September 15, 2009 Update

The past couple of weeks have been very difficult - because I haven't been able to run! It all started on Sunday August 30 on my long run. I got a sharp pain on the top of my left foot after about 8 miles, which seemed to feel better when I tightened my shoe, but then got worse at mile 10 and I had to hobble my last mile home. 24 hours later the pain had gone away when I wasn't running, but still felt tender if I attempted a jog. So I jogged/walked my short run on Wednesday September 2, and by Thursday afternoon my foot was in a *lot* of pain. I called our sports med clinic but could not get an appointment for over 2 weeks.

I did some research and self-diagnosed a stress fracture and decided to lay off the foot for awhile until I felt comfortable on an elliptical. My plan was to continue with strength training and swim or do elliptical until I saw a doctor or until the marathon. (Treatment of stress fractures is complete rest for 6-8 weeks. Since I injured myself 6 weeks out from the race, I figured I could stay off the foot for 6 weeks and then just take my chances and see what happens on race day. This type of injury worsens when you run, turning into excruciating pain as you go.) However, even when I tried swimming, the foot was in pain just from the movement in the water. It wasn't horrible pain, but I didn't want to make anything worse by putting pressure on it. So I have only been stretching and lifting weights for a week. Psychologically it's been very difficult - I love running and it's my main form of stress relief. I'm also worried about my muscles and stamina wasting away before the race.

I was able to see an internal medicine resident last Friday, September 11, who took x-rays and did not see a fracture. He said that typically he would advise me to stop running for a couple of months until the pain is completely gone, but since I really want to do the marathon he sent me for an MRI, scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday Sept. 16. The x-ray is still grainy enough that it could miss a fracture, but an MRI will not miss it. So when we get the results from the MRI we will know what we're dealing with. My doctor's appointment in the Sports Med clinic is this Thursday, September 17th, where I will hear about the MRI results and get next steps.
I am starting to feel hopeful that it's not a stress fracture. I've been icing it twice daily and starting on Sunday I no longer had any pain while walking. I am still hesitant to try the elliptical until after my appointment on Thursday.

I received an email with a link for people to sign up to track their runners during the marathon. If you want, you can sign up to receive emails or text messages about my status during the race - they will send notifications when I cross the 10K, 13.1 Mile, and 30K marks, and when I cross the finish line. (Be prepared for it to be a looooong time, especially with such little training the past couple of weeks! I'm thinking it will take me at least 5 hours.) Here is the link: http://live.activeresult.com/msg/MSG-signup.tcl?event_id=37