Well – they are not totally broken, but I did manage to create stress fractures in both my shins from over-training. My friend and I signed up for the half-marathon in Phoenix on March 1st and apparently I have gone a little too far, a little too often.
I thought I just had a bad case of shin splints which I couldn’t shake. I also didn’t want to be that lame-ass who goes in to the doctor for every little ache. Plus, I was raised by a dad who had the firm belief that any injury could be “walked off”. If it still hurt – you hadn’t walked far enough.
After a few weeks of alternating between rest days and icing, with my shins continuing to get worse, my friend suggested I get them checked as she thought they might be more serious.
Two doctor appointments, one bone scan and three x-rays later, yup, she was right. Stress fractures in both tibias (shin bones). Damn. The prescription was two weeks of no running followed by a gradual reintroduction. My doctor said I could do things like swim, bike and cross country ski in the meantime to keep my cardio up, but I preferred to play it safe. I spent the last two weeks basically drinking beer every night and eating a metric shit-tonne of food. My running partner - in a move of solidarity – also took the last two weeks off and helped me drink and eat my way back into my fat pants.
I went for a run for the first time yesterday and although it felt better – things still hurt. It is not looking good for Phoenix.
New plan for Phoenix: plenty of drinking, shopping, eating and lounging by the pool, while Calgary is still on the wrong side of zero degrees Celsius.
New plan for running: if it hurts – stop doing it dummy.
This getting old shit is fantastic. I am currently 38 and I thought I had a few more years before this kind of shit set in. What comes next? Peeing my pants when I sneeze? Growing whiskers?
