Injury Update

I finally got in to see Dr. Biggs. He is a sports doc at the Medical Group. Great guy.

I just didn't like what he had to say, LOL! 2 weeks of NO RUNNING!

Let me describe the visit a little.

I brought my shoes with me, but did not have them on. I have this pair of sandals that feel most comfortable and have been wearing them as much as possible. I get in and tell the nurse my story and give a fairly good recap of my runs. (I found out reading the summary after I left that she got info wrong) I am glad I thought to bring my training log with me. I was able to show Dr Biggs what i was running the month before BTG Training started. It fairly well summed up my running in the months prior to that as well. Visual aids are FABULOUS tools! There was some confusion about the last time I ran, but was able to show him my charts to see what I did. I described my lone 11 miler and my Easter run. Uneven surfaces, fatigue, and all. He agreed that the surfaces were probably partly to blame. However, he is still not sure if it is just soft tissue damage or a stress fracture to my calcaneal bone. {In humans, the calcaneus (from the Latin calcaneum, meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitute the heel} He said this is not a common injury. Go figure. Another area of my body injured in a way that is "special". I'm good at that. 


I am paying for the decision not to participate in Holy Thursday Service of the washing of the feet. I DO NOT like my feet being touched AT ALL! I have had my feet handled more than I care to think about with this recent injury. Not that I think God is mean and caused me to be hurt, I think it is his way of reminding me to say YES. LOL

Anyway, Dr Biggs had to manipulate my lower legs and feet. He did a lot of pushing, squeezing, twisting, and turning. He pushed and prodded and made me cry. He had to. How else can they determine where the pain is originating? He thought that maybe he was just pressing too hard and maybe hurting me that way. He started doing the same things to my right leg/foot. It didn't hurt at all on that side, so he figured that he knew where the problem was. After walking on my toes, then on my heels for him, he sent me to get x-rayed. We discussed what they could mean. The official assessment is this: ?soft tissue vs early calcaneal fracture. Meaning we are still not sure. The next 2 weeks will help in determining what it is.

Here's the plan we discussed:

• Take 2 weeks rest from any running
• Trial of rowing and cycling for cross training keeping pain under a 3 on scale of 1-10
• Call office in 1 week with status report on symptoms with walking and cross training
• May have to unload and modify activities further for continued discomfort
• Cold to area for 10-15 minutes for mild post-activity soreness ok
• Come back in 2 weeks for re-eval and further diagnostics if needed.

I figure this is a great learning experience for me. I kept telling myself that I needed to get into cycling and learn to swim. Now I have 2 weeks to get on a bike and see what I can do.

**

I went to the gym at work on my lunch break. I was able to go for almost 20 minutes and got 5 miles in before I noticed the start of some discomfort. I got back to my desk and got the shoe off and back into my sandals and immediately started to feel relief. I was also able to take a few steps normally prior to the exercise without discomfort. Afterwards, however, I am feeling mild discomfort. I am glad I listened to my body and quit when I did.

I am scheduled to go to a RAD class in a few minutes. I'm not sure how well that will work, but will update here later.

~Happy Running!