Stress Fracture, What now?? Need some advice.

the 2 answers you got were months apart? how?

I don't know, but that is what I was told. Has anybody ever had the same injury before or know anything about it?

No I doubt that anyone knows anything about it, let alone has ever had this same injury.

What I don't understand about your post is why you would waste your time sounding like an asshole. I'm glad you feel good about yourself now.

There's a lot of threads on here that I really take some time and put in a response that will help people. If I don't know anything about the subject, I just don't post. My last 2 seasons have been wasted because of injuries but I still, unlike you, don't waste other people's time by posting crap.

stresss fracture wrote:

Long story short, I got an MRI last week and today I got back the results. I have a stress fracture in my greater trochanter (pretty much the top of my femur).

Trainer at my school said 6-8 weeks, doctor said 3-4 months.

Can I get a second-opinion from letsrun.com?

Any advice on how to stay in shape in between, icebaths, etc.

What I was thinking was if it is 3-4 months, just skip track and build a monster base for XC next year, but I don't want to get that far ahead of myself just yet.

Please let me know.

Doctors will often give a conservative estimate so they don't get sued. However, school trainers are often idiots (mine was). Any type of femoral stress fracture is bad news sorry to say. I don't have personal experience with this injury, so you'll want to do some google research, but I've heard more in the 3-4 month range.

I would suggest a bone stimulator, but I don't even know if it'd work with your type of SF.

Stay away from any kind of weight baring exercise for a while. That includes biking. Sometimes even light stuff like that can aggravate an injury. Get in the pool for a month or so.

Sorry, dude. I've never had a SF, but I know what it's like to deal with shitty injuries. Stay positive and be sure to think long term.

Lolz the guys who said the thing about doctors giving conservative estimates and shitty trainers reminds me of my school. But I think you should most definitely skip track and get nasty baseage for cross. It WILL pay off. You've seen it with your own eyes.

stresss fracture wrote:

What I don't understand about your post is why you would waste your time sounding like an asshole. I'm glad you feel good about yourself now.

Why must you go on tilt? The previous poster is right on the mark. There are very few people who can lend you real-experience advice about your injury, and absolutely NONE who can tell you what your future will be. Only one person on the planet has the immediate internal feedback that would allow such a determination - YOU.

As far as skipping track and "building a monster base" for another cross country season far in advance, that's typical of Letrun mentality, and so very misguided.

"Don't waste good time." - John Ngugi

If I were you, I'd start walking now an hour at a time, twice a day. It will hasten your recovery, and is an activity that is most like running, without running. Once you feel as though you can run, start off by jogging telephone poles every few minutes. Each successive day run a little bit more, until you are finally able to jog a half hour at a time.

When you start training with your team, come in with the SOM mentality. If your teammates are running repeats of 800- 1 mile, then jump in the back of the pack and run with them 200-400 meters (whatever is easy for you), wait for them to come back around the track, jump back in for another 200-400m. Each successive day, run just a little bit more.

You'll be surprised at how fast you come back.

Malmo- He is a Junior in HS so he still has one more year left of XC and Track- Why wouldn't he try to get up to get up to 80 or 90 MPW over a period of 6 months???????? How in the world is this wasted time?????!?!? Explain please..

The Banhammer wrote:

Malmo- He is a Junior in HS so he still has one more year left of XC and Track- Why wouldn't he try to get up to get up to 80 or 90 MPW over a period of 6 months???????? How in the world is this wasted time?????!?!? Explain please..

Why does what I say prevent him from getting up to 80mpw (or 50, 60, 70 or 100)? His track season is in the Spring, there's no reason to skip it.

malmo wrote:

Why does what I say prevent him from getting up to 80mpw (or 50, 60, 70 or 100)? His track season is in the Spring, there's no reason to skip it.

Because this kid could have easily (well not easily but you know what I mean) broken 2:00 last track season if not for an unfortunate ankle sprain. Say he starts running again in January and that would be pushing it- He's going to be out of shape and there would be no way he will do anything more than have a mediocre track season... So THAT is what I think wasting time is. Instead of doing hard repeats and risk injury even more, just build up the mileage steadily so when summer comes along, he can train with the rest of his team mileage wise.

