Cathartic Thread For Injured Runners, er support for managing injuries. ;-)
Replies
-
@ sarahthes - so glad your feet are not hurting! Hopefully that means no stress fracture! Ugg for black ice - be careful!
@elise4270 - do you think running on the treadmill is easier/better for your hips since they tend to be more cushioned than running outside?
Definitely worse. But to be fair on the TM i dont run intervals. I've just been running the whole 2 miles at a reasonable pace ("reasonable" must be my word of the day). So, ultimately I really dont know. I dont prefer the TM so i try to get it over as quickly as possible.
Today is rather nice. I think I'd like to run a mile outside without walk breaks.0 -
Ha - @Elise4270 I hate the treadmill too but I was reading that it is supposed to be better for your body but you don't get as much of a workout from it for a variety of reasons but the biggest is that it provides help when you push off...
I went to the gym and a lady got on the bike next to me when I was about 10-15mins into my workout. She was having problems with her bike and I told her it seemed to have issues. I guess she thought this was an invitation to talk and asked me if I 'liked doing this'... I debated what to say and finally decided to be honest and told her not really but I have to do something since I can't run (note I have a boot on my foot). She decided to tell me all about her knee and I finally kind of cut her off and just said you do what you can... she lasted maybe 2 mins on the bike before leaving and then I felt bad that maybe I should have talked to her more and kept her going....0 -
Ha - @Elise4270 I hate the treadmill too but I was reading that it is supposed to be better for your body but you don't get as much of a workout from it for a variety of reasons but the biggest is that it provides help when you push off...
I went to the gym and a lady got on the bike next to me when I was about 10-15mins into my workout. She was having problems with her bike and I told her it seemed to have issues. I guess she thought this was an invitation to talk and asked me if I 'liked doing this'... I debated what to say and finally decided to be honest and told her not really but I have to do something since I can't run (note I have a boot on my foot). She decided to tell me all about her knee and I finally kind of cut her off and just said you do what you can... she lasted maybe 2 mins on the bike before leaving and then I felt bad that maybe I should have talked to her more and kept her going....
Well. We all know that motivation has to come from within. If she hasnt figured that out, she soon will if she wants to stick with it. Maybe she just trying things out, yet to find her grove.
I know the first few times i went to the gym i wanted to do the elliptical because those girls were on them forever and it looked so easy. Gah! I lasted 2 minutes. Suuucked. Haha!
I was stuck late at work.... No park run.... So TM later*
*Tomorrow may be later.0 -
@shanabar i did the C25K program to get my cardio back, i also used the stationary bike during recover and i boxed ( through punches while riding with 1lb waited gloves) this elvated my heart rate and i burn way more calories then just biking, im sure i looked rediculous to some, but i dont care. Like the vitiman d tan sessions i also took epson salt baths at least 4 per week to help get magnesium absorbtion through the body rather rely on a pill.
@7lenny7 thanks for the welcome!
If it was not for the Caroline Jordan Videos i would have gone insane! I love fitness and to be able to sit in a chair or on the floor and acutally get a good work out in was priceless!
Happy recovery to you all!
1 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrLMAjZ1oZg this is a favorite! 1 -
I reached a huge milestone. I am now bearing weight on my foot and walking without crutches or my peg leg!
It was quite strange at first, like I had to retrain the connection between my head and my lower leg. It didn't help that the bottom of my foot was very tender. I suspect mostly because it just wasn't used to the pressure.
For the first few hours I got around with a single crutch to reduce the weight on the foot but soon was able to walk without any aid.
I feel so free! My only concern now is that I have pitting edema on the top and side of my foot. No pain with it, but I'm still concerned. I may call the surgeon's nurse Monday.
Last night I sat on the side of the tub and washed my foot and lower leg for the first time since surgery. It felt so good!
3 -
I am going stir crazy and my left foot is improving. The right ankle is annoyed I'm not running.
We are supposed to get fresh snow tonight. I may run 2 km tomorrow.0 -
@7lenny7 - YAY! That is awesome! I hope the edema is nothing and goes away on its own.
@sarahthes - I am glad your foot is feeling better! Running in fresh snow sounds fun! Take some pictures - I bet it will be beautiful too!
My foot was really sore today after standing on it too much while cooking yesterday. DH drove me everywhere today, which was so nice, since I can't wear the boot/shoe thing to drive and the pressure from driving makes my foot hurt more.
0 -
recovery news.
