and sure enough after a few weeks of running it went away, so don't get stressed out if you get the sensations in the same area (assuming you had enough recovery), it's just your body getting used to the stress in the same area again.

I always thought a stressie wouldn't be such a big deal, 6t weeks recovery and back into it, yeah right. In reality it takes over 3 months out of your running life as it takes that long to come back gradually. Hope never to have another again!

[RedRunner]

Hi Guys - is good reading all these posts and hearing about everyone's experiences especially post stress fracture and recovery.
I've just been on crutches and in a cast for 7 weeks for my navicular stress fracture so am now starting the slow rehab process - I could do some gym work and pilates when I had the cast on but no cardio. It all feels quite strange at the moment - am feeling aches in my foot which I hope is just from everything being so stiff for so long. I am getting great physio and after a couple of weeks will go and get assessed by a pod to see what is going on with my biomechanics...MPH  - agree with you it will take months not weeks - but I'm certainly not rushing it because I want to do everything now to stay fit!
All my goals have changed for the rest of the year - my only goal now is to recovery to 100% fitness and be a better runner by the end of the year, I did the Ironman in April so have done my big race for the year. I realise I needed a rest and having the sf was the only way that would have happened so I think it's good for my body. I'm looking forward to running again so much - in a way it will be a really enjoyable time being able to enter fun runs and just enjoy running and not training hard and gradually build back up to full fitness - I also plan to do more preventative work- have worked on core strength and will start some yoga to be in the best state possible. Have already been swimming and will start pool running tomorrow - managed to go to the gym today and do some very easy cycling and light weights - feels good to be mobile again!
Hope everyone recovers well - see you out there soon!

[moby]

Quick report back on this injury thread.

Tomorrow it will 13 weeks since my stress fracture occurred.     Over the past month I’ve been doing about 30mins jogging in slowly increasing increments with a walk break in between.  So 6 x 5mins, then 5 x 6mins, 4 x 8, 3 x 10, 2 x 15 etc.  I am now about to start running without walk breaks but starting with just 25mins and continuing to build slowly for at least another month.  With the weather starting to warm up it’s a great feeling to be out and moving around again.

It’s been a long, slow process but I decided to take things easy and make sure I recovered properly and minimised the risk of re-injuring it.  I knew immediately it occurred that Melbourne Mara was out so I re-evaluated my goals and decided I wouldn’t be doing any serious running until next year.  I’m basically targeting a 12 month process where if on 9 June 2008 I am as fit as I was on 9 June 2007 when the injury occurred I’ll be happy.

I did a fair bit of spinning on the bike early on but got incredibly bored with it and so have taken the opportunity to freshen up mentally and have a bit of a break from the compulsion to train.

I hope those others with stresses have/are recovering well also.

[run2work]

Question for those with stressies. Have you had bone density tests and if so did you have loss of bone density, and if you did have loss, are you on bone density drugs?
I have severe osteporosis in my lumbar spine but have never had a stressie (that I know of).
Run2Work

[glenda]

I'm back running. I've lost a bit of fitness but feel strong from all my swimming and cycling...although that still presents a challenge in terms of staying upright as i tend to be very bad at unclipping those darned cleats. I've yet to venture beyond 4 runs a week, but as i've shelved any marathon plans for this year that's ok.

[Gronk]

 moby, on Sep 7 2007, 10:30 AM, said:

Quick report back on this injury thread.

Tomorrow it will 13 weeks since my stress fracture occurred.     Over the past month I've been doing about 30mins jogging in slowly increasing increments with a walk break in between.  So 6 x 5mins, then 5 x 6mins, 4 x 8, 3 x 10, 2 x 15 etc.  I am now about to start running without walk breaks but starting with just 25mins and continuing to build slowly for at least another month.  With the weather starting to warm up it's a great feeling to be out and moving around again.

It's been a long, slow process but I decided to take things easy and make sure I recovered properly and minimised the risk of re-injuring it.  I knew immediately it occurred that Melbourne Mara was out so I re-evaluated my goals and decided I wouldn't be doing any serious running until next year.  I'm basically targeting a 12 month process where if on 9 June 2008 I am as fit as I was on 9 June 2007 when the injury occurred I'll be happy.

I did a fair bit of spinning on the bike early on but got incredibly bored with it and so have taken the opportunity to freshen up mentally and have a bit of a break from the compulsion to train.

