3 months

Of. No. Running.

Yes, that's about it in a nutshell, but it could be less time. I had my appt today and told Dr. Bob the years off and on of my shin problems. I had them when I was living in Texas oh so many years ago, and just got through them with Icy hot most of the time. I haven't had them this bad evah though. Last thursday, Denine and I went for a run of 5 miles, and after 1 mile - we walked the rest of the way (having to cut it to 4 miles in order to get home in time for work). My shins were hurting as I was just walking. Well, I've about had it with this and want to heal them once and for all. I'm a stubborn girl. Yes, I know - hard to beleive about me, right? :-) So, my own personal diagnosis and healing myself was to take a week or 10(ish) days off of running, then start back. Well, it wasn't not long enough.

So, I possibly have a stress fracture based on my explanation of pain, where the pain is and that it is triggered by pushing down on my tibia, or in some cases - you don't even have to push down on it. I also have a strained calf muscle, and my facia (sp?) is swollen. I guess this is the tissue between my calf muscle and tibia. I don't speak medgeek, k - so bare with me.

So, after our talk - it was "no running for 3 months" to heal the stress fracture. And he said he would assume it was. If I want to make sure it's a stress fracture, I could drop some excessive cash on an MRI or X-ray to see. But then, it might not even show up on them. I'm not gonna do that. That would dip into my race money budget. hehe After he massaged my legs, he said my calf was strained and that it could be tissue/muscle damage. So, right now - we don't know. But, he said let's go with worst case scenerio. I go back in 3 weeks and I had homework when I left. I have to do certain daily stretches, and icing/heating. I'll start tomorrow with a 7-day ice/heat treatment.

Days 1-3: Ice only, 15 min, remove for 5-8 min, repeat ice 15 more
Days 4/5: Ice/heat contrast, Ice 15, remove, apply heat pad 5 min, repeat
Days 6/7: Heat only 15-20 min, repeat 2-4 times daily

After 7 days, I get to choose ice or heat. What a joy?

As far as workouts, I can do whatever I want that doesn't impact my shins. I can't even walk for exercise right now. I need to wait about 2 wks then I can start walking for fitness. So, I suppose I get to work on my cycling shorts tan line more now. Seriously, I'm gonna have to show my bike some much needed love and attention. I will probably do a lot more elliptical too.

I briefly mentioned that I signed up for a half. So, that money's gone down the drain. We were exciting about going to Virgina Beach to do the half. I guess I'll be a spectator/photographer for David and Chris (Gman) at this year's RnR half there.

Since I was there later than expected and wasn't able to meet my training buddy at 5 (I showed up where she was riding at 5:50), I didn't get my ride in. But, guilt got to me peeps. I got home, we did our usual Wed night-Mexican night dinner, and had to get a few groceries. We got home at 8pm, and by 8:15 I had talked myself into riding outside. Yep, you heard that right. I didn't want to get on the trainer tonight. So, I put my reflective vest on and was off. Since, it was getting dark, I wanted to stay nearby so I did loops of this over and over, up and down the same roads here, parking lots there - basically a lot of stopping and starting - but at the same time, I wanted to get used to my new gearing. It workout out well.

I knew what I was in store for when I stepped into the massage joint today. I knew something was wrong, and the best way to heal would be time off of running, which would bum me out. I have been wanting to run badly lately and every run I set out on has been a disappointment because it hurts. So, I want to heal up and will listen to what he says. But, the good news is - is that once healed, I will run again and I will do more races. This time will also give me a chance to work more on my cycling and swimming. So, this is just a bump in the road.

To show you all how a typical ride goes for myself. I can't seem to have a ride that doesn't involve either flipping my bike over and having to replace the chain (dropping it from gearing wrong), or just getting grease on my legs for no reason. My nose and neck had grease too. I'm such a noobie still.


Good night!

OCN: 10.14 mi, 44:54, 13.55 mph