My ITB isn't complaining yet and my hip is less cranky. I'm cautiously optimistic having made 3 days straight now. I am looking forward to another run tomorrow perhaps with another bike ride if the weather cooperates. I think I may be a bit wind burned in the face from today. I've also slept soundly the last 3-4 nights, thanks to NyQuil . - amazing sleep. (allergies tend to turn into a sinus infection this time of year. I'm trying my hardest to avoid a steroid shot since I have fat atrophy on both sides from previous injections). Now if they'd consider giving me one in an arm pit, I might consider it. As I am currently fixated on that overly plump area now.
I hope everyone is doing well!2 -
My foot was cranky after shopping so I'm going to give it a couple more days before I make a running attempt. I bought new shoes today though so I'm feeling better. Nothing like retail therapy LOL.
@Elise4270 hooray that you're having less pain!
@shanaber I'm sorry you had pain yesterday and I hope it's feeling better today.
@7lenny7 I hope the edema has gone down some!2 -
Since I'm now walking without aid I charged up and started wearing my Vivosmart again. I was disappointed that I had just over 2000 steps yesterday, and that included going to the University of Minnesota Marching Band concert and out to dinner afterwards. I guess it's a start though.
No change in the swelling in my foot, other than there is very little swelling in my toes now. For some reason that bothered me more than the pitting edema in my foot. Probably because I could feel it more. I'll still call the nurse this morning0 -
@7lenny7 I always tracked step counts through injuries. Sometimes it told me how unfit I was; sometimes it was useful to limit how much I did, as in trying to stay below 5000 steps when recovering from one thing or another.
More data can be irrelevant, or it can be good. It's almost never a bad thing.1 -
@MobyCarp and @Elise4270 in this case, my injury came with a deterrent for too much activity, crutches or my iWalk. Even though the iWalk was much more convenient than crutches, it still was a hassle to put on and off, adjust the straps, and deal with awkward stride. That naturally limited my ability to overdo it.
Now that I can bear weight, I thought I'd be much more active, but I still have an awkward stride and it has been affecting my right hip. The freedom from the iWalk or crutches is great, but I'm not going to be going on walks like I thought I would at this point. The swelling in my foot only confirms that I shouldn't be overactive.
Speaking of swelling, I got in touch with my surgeon nurse yesterday and that turned out to be a frustrating conversation. She was pretty indecisive about whether I should come in or not, and asked me questions I had no way of knowing the answers to. "Is your boot too tight?" How would I know? What's too tight? Define that for me.
"Are you being too active?" How would I know? Define that for me? I did tell her I had 2000 steps for the day at that point to which she replied, "oh my, that sounds like a lot to me". It sure doesn't to me...apparently we have different ideas of what too active is, hence my difficulty in answering the question.
She told me I should be icing it more, yet in the many sites on the internet, icing was not ever mentioned as a treatment for pitting edema. I'm not convinced she even knew what pitting edema is.
Finally she suggested I come in today but I had to talk to my wife about when she'd be free to take me in, so the nurse was going to call me this morning to find out when I could come in. She's not called me. I'm not impressed with her.
On a positive note, my cold seems to have finally left, after miserable 2 weeks with it. Longest cold I've ever had. On a negative note, I wrenched my back and it hurts to do much of anything.
0 -
Only left shoes by the front door, LOL!
1 -
I just got back to the office from my appointment to check on the swelling. What I'm seeing is normal. Not a reason for concern. The nurse was again indecisive. Kept going back and forth about what to do, whether it was a big issue or not, and how to proceed. Finally, after much waffling, she decided to bring the surgeon in to check. (That was the whole point of coming in!!!!). He came in, poked and prodded, asked a few questions and declared everything fine. That's all I wanted to hear.
I took Uber over there (my very first Uber ride) but after being declared ok, I decided to walk the one mile back to my office. It was cold and windy, and I wasn't dressed for it (light jacket, no hat or gloves), but OMG, walking even one mile was AWESOME!!!!
9 more days in a boot.
51 more days until I can run.4 -
I ran a whole 1.29 km tonight. Woo!4
-
@7lenny7 - I love Uber honestly. I used to use it a lot when I was traveling for work. Most of the time it was considerably cheaper than a cab and somehow I felt more comfortable especially at night. I also met some really interesting drivers. A PhD (Physics) student and soccer player from Egypt in Atlanta and a retired Marine in Austin who also drove for Amazon and UPS.
So exciting that you are walking again!! I know I miss being able to get outside but hoping next week the doctor will allow me to do more, longer walks.
@sarahthes - YAY!!