I hope those others with stresses have/are recovering well also.

I'm a few weeks back as well. I've been out with a upper tibia stressie since may. I am following the Pfitzinger program and have found it great. So far so good !

[Emrun]

Yep, there is life after a Stressie (or two)  

I have progressed though my run/walk program and my doctor told me last Saturday that she is happy for me to start rebuilding my mileage and has given me permission to do some modified "speed work" in the form of strides on grass for the next 4 weeks.

I have started adding consecutive running days into my plan and next week will step up to 5 days a week after running 4 days a week for the past 3 weeks.

I don't plan too much in advance, rather I take each day as it comes, asses how I am feeling and run accordingly.  I have also had a good rethink of how I am planning on training going forward and have started to be more relaxed about my workouts and am running to time not distance.  

By my reckoning this injury will take 6 months from my running life, 7 weeks off running and then 4 months or so to regain fitness and mileage base.

PATIENCE is the order of the day, I can't stress that enough - pun totally unintended

All the pool running has given me some killer core strength though!

To answer your question run2work I have not had a bone density test, my doctor did not believe it was necessary in my case.  I have since been fitted with orthotics and have increased the calcium in my diet and so far so good.

Hope everyone else out there similarly afflicted are doing well with their recoveries and return to running, I wouldn't wish this injury on my worst enemy.

[cliffold]

 moby, on Sep 7 2007, 10:30 AM, said:

.......................... I’m basically targeting a 12 month process where if on 9 June 2008 I am as fit as I was on 9 June 2007 when the injury occurred I’ll be happy.

Moby

That's a positive approach.  I underestimated the amount of time it takes to recover especially given the need to increase time/distance very gradually.  Full fitness back in a year sounds great to me

Currently up to 25km a week without damage but have been told not to exceed 30k weekly until bone density shows a significant improvement.  Guess that rules out training for anything more than 10k events.  Still, it beats walking!  

[MPHinLondon]

Just out of curiosity were any of you that got a stressie trying to hit a set race weight or just trying to lose weight? I got mine when I was at my lightest ever and I've heard others mention the same too.

[kathmandu]

thats interesting, so are you suggesting low calorie intake often = too lower calcium intake? or some other mechanism. You'd think the lighter weight would be better on bone stress.

Hmmm.....might go have that piece of carrot cake for afternoon tea then, for the sake of my bones.

[KT26]

Whether you choose to have a doc oversee your injury or take care of it yourself the most important thing is to maintain a positive frame of mind, Stress Fractures suck, but you can wallow in self pity or strap on the floaty belt, get in the pool and deal with it.


[/quote]

That's exactly what I'm trying to do too! I'm on crutches with a stress response/fracture in my femur. The only thing I can really do is swim without kicking too hard so I'm doing all my laps with the pool buoy which is killer on the upper body...

Good to hear other stories of recovery from stress fractures. Gives me hope that I will be able to run again...

[MPHinLondon]

 KatieG, on Sep 7 2007, 04:14 PM, said:

thats interesting, so are you suggesting low calorie intake often = too lower calcium intake? or some other mechanism. You'd think the lighter weight would be better on bone stress.

Hmmm.....might go have that piece of carrot cake for afternoon tea then, for the sake of my bones.

that sounds very logical

Yeah not sure about the reasons, I've never had a diet rich in calcium and my running didn't jump too dramatically.

I suppose when I was trying to get as lean as I could I completely cut out cheese, had skim milk etc, not massive changes I guess but I was watching what I ate and drank a lot more. I take calcium tablets now, as I still don't eat get a lot of dairy in my diet.

[kathmandu]

I just looked up a nutrition book and they reckon runners need at least need 3 serves of calcium a day (ie a serve equals a glass of milk, or a cup of yoghurt or a 1.5oz slice of cheese). Otherwise we risk decreasing bone density and increasing risk of stress fractures.

Also apparently bone density naturally decreases from age 35, so it becomes more important to consume calcium. And more important again for amenhorreic females.

I just passed 35 a few weeks back.......so better go a glass of milk with that carrot cake.

Thanks for the incentive to look that up MPH

[MPHinLondon]

no worries! Hey, does 3 serves equate to a set amount in gms?  I take 2x calcium with with vit D tablets a day which comes to 1.2g of calcium a day.

[kathmandu]

Yep, they say we need 1,000mg per day and are calling a serve 300mg.
So you're well and truely fine with 1.2g.

