So, the San Francisco Marathon won’t be happening for me this year.  I got the news last Monday that my hip pain is, indeed, a stress “fracture” (more specifically, a stress reaction on its way to a fracture.)  And likely my left tibial pain is one, too, but they didn’t MRI it because it will heal while waiting on the femur, regardless.  So, this means no running or impact activity at all for about 3 months.  Ugh!  Boo!

The good news is that it’s not a femoral neck stress fracture (the link above is specific to femoral neck fractures, but I included it because it had the best explanation of a stress fracture I could find.)  So, I’m thankful that I have something that’s not likely to “complete” while I’m walking around or cause me to need surgery, but I’m still super bummed and trying to get back to my usual chipper self.  To add to that… I was laid off yesterday, so I now have a whole lotta time and can’t train!  Double whammy!

Let me walk you through what a recovery week is looking like for me.

For one thing, I am really trying to limit my booze intake because some studies show it can affect the formation of osteoblasts and new bone formation. Same goes for NSAIDs, including ibuprophen.  I’ve also started tracking my calcium intake and, despite having what I consider a “healthnut diet” am WAY below where I need to be- I’ve also started taking a Vitamin D supplement because new studies are showing most folks, especially women, are defficient.  Ladies, this is HUGELY important!  This is my second (possibly third) stress fracture in a year, and I had NO idea I was doing so poorly in this area.  I am going for a bone density test soon to see how my bones are doing- this is something you usually don’t do until you’re 60.

OK, off the soapbox… here is what my next 5 weeks are looking like:

Sunday: 20 minutes recumbent bike, 40 minutes lap swimming, core work

Monday: 40 minutes lap swimming

Tuesday: 2-3 mile walk, upper body weight workout (P90X program)

Wednesday: Spin class, recumbent bike or lap swimming 45 mins + core work

Thursday: Water Running at the Presidio YMCA.  (Deep water running is the best way to keep up cardiovascular fitness and endurance when recovering from a running injury.  It can’t be beat when it comes to specificity of training.  There are whole plans build around water running, which have been proven to show NO reduction in running capacity, but I am having trouble finding a pool in SF that lets you just deep water run at will.  Most are set up for lap swimming.  Please, let me know if you know of one that will let you tether yourself to a ladder and aquajog away.)

Friday: P90X X-stretch

Saturday: Rest Day

I’ll be seeing the doctor again in 5 weeks and we’ll see if I can get into PT at that time.  I’ll also consider adding some Bikram yoga into the mix when the X-Stretch workout stops causing a minor flare in pain in the tibia.

I look forward to being back to running by July, then plan to smoke a few shorter race PR’s on my way to next year’s San Francisco Marathon.