The Banhammer wrote:He's going to be out of shape and there would be no way he will do anything more than have a mediocre track season...

That's nonsense. High school athletes have been running track without doing anything at all in the winter for decades. He's no different.

I've actually had a femoral stress fracture before... I would stay on crutches for three weeks to keep the weight off of it. Thats all I did but with a lot of different strength excersises and some pool work. I'm sure your trainer or coach could help you with strengthening it. You'll get through it.

Malmo, he just had a femoral stress fracture. The doctor told him another week of running and his hip would have "shattered". It's not like he's playing soccer in the winter and then running 30 mpw to prepare for track. He was very close to shattering his hip and I think that removes him from the category of every other high school runner. Besides, that's why the US can't compete against the Africans- our way of training is incorrect - but that's another argument for another day. Those runners were mediocre compared to what they could have been. So basically if this kid chooses to run track, he is either going to get injured, or have a mediocre season. I would much rather have a killer senior year.

I'm sorry to hear about your stress fracture, that really sucks. I have had my share of stress fractures and I have usually taken about 7 to 8 weeks off then after that had a couple weeks of 10 minutes every other day. However, I have never had the type of stress fracture you are dealing with and from what I know, femur stress fractures are more serious than lower leg stress fractures.

If you are really serious about staying in shape then get an aqua jog belt and spend at least an hour in the pool aqua jogging every day. Make sure you are doing the exact running motion even if this means that your turnover is slower. If you are religious about pool running then you will not lose any fitness. Make up aqua jogging workouts, do intervals by going really hard for a few minutes then going easy for a few minutes. This will not only help you get your heart rate up but it will aslo keep you sane, the pool can get very boring and it takes a special person to stay dedicated.

I would also recomend that you use this time to consider switching to minimalism. I struggled with injuries for 5 years; I now train in racing flats and it has saved my career. I'm running higher mileage than ever and havn't been injured since I switched (about a year ago). It is not for everybody, but it is for those who are frequently injured. Do some research on minimalism and you find out for yourself what works, don't let people tell you what works for you. If you do go minimalist, I highly recomend starting in something like the nike Jasari+ or the nike zoom RS+. Then slowly transition to less of a shoe from there.

On whatever you decide, Good Luck!

(If you're in college use this time to get out and meet some new people. Theres not much time to do that in season.)

The problem is your post is full of preconceived biases and straw man arguments. It's either "injured or mediocre" in your mind. NO IT'S NOT. The results will be the same as it would be for any other your running - he'll either do great, mediocre or get injured, or a combination of all three.

When did he say that his hip was close to 'shattering' and what relevance is that here?

I have no idea what your babbling about Africans is supposed to mean?

malmo wrote:

The results will be the same as it would be for any other young runner

Edit.

Heres a good starting link for minimalism:

http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html

I echo comments about the miracles of being young and coming back from stress fractures.... I took 8 weeks out with a met fracture, jogged the last of the 8 weeks to test the healing once the DOC SAID I COULD and ran weeks 9, 10, 11 like before I was injured and PR'ed on week 11 at 4 miles.

I had some level of base before I got injured which was probably digested with the rest but I did keep busy in the pool, on the X-trainer and bike. That made jumping in track sessions on week 10 and 11 tough at first but it was only tough for a few weeks.

Good luck.... believe in yourself, in a comeback and in a short rest. Try keep the lungs working whilst walking or in the gym/pool.

Foot

Malmo you CANT tell me that anybody can reach their full potential off of 30mpw. I mentioned the Kenyan and Ethiopian success to contrast 2 different training philosophies. The American method, which is what you think this kid should do: 30mpw base and hard repeats; as opposed to building a monster base like the Kenyans and Ethiopians. I think we found out which one works better! So YES this kid's track season will be mediocre if he decides to run. I don't understand how this is a straw man argument- I'm just telling it how it is. I mentioned that his hip was close to shattering to illustrate how it is a serious injury and how it will be both difficult and unwise to jump into fast intervals within a short amount of time and no base. He didn't say it on the thread, I go to school with him. Damn, Malmo stop hating.