[Emrun]

 MPH, on Sep 7 2007, 04:09 PM, said:

Just out of curiosity were any of you that got a stressie trying to hit a set race weight or just trying to lose weight? I got mine when I was at my lightest ever and I've heard others mention the same too.

Yeah, I am reasonably lean but I was trying to lose about 3Kg and dairy was pretty much the first to go, in hindsight pretty stupid hey!

Coupled with the fact that I was starting to hit some serious mileage, was doing 2 speed sessions a week, one short and the other long intervals and also had some bio-mechanical issues I guess it was a disaster looking for a place to happen.  Especially as I was still a relative beginner with only a year of regular running behind me before I started to "get serious", again in hindsight it was probably a case of too much too soon.

I was lucky to emerge from my injury only about 1Kg over my pre-injury weight (it was hard work let me tell you) and have now modified my diet to include more low fat dairy and also a couple of supplements a day as recommended by my doctor.

Have lost the extra Kg and am now working on that 3Kg, though with a more sensible approach this time  

I still have a stack of unfinished business and the ambition is burning in me, just need to be sensible and believe in myself and I will get there, injury free this time :-)

[Ellie80]

interesting thread and very close to my heart. I am nearly at 8 weeks out with a sacral stress fracture and after the doctor pressed on it very hard last week she thinks that I will be able to commence my return to walking and then running in another 2 or 3 weeks (which is quicker than the anticipated 12 weeks).

She said that her rule of thumb was that it takes as long as you were out (ie 10 weeks) to get back to where you were - which seems ok for me!

In any event my main goal now is not to rush back into running but to build my fitness up again, work on core strength and fix my running style so that this never ever happens again. I am quite excited!

(oh and mine definitely wasn't related to any deficit of calories

[glenda]

MPH I was /am lean, about 10% body fat, but that is normal for me for last 2 plus years and I don't try to lose weight. But I was doing marathon training, and running faster/ harder than I have ever done. Anyhow 3 drs have now suggested I get my bone density checked... This is my first stress fracture so I'm not convinced it's due to my leanness...is that a word?

[Cowboy]

It has been one slow process for me. I was going good at one stage and went to hard on one run, I started to develop Shin Splints and backed off again, I could now have compartment syndrome.

Apparently I am not the ideal runner, my legs bow which is the main cause of my shin splints and Stress Fracture. If I didn't have cycling and swimming I would be truly depressed.

Sometimes I get so frustrated because I just want to run and being told you don't have the best biomechanics is a bit of a blow.

I have been running on treadmills so far, but when does one know to take their runs to the road?

[smiddo]

 Cowboy, on Sep 11 2007, 02:10 PM, said:

If I didn't have cycling and swimming I would be truly depressed.

Cowboy, I'm hearing you on this. I sustained an injury about 6-8 weeks ago and kept running with pain when i shouldn't. Haven't ran now for about four weeks and finally had an xray yesterday. To my surprise it showed areas of new bone healing on my tibia and fibula - possibly as a result of a stress fracture. Haven't got the official word yet. The only positive is that over the last few weeks my cycling has picked up and I've done more weights than ever.  Not sure how long it will take to get back too running but I'm resigned to the fact that slow and steady is best. The local Pool is opening in a few weeks and will get plenty of workout. It is very frustrating. I think my injury is due to running on old shoes and upping the km's too quick so there is lessons to be learnt there.

[Cowboy]

SLOW and STEADY is something I think we need to engrave on our hands. You will have a good run and think, oh if I am ok now then I am right to go for it...I am also finding it hard to get the right advice, everyone seems to be saying something different or not enough. For a sport that we love so much it comes with a lot of injuries. I remember as a kid being able to run to my hearts content.

[brizza]

cowboy,(and anyone else)stress fractures in the middle third of the medial border of the tibia can be caused by wearing antipronation shoes when you don't pronate enough to merit such a shoe,pronation caused by an uncompensated rearfoot varus can also lead to a stressie in the same area in the above shoes.i always send people to a specialist running shoe shop for fitting as i know that steve at the athletic edge in sydney is familiar with this stuff and assume the others are too-briz

[ShufflinSam]

 Cowboy, on Sep 11 2007, 02:10 PM, said:

Apparently I am not the ideal runner, my legs bow which is the main cause of my shin splints and Stress Fracture. If I didn't have cycling and swimming I would be truly depressed.

