I have a tibial stress fracture. I give up on distance running.

missingcolege90 wrote:

Jamin - By the way, I said the same thing senior year..."I'm just going to run 25mpw and race the 800". But come on, man! You are probably running incorrectly and you are still going to suffer even on 25mpw.

The injuries that occur at short, fast distances are typically muscular, things like torn hamstrings. I've never had a problem anything like that. The only problem I have is stress fractures in the tibia. I'm on my 3rd.

Your college story sounds almost exactly the same as mine. My college experience included 5 tibial stress fractures and a doctor telling me that I wasn't meant to run. I was also a 4:16 miler in HS.

Now 2 years after college I'm back to running a bit and I also noticed that running barefoot helps. I don't do it very often, but 2-3x a week for 10min on turf or on a treadmill seems to work. It really helps with my achilles issues for some reason.. I have no intention of buying toe shoes or anything like that, but I like incorporating some barefoot running in my training regimen to strengthen some of the stabilizing muscles.

I've never had stress fractures, but I partially credit my monumental improvement in form to my injuries (mostly hip/hamstring type stuff). I guess my point is injuries can be a blessing in disguise.

jamin wrote:

fred wrote:

Yep, it's the biomechanics of your shoes that's leveraging

the stress through your tibia.

Biomechanics? I didn't know my shoes were alive.

However, 50 miles a week isn't distance running.

I knew a guy that ran sub 4 mile on less than that. He was

gifted.

I have more modest goals. I want to run 1:56/3:57/4:15 next year. I can do that with 2 track workouts a week, a few easy runs (like 7:30-7:45 pace), supplemented by a ton of cross-training and a focus on weight control. In a world where stress fractures didn't exist, I could get to that time more easily, by running a ton. My actual plan is very time-consuming. Believe me -- I wish I could just head out the door for 10 miles every day. That would be a more efficient route to getting faster.

You know how to do it already despite not having done it?

Yup.

Do not give up. I had the same injury--at age 43. I suffered this back in the spring of 2012, and ended up losing the rest of the year. I tried to come back in the fall of that year, but it just did not feel "right." I came back in the spring of 2013, and have been doing well since. Come back slowly (low mileage) and be patient. If I could do this, I am sure you can. I wish you all the best.

Before I forget: I recently put up a 1:05 in a ten-miler, and the leg feels great. The time off for healing was very important. I am running as well as I ever have.

Lowmileager - That's pretty funny. 100% sounds like the same story. I thought I was never going to run again after college.

Jamin - You are correct. However, I reduced mileage to 30 mpw and said okay...just 800!. However, due to running incorrectly, the shin splints were bad everyday. It became worse and worse. Maybe that won't happen to you...maybe it will. The other issue was the team aspect. I was missing out on team runs, some practices, etc. When they would hammer, I felt I had to even though my shins were bugging me.

For me, I just realized there was a reason and I wanted to fix it.

before u guys got these horrendous-sounding stress fractures did you feel any unusual discomfort initially that you were running through? Like, I don't understand how truly sudden stress fractures, of this particular type or of any other type, really are.

Of course...bad shin splints.

I was on a competitive college XC and Track team. When you get shin splints...you take care of them like everyone else...but you keep running. I did everything to treat them, but the way I was running just kept causing issues. Eventually, I would maybe take a day off here and there when the shins hurt bad...but then BOOM...Stress Fracture.

iLoveMekonnen wrote:

before u guys got these horrendous-sounding stress fractures did you feel any unusual discomfort initially that you were running through? Like, I don't understand how truly sudden stress fractures, of this particular type or of any other type, really are.

They become bad on a fairly sudden basis. You'll go from feeling fine to limping in 1 mile. Prior to that, any discomfort will have been felt at rest and will have been limited to a slight tenderness at a small spot on the inner shin.

Drink milk and eat more meat.

I usually wouldn't feel that much discomfort beforehand. I remember one day I did a great workout and the next day I could barely walk.

lowmileager wrote:

I usually wouldn't feel that much discomfort beforehand. I remember one day I did a great workout and the next day I could barely walk.

That's what happened with me. For a few weeks I could feel with my fingers a tender spot on my inner tibia, but since I feel anything when running, I kept running as usual, including workouts. I monitored the tender spot and it didn't seem to be getting any worse. Then, one day, I felt pain radiating from that spot as soon as I set out for an easy run.

Is it possibly not the mileage, but too much speed work and especially too much speed work year round?

I'd actually agree on doing tons of weight training, yoga and stretching. And if you can't handle more than 35 mpw, then do alternative cardio.

jamin wrote:

Hoping it heals quick. Then, no more distance. I'm focusing on the 800/1500 and limiting myself to 25 productive miles every week.

Cool. Maybe you'll break six. For the 8, that is.

Were you by any chance following the "lose weight to get faster" thing you posted about a while back? That generally leads to all sorts of weird fractures

I am not sure lowering the mileage and racing a shorter distance will help. I switched from road racing to the 800 and dropped my mileage from 60 miles a week to 40. That year I got my first stress fracture in my right tibia. The next year, I got my second. After that I took it easy and then gave sprinting a shot, putting in no more than 8 miles a week. Sure enough after 6 months of training, I got my third stress fracture in four years.

I don't get shin splints. Usually during a run my shin or calf will feel bad, but not hurt enough to stop. Then the next day, I can barely walk. I am beginning to think my body can't handle the turns on the track and am considering just jogging slow miles for fun. I hope you can figure out your issue because I nor my doctors have any idea how to keep me from getting injured short of not running at all.

Best of luck to you. I probably won't do 40 miles per week training for the 800. I'll do 30 at most. I understand that I would, ideally, be doing more volume, but I know how much I can't handle. One reason I shy away from the idea of ever having a running coach is because I'm afraid I'd get injured by listening to him.