I'm a senior in high school and have recently been diagnosed with a stress fracture in my foot. I have 6 weeks until my state meet, and I am a key member of my school’s 4x800 team. Our team has a solid chance of winning state. I’m thinking about just running through it, and dealing with the consequences after state. Has anyone ever had any experience with anything like this? Opinions? Should I run or not?
of course. don't be a pussy.
No don't run!
Get a wet-vest or aqua belt and get in the pool and start working your ass off. Do entire training weeks simulating a running schedule. Do a long run in the pool, medium distance runs, and intervals. Many people have gone into pools with injuries and then come out of the pools only to run a PR.
best wishes.
I agree with the last post and if willing to pay the $$$ or have insurance pay, an Exogen bone healing system accelerates fracture healing. www.exogen.com
If you were a human I'd tell you that you personally are an idiot who is asking for his foot to break in half and that your coach, if he allows you to run, does not care for you as a person or an athlete at all and belongs in a cage.
But, the good news for you, since you are actually a troll, is that your foot will be fine and the only pain you experience will be between your ears as your troll brain tries to think up a new trolly topic.
I agree don't run.
Do you plan on running in college? If not, F***ING RUN. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! Take some time off the pavement though, and get in a pool or cross train any way you can, try running a couple days before, then give it your all when it's time!
you say you have 6 weeks to states, which is coincidentally the exact time it takes most SFs to heal. if i were you i would aquajog my distance runs and workouts for 3-4 weeks then just aquajog the distance runs and get on the track for workouts for a couple weeks when youve had at least some time to heal. aquajogging, if done right, with appropriate workouts, can keep you in really good shape. obviously this plan isnt optimum for the healing of a stress fracture but given the time frame i think personally thats the best way
depends wrote:
you say you have 6 weeks to states, which is coincidentally the exact time it takes most SFs to heal. if i were you i would aquajog my distance runs and workouts for 3-4 weeks then just aquajog the distance runs and get on the track for workouts for a couple weeks when youve had at least some time to heal. aquajogging, if done right, with appropriate workouts, can keep you in really good shape. obviously this plan isnt optimum for the healing of a stress fracture but given the time frame i think personally thats the best way
yep, I agree. you won't be able to walk in 6 weeks if you just run through. then its very unlikely you'll be able to help your team much. go the pool route and you may be just as well off as if you'd been running, and much better than running through a stress fracture.
Strictly pool for 4 weeks. Pool with workouts on the track for the last two. You may or may not be fine by then but you'll be much better than you will any other way.
"Mad Mike," are you "Crazy Runner Mike" the shortish dude with blond hair from Boulder?
quote]Tootsie wrote:
I agree with the last post and if willing to pay the $$$ or have insurance pay, an Exogen bone healing system accelerates fracture healing.
[/quote]http://www.ebimedical.com/products/detail.cfm?p=0C
is this any different?[
Shortish, yes, but not so much on the blond hair or Boulder part. So I guess no.
I agree to "depends" statement. Also, I forget who said it, but it also matters if youare going to run in college. I am a senior too, and I had a few SFs (possibly only 1 at the beginning of my pain) at the end of the xc season, but because it was my senior year, I ran through it. Kind of disappointing finish- I didn't do as well, but I am glad I did it. I however have an outdoor track seeason to run. If you miss out, you won't have any more times- unless you run in college. It's a tough decision,, but I'd probably run less, cross train more and tough it out. Good luck in making a choice.
no....my coaches told me that the sharp pain in my foot was all in my head. I finally busted it wide open and had to wear a cast for 6 weeks. I then reopened the stress fracture in my foot, 3 weeks later, after I started running again, as it was NOT fully healed. It wiped out the end of track and all of X-C for my senior year. I finally had to take 8 weeks off and then slowly come back. Thank God it never came back.
i know two people who broke their foot (literally) running on a stress fracture mid-race. one of them split 7 seconds slower than his pr in the 800. don't be an idiot. pool run and swim like crazy, and then get out of the pool for a few workouts about 2 weeks before....otherwise, you are asking to break your foot before the state meet even happens, or to screw your team's chance of a state title and have a broken foot to show for it.
aqua jog and race.
amksteeple wrote:
i know two people who broke their foot (literally) running on a stress fracture mid-race. one of them split 7 seconds slower than his pr in the 800. don't be an idiot. pool run and swim like crazy, and then get out of the pool for a few workouts about 2 weeks before....otherwise, you are asking to break your foot before the state meet even happens, or to screw your team's chance of a state title and have a broken foot to show for it.
yes, that's what finally happened to me at State meet. I should have placed in the top 3 or 4 and broken 4:20, but ended up limping in, next to last in 4:31 after it busted open during the race. I had to be helped to the team bus and when I showed up at school Monday, with a cast and cruthces, I guess the hardboiled coaches couldn't say it 'was all in my head'.
yeah i had a stress fracture with 8 weeks to my state meet. got it the week before penn relays. all i did was cross train and race for the whole season. it actually started feeling better as i was racing 'cause it was just one or two races a week. it worked for me, even pr'd in my state race by a good 5 seconds in the mile.
i was a junior when that happened so i had an xc season ahead, so i healed it for 6 weeks in the summer and came back still sharp for xc.
i'm not saying its smart to do or anything, but i'm saying its possible, it sucks, but you can make it work
You're running an 800, and that's really a tough event. Getting in a pool will surprisingly help you maintain your speed, but even with pool intervals it's hard to keep up the aerobic fitness. If you were 2 weeks out i'd tell you to run throug, by 6 weeks is a long time. Take 4 weeks cross training, one week of easy running, one week of taper. Make sure when you cross train, to go about 1+ hours in the pool each day, doing intervals if you can. Supplement this with another 60-90 minutes of cycling a day, and make sure to get your heart rate up to 180+ a few times a week. If you do this completely, not partially, you can come out and probably score a big PR.
i pretty much agree. I had a sfx of my right tibia. Took me out of running for like 3 months. I'm a triathlete, so i just switched over to strictly swimming, and got good at that. Once the pain dissapated enough, i added in lots of biking. When i was able to run again, i went out for my second run (this part i dont reccomend, since you should try and build up more) but i wanted to see if my leg could handle the stress of a hard 5k, since i had an olympic distance tri coming up soon, and if i couldn't do a 5k, how would i manage a 10k after all the other crap. Anyways, went out and ran a pr for the 5k, based soley on cross training. If you cross train at a high enough intensity, and perform workouts in the proper training zones you should be able to maintain enough fitness through state. I personally would not recommend running on it if your race isnt for 6 weeks. By 6 wks, you'll have done some major damage.