Sometimes I get so frustrated because I just want to run and being told you don't have the best biomechanics is a bit of a blow.

Cowboy I feel your pain (literally, in fact).  I too have bad, really bad, biomechanics and as you said it's a real blow to be know that my running style (or lack thereof) is the main cause of my injury.  I had a bone scan yesterday and have an early SF in one shin and shin splints (I think, not great with the medical jargon) in both.  I'm seeing the physio tomorrow to find out the best plan of recovery but I was just wondering, were you allowed to do cycling and swimming straight away?  

And also did you do any deep water running to supplement the other training?  I asked at my local pool (Cook and Philip) last night if I could do it and they said "only in quiet times" so I'm trying to find somewhere not quite so busy - anyone got a spare pool lying around?   

I must say though, I was so upset when I was told I wouldn't be able to run between 1 to 3 months pending the scan, it was the first time I really felt like a runner. Ironic!

[Beki]

Looks like I might be joining this thread too - I've got a while before my appt with the sports doc so am just treating it as a stressie to be on the safe side in the meantime.  I thought it was just shin splints but after a week of no running I have started to get the pains like a knitting needle jabbed into my tibia at rest and also at night when going to sleep (woken up by it too).  I have a lump about midway up my shin on the inside which was tender to touch but is better now I have been icing it.  The pain is very specific to this lump on my leg and nowhere else - fine when walking but too painful to run

Shufflinsam - I swim at Cook and Philip and was wondering myself where I'd be able to DWR - the smaller pool isn't deep enough and I can't see it being an option in the 50m pool

In the meantime I'm concentrating on my swimming, which lucky for me I am really enjoying as I see the improvements.  I want to get out on my bike more and am hoping this won't stress my leg too much.  I was told it should be OK as long as I stay in the saddle and don't go too hard

I know that I don't get nearly enough calcium in my diet, I rarely have dairy and only drink soy milk (which is not calcium fortified as far as I know).  I'm trying hard to remedy this by swapping some of my less healthy snacks for things like low fat cheese and plain yogurt with fruit.  I don't really want to take supplements and may as well work on getting it in my diet (my nutrition needs a bit of a shake up anyway)

[brizza]

hi beki,
the winter before last i did some swimming at cook and philip and often saw people doing DPW

[moby]

 ShufflinSam, on Sep 19 2007, 10:01 AM, said:

I'm seeing the physio tomorrow to find out the best plan of recovery but I was just wondering, were you allowed to do cycling and swimming straight away?

See what the physio says but it seems it is OK for a stressie in the foot, but perhaps not in the lower leg as both cycling and swimming can put some torsional stress on the site which can delay the initial healing.

[FakePlasticTrees]

 moby, on Sep 19 2007, 03:14 PM, said:

See what the physio says but it seems it is OK for a stressie in the foot, but perhaps not in the lower leg as both cycling and swimming can put some torsional stress on the site which can delay the initial healing.

Riding and swimming are fine. Just don't stand up on the bike.

[Emrun]

I did DWR at Cook and Phillip when I was in Sydney for work earlier this year.  I was there after 630pm and found that they were perfectly happy for me to do this in the designated Slow Swim lane, there were a few swimmers and they were not fussed.

[ShufflinSam]

 Emrun, on Sep 19 2007, 03:56 PM, said:

I did DWR at Cook and Phillip when I was in Sydney for work earlier this year.  I was there after 630pm and found that they were perfectly happy for me to do this in the designated Slow Swim lane, there were a few swimmers and they were not fussed.

Maybe the poor girl I spoke to was having a particularly bad day!  From now on (at least once I get the go ahead from the physio, my GP wasn't overly enthused about it yesterday) I'll just go and do it in the slow lane and see if anyone says anything.  A friend has also said I can use their indoor pool in their apartment complex - just got to find out how deep the deep end is.

[Beki]

SS - if you go reasonably late in the evening it is very quiet.  We left at about 8.30pm last night after a swim and a couple of the lanes were empty with only one person in the slow "any stroke" lane.  I reckon after 8pm you would have no problems.  It seems to be the pool the people go to on their way home from work if that makes sense

[knassy]

There seems to be two common themes to a lot of DWR posts: boredom, and difficulty finding a suitable location.

Does booking a lane and doing a group session sounds like a solution to both?

