Day 333: I’m Going to Need Another Bathing Suit, Some Bike Shorts and to Get Over My Fear of the Elliptical

Let’s start off with the good news. I lost 2-1/2 pounds this week. Yay! Okay, now for the other news:

Today, I met with a podiatrist at a sports medicine clinic in Seattle. The specific doctor was recommended by Coach Tony Williams of Always Running. Tony, in case you don’t remember, is the running coach whom I contacted about a story idea I had. That same night, he read my blog post (here), and the next day he called me with a warning about running on my painful lower legs. I met with him. He said I had shin splints and calf strain. He really stressed that I stop running, not do the marathon I’d been training for and, he said, I should go see Dr. Reeves.

I did the first two things (well, I didn’t completely stop, but I slowed waaaay down and hit the bike more than the pavement). I don’t know why I didn’t go see Dr. Reeves sooner. Laziness, maybe. Wishful thinking.

So, I’ve started running a little bit more now that my calves and shins have been feeling better. I even announced my new plan yesterday.

Guess what? New plan ain’t happenin’.

Dr. Reeves talked to me about running, then pushed on my shins. Ouch! It didn’t take long for him come to a conclusion: STRESS FRACTURE in my left tibia. Eight to 12 weeks, at least, to heal. He told me I was very lucky.

Lucky that I stopped when I did or I probably would’ve broken it all the way through. He said if I had seen him in May, he would’ve put me in a boot. So it’s probably healed up a little by now, but since I haven’t been off of it completely (still running here and there, walking/running the half a couple of weeks ago, etc.), I still have 8-12 weeks to go.

Prescription: pool running, bike and elliptical. Return in 3 weeks for a check up and custom orthotics.

Oh and, to top it all off, I have bunions. Sweet.