Malmo's Log

Oh, I assure you, I know about stress fractures. Multiple stints of 2+ motnhs in the pool.

So tell us plainly (i.e. without the sarcasm) how exactly DID you manage to train with a stress fracture?

Did it not cause you unbearable pain?

Simple. Easy running on grass: left right left right.

You've got a classic case of solipsism. Because your stress fracture took you out doesn't mean all stress fractures will take out everyone. I know the pain you had, feeling great one moment, then ZAP!, raw to the bone, throbbing pain the next. A metatarsal break would be the easiest to come back on. Think about your foot structurally: five bones arranged like five joists of a flooring system. A failure of one doesn't mean there is a failure of the whole system. Also, if the break is at the top of the bone it would be in the area least affected by the stresses of running. In any structural member, whether it be a beam, a joist or a bone, the point of maximum stress is going to be at the opposite side when a force is applied perpendicular to the member.

Or maybe, I'm just tougher than you? Could be. It sounds like it. Last year I had surgery on my knee. When the surgeon examined the X-Rays, he asked if I ever had an injury to my lower leg. Being that I inferred him to mean "running injury" I said "no". He said "well, we need to take another x-ray". I asked, "why?". He said, "there's a bump on your leg, and it might be a tumor". I said, "a tumor, where?" He pointed to the medial side of my ankle, "there". "Oh THAT?" I said, "I broke my leg last year playing soccer with my friends. I got kicked by a guy running full speed at me." He asked," Who was your physician?" I answered, "I didn't see a doctor. For what, I already knew it was broken!" For three weeks I submerged my leg in a waste bucket filled with ice. In retrospect, I should have seen a physician for the pain killers. Kept me up most of the night with that special intense, throbbing kind of pain that you only get from smashed bone.

Seems to me like I remember Alberto Salazar training through a stress fracture as well.....

I would guess that before it became the injury of the month best seller than many people trained through them some way or another....

Peter Snell trained through one before the '60 Olympics. He started taking time off until somebody told him he could train through it on grass(running on, not smoking). I had two incredibly painful spots on each shin(to touch) last year when I boosted my miles that I figured were stress fractures. I was told that I wouldn't be able to run if they actually were. Eventually they went away. Most aches seem to.

nnnmmmmmnnnnnmmmmmm

Malmo's medical knowledge is very impressive. I tend to think that most runners can and often do run on stress fractures. The fracture is most times on one of the sides of the bone. Until it cracks all the way through, your own endorphins will take over and allow you to run, not that I advise it.

As for the 4th met, it is probably the worst one to break because the 5th met takes the least amount of stress and this can put more pressure on the 4th. 3rd met takes the least. This assumes a normal foot type, which does not always occur. Mets can be longer, shorter, dropped etc and this can lead to more pressure on that particular bone.

Back to Dr. Malmo

Brian

Well since we have an ACTUAL doctor in Dr. Fullem... is it actually safe/alright/possible/not-career threatening to run on a stress fracture?

There must be some point at which you have to let it heal?

Or can you merely continue to pile on the mileage and it will heal amidst the pounding?

Greg Meyer wrote:

10/16/83 Chicago Marathon Shit

Preach it, brotherf***er! I love this son of a bitch! And I'd always thought that back then the goddamn race was sponsored by Beatrice Frigging Foods!

Biaffran wrote:

Well since we have an ACTUAL doctor in Dr. Fullem... is it actually safe/alright/possible/not-career threatening to run on a stress fracture?

There must be some point at which you have to let it heal?

Or can you merely continue to pile on the mileage and it will heal amidst the pounding?

SOMEBODY ANSWER THIS GUY.

Tim Culpepper is Mongolian wrote:

Biaffran wrote:

Well since we have an ACTUAL doctor in Dr. Fullem... is it actually safe/alright/possible/not-career threatening to run on a stress fracture?

There must be some point at which you have to let it heal?

Or can you merely continue to pile on the mileage and it will heal amidst the pounding?

SOMEBODY ANSWER THIS GUY.

Someone able to answer?