The pricing schedule at the Cook Phillip Pool, for example only, seems to be fairly reasonable if there were ~4 or more people (normal individual entry fee is still required).

That all said, I have no experience with lane booking, DWR, stress factures, plus too many other things to list! It just seems like it might be a reasonable solution if people were willing to group up.

[ShufflinSam]

 Beki, on Sep 20 2007, 11:48 AM, said:

SS - if you go reasonably late in the evening it is very quiet.  We left at about 8.30pm last night after a swim and a couple of the lanes were empty with only one person in the slow "any stroke" lane.  I reckon after 8pm you would have no problems.  It seems to be the pool the people go to on their way home from work if that makes sense

It does make sense - I'm one of the "way home from work people"!  In that case I might try going later, only problem being I can't seem to walk properly at the moment and the doctor has put a ban on me walking any decent distance so I'll either have learn to ride my new bike quickly (and at night - scary) or drive and try to park nearby.

[Beki]

When living in Melbourne I used to be a member at Aqualink - they actually had DWR classes on the group fitness timetable.  I never went to one so couldn't vouch for how good they were, I would imagine the group thing would make the activity far less boring.  Maybe somewhere in Sydney runs classes too?

[Cowboy]

I was able to continue doing swimming and cycling which has helped my fitness greatly. Also working the different muscles.

I have never done DWR, but if you go to UNI NSW, they are open till 10pm, if you can go late, they cut their 50m pool into 2 25m and there are not that many people around at night...

[Cowboy]

Hey ShufflinSam

At first its a full blow, hits home really hard. But you just got to keep on going, find something new, work on your recovery, set goals. I bought a bike, cycle to work now, cycle on the weekends, entered in the Sydney Spring Cycle and the Sydney To Gong. These things have helped me so much, its replaced that gap that running used to fill.

I am back at running, but slow, I have a running diary and a running week schedule. If I will never be a long distance runner I will certainly be a good Triathlete!!

[ShufflinSam]

 Cowboy, on Sep 20 2007, 01:19 PM, said:

Hey ShufflinSam

At first its a full blow, hits home really hard. But you just got to keep on going, find something new, work on your recovery, set goals. I bought a bike, cycle to work now, cycle on the weekends, entered in the Sydney Spring Cycle and the Sydney To Gong. These things have helped me so much, its replaced that gap that running used to fill.

I am back at running, but slow, I have a running diary and a running week schedule. If I will never be a long distance runner I will certainly be a good Triathlete!!

Thanks Cowboy that's great to hear.  I too, just bought a road bike on Saturday and pick it up this weekend.  I used to swim a lot so hopefully it won't take long for the muscles to remember what they're supposed to do! Plus I can always paddle around on the surfboard on a calm day (as long as I don't get ambitious and try to stand) - it's great for back strength. I've also read that there are some very short womens triathlons so I think i might make that my initial goal once I can start running again.  Then maybe I can move up to some others.  I think the main thing is just to have a goal in mind!

[MrsMetronome]

 Emrun, on Sep 7 2007, 05:31 PM, said:

Coupled with the fact that I was starting to hit some serious mileage, was doing 2 speed sessions a week, one short and the other long intervals and also had some bio-mechanical issues I guess it was a disaster looking for a place to happen.  Especially as I was still a relative beginner with only a year of regular running behind me before I started to "get serious", again in hindsight it was probably a case of too much too soon.

Hi and everyone in recovery from horrible stressies!  Thanks for great advice too!

Emrun - Your situation sound very familiar.  I am sure if you take things a little more slowly you will make a full recovery.  

2 years ago my husband and I hadn't run since high school, so we decided to start running to lose weight.  We targeted the R4K 15.2k in April 2007 and after a positive experience started training in earnest after this time.

Since then my running mileage per week increased dramatically.  In March 2008 I ran my first ever 12hr run at Coburg -which ended up being 24hrs (a long story!).  I managed to qualify for the World 24hr championship this October in Korea, so trained furiously from March onwards.  Alas, this is whether the story goes sour.  

I sustained a femoral stress fracture and haven't run since Saturday 2nd of August 2008.  Korea's definitely out for this year   , but I am now targeting next years 24hr event in May.  I hope this is achievable?

So this is the start of my 9th week of not being able to run.  I have read much of the advice about rehabilitation from a stressie and find that I am still confused about what to do in the next few weeks where I am supposed to be on restricted weight bearing activities.

