Hi, I'm a rising junior male in a bit of dire situation here. I was recently diagnosed with a metatarsal stress reaction and a lower tibial stress reaction, both on my left leg. There was nothing on the xray, so the orthopedist put me in an aircast boot for 3 weeks.
During this time, I am allowed to do any non-weightbearing cross training (sitting stationary bike, pool running, not elliptical). I have been doing this type of cross training every day, and I was planning to start doubling on the bike as much as I can, with an approximate total of 500min a week at about 135-140bpm heart rate. I've been doing the bike very fast with little resistance, per the doctor.
I was pleased with my recovery on the left leg, but recently I have been feeling pinpoint pain in my right tibia. When I press, the pain is sharp (not excruciating, but significant) in one spot, and the area about 2 inches up and down the tibia from that spot is sore. A few days ago, I was jumping on my right leg (which at the time was my good leg) for no apparent reason other than that I'm a dumb kid, and I think that that may have contributed to the new pain on the right tibia.
I was not planning to run again for about 3 weeks (I am 1.5 weeks into my boot recovery time), because I really want to be healthy, but I am trying my hardest to maintain fitness with XT, since I wanted to improve from 4:35/10:10 to sub-16 (very fast course). I am scheduling an appointment with the orthopedist soon, so don't worry about me doing some self-diagnosis bs or anything.
My questions from this are:
-What probably caused the new injury?
-Is the bike contributing to the injury, and should I switch to pool running?
-What will my recovery look like now?
-Will I still be able to hit my goals in XC?
Thanks