Most of the recovery advice deals with the slow integration of running back into our lives (I get this - but?. My question is about the amount of cross training I should do during in the weeks after coming off crutches? How much cycling is too much too soon?

I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on how much cycling and cross training I can do without prolonging my recovery from my femoral shaft stress fracture. Am I doing damage if I have nothing more than a slight ache in the fractured area?

I want to do 800km including one big hill climb over 7 days in 3weeks time, but don't know if this is too much on my hip?

A bit of background on my injury for anyone who wants to perhaps give me some advice:

I went skiing and felt a slight pull in my hip, had a definite niggle in my next run, then was lame the next day.  (Saturday 2nd of August 2008).

Summary:
Week 1/ Evaluation physio/etc
Week 2/ Evaluation physio/etc
Week 3/ MRI/specialist (Started crutches Friday 22nd August 2008 (3 weeks) Report attached
Week 4/ Crutches
Week 5/ Crutches
Week 6/ Crutches (12/9/08 – off crutches) Gained 2 - 3 kg in 6 weeks!   
Week 7/ Cycled a total of 105km very cautiously, all flat routes with little or no pressure felt on the hip/legs - (10k, 50k, 10k, 20k, 15km). Limited walking – to must do activities after walking too much in the first couple of days off of the crutches. Hip aches a little with weight bearing activities and but seems to be more comfortable after a ride than before. Swimming x 2 (once 1k once 2k)
Week 8/ Rode 307k (8k, 6k, 110k, 9k, 167k (3 day camping)). Swam 1k
Week 9/ Unsure how much of anything to do??????? Did my first 1/2hr walk today and felt a definite dull ache in the hip area (this subside once I stopped and stretched)

Can anyone guide me? Should I not feel ANY discomfort in the injury area during walking or cross training, so is a little discomfort okay?  

Considering my leg muscles are not used to so much cycling, I expect that they will be a little stiff - but is this too much or okay if the stress site feels okay?


Shaz

--------------------

Shaz (MrsMetronome)

Attached Files

•  Stress_fracture_report.doc   84.5K   16 downloads

[KT26]

Can anyone guide me? Should I not feel ANY discomfort in the injury area during walking or cross training, so is a little discomfort okay?  

Considering my leg muscles are not used to so much cycling, I expect that they will be a little stiff - but is this too much or okay if the stress site feels okay?


Shaz

--------------------

Shaz (MrsMetronome)
[/quote]

I had femoral neck stress last year in exactly the same place as yours!

After coming off crutches (I was on them for almost a month but in two lots) I was allowed to resume cycling but not to do any strength work, so that involves hills. Basically it was just turning the legs over, and nothing that caused discomfort. I would say that if you are still getting pain in your hip area in three weeks, then doing the really big hill is not a good idea.

As far as walking/running goes, I was able to resume a walking program a couple of months after the injury. Any pain on impact, esp at the site of the injury, is a bad thing. Definitely not pain you would try to push through, esp considering the location of your stress fracture.

Even for swimming, I was not allowed to kick, just in case it aggravated the injury, so I used a pull buoy.

My return from this injury has been a really slow one. The causes for me were partially biomechanical and also ramping up my running too quickly...A good physio will be gold!

It is a frustrating injury but try to be patient and let your body heal...

Edited by KT26, 02 October 2008 - 11:07 PM.

[PEEKIE]

I had a mid shaft stressie in my femur earlier in the year, so not on par with a fracture of the femoral neck which on your report in the findings is shown as a grade three fracture, the neck of the femur takes longer to heal then the mid shaft and is a more severe fracture. I was told 10 weeks and got away with six weeks of no running. I would say to be very cautious with recovering from the fracture you have, week 7 you started cycling and now it is only weeek 9, I think you may be overdoing it with the cycling increse in distances. My stressie started as a dull ache so I would monitor any dull ache near the site of the stressie. Three weeks on crutches is an indicator how serious the injury was to begin with and the recovery needs to be in line with having had those three weeks on crutches. I would start walking only for ten minutes, then add five minutes each day, build up gradually until you are up to walking for an hour before you even attempt to run. Stay off hard surfaces, stick to grass and soft trails to begin with. When you do start back running build slowly or you will be back at square one which will frustrate you even more. I would reccomend giving deep water running a go. Hope this helps and please be careful.

[MrsMetronome]

 KT26, on Oct 2 2008, 08:51 PM, said:

I had femoral neck stress last year in exactly the same place as yours!

After coming off crutches (I was on them for almost a month but in two lots) I was allowed to resume cycling but not to do any strength work, so that involves hills. Basically it was just turning the legs over, and nothing that caused discomfort. I would say that if you are still getting pain in your hip area in three weeks, then doing the really big hill is not a good idea.

As far as walking/running goes, I was able to resume a walking program a couple of months after the injury. Any pain on impact, esp at the site of the injury, is a bad thing. Definitely not pain you would try to push through, esp considering the location of your stress fracture.

Even for swimming, I was not allowed to kick, just in case it aggravated the injury, so I used a pull buoy.

My return from this injury has been a really slow one. The causes for me were partially biomechanical and also ramping up my running too quickly...A good physio will be gold!

It is a frustrating injury but try to be patient and let your body heal...

 KT26, on Oct 2 2008, 08:51 PM, said:

I had femoral neck stress last year in exactly the same place as yours!

After coming off crutches (I was on them for almost a month but in two lots) I was allowed to resume cycling but not to do any strength work, so that involves hills. Basically it was just turning the legs over, and nothing that caused discomfort. I would say that if you are still getting pain in your hip area in three weeks, then doing the really big hill is not a good idea.

Even for swimming, I was not allowed to kick, just in case it aggravated the injury, so I used a pull buoy.

My return from this injury has been a really slow one. The causes for me were partially biomechanical and also ramping up my running too quickly...A good physio will be gold!

It is unfortunate that your recovery took longer than anticipated.  I hope you are back

Thanks KT26 for sharing your experience.  It is in some ways reassuring that other people have the same sort of injury that I have presently.    

If you don't mind my asking, I have a few more questions.

Why did you have 2 lots of crutches?
Was it because the first time you came off them too soon, or did you do too much after ditching the retched sticks?

Also, when you say that you were allowed to resume cycling (no hills): How far did you go each day/week?  
Considering that I am usually an ultra distance runner (previously training for 24hr comps) it is hard to only ride for say 1 hour.  5 - 8 hrs seems like a better distance.  
I do seem to come back from my rides more comfortable in the hip than I start with.

I am going to set up a physiotherapist appointment some time next week for a review.  

After you came off crutches, how much walking did you do in day to day activities?  
Did you have to 'not do' certain tasks that require more than a few minutes walking, or was 'the restriction' just that you did not do weight bearing exercise?

and

With regards to swimming: What do you mean by dragging a buoy?  Did you have to strap a floatation device between your knees or is that something entirely different?

As for running, I think that this is unfortunately some way off yet.


---
Hi Peekie - thanks for you advice.  

I will be careful.  I think I am just a bit frustrated at the moment.  I have gained 2 - 3kgs in the last 8 weeks (as the Ortho says that it is really important to keep up the calories and nutrition), but I feel my fitness slipping away.  I will try to temper my enthusiasm for the extra long k's on the bike and will keep away from hills for a good while yet.    


Regards


Shaz

[KT26]

Hi Shaz - sorry - I can't use the quote function to chop out sections of your thread!

First lot of crutches was when it was initially diagnosed. Second lot of crutches was a couple of months later when I started getting pain again. But the second time around was actually a false alarm. My injury probably wasn't as bad as yours. On my MRI there was a big white patch of oedema but no actual fracture line.

I am an avid cyclist and commuter so I got back into cycling pretty much straight away - in the first few weeks after getting off crutches I was back on the bike every day, but nothing too intense. I wasn't allowed to stand up on the bike! I would imagine sitting on the wind trainer/stationary bike for long periods of time just spinning would be fine, as long as your hip isn't spazzing out. A long time after I healed, I would get all sorts of weird muscular spasms in the area. I still do sometimes but I know it's muscle and not bone!

As far as walking goes, after the crutches, I was only allowed to do 'domestic' walking. So no local walking to the pool, shops etc. I would try to do as little as possible standing on my feet. Allowed to walk around a bit at work. Just do the bare minimum walking (V. frustrating.)

With swimming, yes, I would put one of those floaty pull buoys between my legs. As a result, no leg movement whatsoever.

My doctor said he was being super-conservative with the treatment and he even forbade me from doing any hip stretching on angles. Around that time I gave up yoga! Way too much intense hip stretching.

I also took calcium supplements and made sure I kept a decent dairy intake happening. Even if you're worried about your weight, don't compromise your dairy/calcium intake.

I've raved on a bit but if you have more questions, feel free to ask. There is definitely life after an injury like this!

[MrsMetronome]

 KT26, on Oct 4 2008, 11:55 PM, said:

I am an avid cyclist and commuter so I got back into cycling pretty much straight away - in the first few weeks after getting off crutches I was back on the bike every day, but nothing too intense. I wasn't allowed to stand up on the bike! I would imagine sitting on the wind trainer/stationary bike for long periods of time just spinning would be fine, as long as your hip isn't spazzing out. A long time after I healed, I would get all sorts of weird muscular spasms in the area. I still do sometimes but I know it's muscle and not bone!

As far as walking goes, after the crutches, I was only allowed to do 'domestic' walking. So no local walking to the pool, shops etc. I would try to do as little as possible standing on my feet. Allowed to walk around a bit at work. Just do the bare minimum walking (V. frustrating.)

With swimming, yes, I would put one of those floaty pull buoys between my legs. As a result, no leg movement whatsoever.

My doctor said he was being super-conservative with the treatment and he even forbade me from doing any hip stretching on angles. Around that time I gave up yoga! Way too much intense hip stretching.

I also took calcium supplements and made sure I kept a decent dairy intake happening. Even if you're worried about your weight, don't compromise your dairy/calcium intake.

I've raved on a bit but if you have more questions, feel free to ask. There is definitely life after an injury like this!

Hi TK26

Thanks for your answers to my questions.  And I will ask more questions if you don't mind    

From your running profile I am guessing that you don't run huge distances so I am guessing that cycling is more what you do!  Considering this - How did your injury occur?

By the way - How much cycling do you do generally?  

My husband and I also cycle, but this usually one of us riding as a part of cross training (on our days off from work) or we ride together on weekend journeys ranging from 50k - 200k(sometimes pulling our 5yr old daughter).  We have done some touring in the Victorian Alps and have just got new bike - Giant Avail for me and Defy 2 for Justin.  We hope to do a 7 day cycling holiday in about 5 weeks.  (Can't remember if I mentioned that in my first post or not?)

With regards to recovering from your injury tho - How many k’s cycling did you do (each day) in the weeks following crutches?  I would really appreciate knowing the distance you covered, even though I will have to do the distance that my body will allow.

Are you fully recovered now?  How long did this take?

As you suggested, today I tried the swimming with a buoy.  I ended up swimming 3k’s (all upper body), so at least that was some cardio - I didn’t use my legs at all, so it took me just over 1hr 30 mins.  I wonder how my shoulders will feel in the morning.  If I can swim this way I will definitely utilise this as cardio over the recovery process, albeit at a very low HR.  I think I may have to include some longer pool sessions where a cut lunch may be needed tho!

I have also phoned the Orthopaedic Surgeon and left a list of questions to answer and have phoned a physiotherapist my coach knows (who I have seen in the past) a call me to possibly come up with a definite program for my recovery.  

Restricting the time I spent on your feet IS so frustrating - I aggree.  I still seem to cover a fair bit of distance (not that I've measured it).  I still get an ache in the hip if I am on my feet or walk too far, so the bone must not be totally repaired.  Cycling however doesn't seem to enflame the area at all (unless previously enflamed - by stupidity).  Fingers crossed that once this current bout of inflamations is gone I can keep up the good mileage on the bike.  I think I may have been doing too many hours at a time on the bike so far, so I will try to break these rides up a little better and utilise swimming instead – either way the intensity will have to be lowered to ensure that not too much pressure is placed on the hip.

Thanks heaps for your advise

-  This too is a very long post - Sorry


Shaz.

[KT26]

Hi Shaz, I have sent you a PM!

[sarah81]

I have been sidelined with multiple tibial stress fractures (anterior), every sports doctor I have seen tells me that it is so rare and they have not seen it before. Been totally non-weight bearing on crutches for 17 wks...to no avail after 17 wks fractures are still present in MRI and CT scan and there is no hot spot on the bone scan (no active bone) - surgeon is now talking about drilling a rod down my tibia and inserting screws above my ankle and below my knee. Has anyone had any experiences with anterior stress fractures not healing? Or experience with the rod insertion down the tibia......very frustrated at the moment ...need some light at the end of the tunnel!