I had a whole post written yesterday with responses to everyone and lost it when the MFP Community pages web server apparently died for hours. When I did get back in the post was gone
I will try to get a new one written later today.
1 -
The swelling in my foot has been greatly reduced. So much so, that I can now see the tendons on the top of my foot when I flex it. It's pretty cool to see my damaged tendon of my 2nd toe attached to the good tendon of my 3rd toe. It's subtle, to be sure, but still cool.
I've been really good about following the doc's orders, until this week. I've been taking my boot off every now and again while in my house. I've been gently walking around and getting my foot and ankle moving. I can really feel the loss of strength and I feel like I'm walking lopsided, but the more I do it, the better it gets. Slowly, I'll get it back.
I'm not supposed to drive until after my appointment Thursday but I've decided I'm going to start driving Monday. I'll take my boot off to drive, then put it back on when I get to my destination. I need more freedom! Thankfully, I checked my truck this week. The battery was dead so now I know to recharge it this weekend.
48 more days.2 -
@7lenny7 - you might put on a sandal or shoe that you can slip on to drive so you aren't pushing on the pedals directly with your foot which might make it sore.
@shanaber it's below freezing here, I'm definitely going to wear a shoe while I drive!
Pressing down with my foot doesn't put any stress on my repaired tendon unless I bend my foot down so much it stretches the tendon. That's not going to happen while driving.
2 -
I ran a km last night before I dropped to a walk. The return run I walked 3 short intervals over the km, mostly due to cardio (holy crap am I out of shape!). I was pleased. No immediate pain or tenderness either during or after the run, and things feel okay today too. Today or tomorrow I'll try to match that, then push distance again next week.
Plan with my coach is for me to run by feel this month, and then start half marathon training in January.
I'm also trying to be really aggressive with my calories because I think my biggest risk for reinjuring myself is the extra weight I'm carrying. Easier to cut when my overall mileage is low.3 -
@sarahthes - so glad you are mostly mended and getting back out there to run! I am looking at running plans for when I start back - I am afraid if I don't have a structured plan I will over do it and try to run too far too soon. I have looked the C2 plans but I don't think I need to be that basic and some of the return from injury plans seem way too aggressive .0
-
More incremental progress. I drove today for the first time since surgery! I spent about a third of the day yesterday out of my boot and will probably go half of today. Yes, it's a few days before I should but I'm getting foot pain that I attribute to the skimpy cushioning in my boot.
Freedom!
4 -
So saw the doctor today. With the level of pain I still have (especially when she pushed on it) she wants me in the boot shoe another 2-3 weeks... Once I am pretty much pain free I can start going with a regular shoe an hour a day and move from there and start putting some direct weight (standing on one foot) on the foot without the boot. I go back right after Christmas for another X-ray and exam.
She is definitely not a runner and not a fan either. She also made me feel old by saying I need to consider that I am much more prone to stress fractures at this point in my life and maybe my focus should be on walking and not running. I don't consider myself old (63 tomorrow) and I definitely don't think I am too old to run. I plan to run well into my 70's and maybe even 80's! Note she was also pretty shocked that I train and lift weights, etc... Why would that be so odd? It really shouldn't be and it should be encouraged so people are stronger as they age.
I asked about my Altra Escalante (took them with me) and she doesn't like them either. I need to have more cushion in the heel, a 'more traditional' running shoe like Asics. She has never heard of Too Athletics or Altra but I guess if you aren't a runner you wouldn't know but I thought at least Altra and/or the idea of 0 drop, natural shoes would be known in the podiatry world.
She also told me no going barefoot, especially on hardwood floors - I am rarely in shoes at home when I am not injured like this... Apparently I also need 'cushioned' slippers or something. I wonder if my OOFOs sandals would count or maybe a pair of the new Topo recovery shoes I've been wanting to try them and now I have an excuse right?
So now I am trying to figure out how to transition back into 'traditional' running shoes when I really don't like how they feel. Any suggestions?0 -
So saw the doctor today. With the level of pain I still have (especially when she pushed on it) she wants me in the boot shoe another 2-3 weeks... Once I am pretty much pain free I can start going with a regular shoe an hour a day and move from there and start putting some direct weight (standing on one foot) on the foot without the boot. I go back right after Christmas for another X-ray and exam.
She is definitely not a runner and not a fan either. She also made me feel old by saying I need to consider that I am much more prone to stress fractures at this point in my life and maybe my focus should be on walking and not running. I don't consider myself old (63 tomorrow) and I definitely don't think I am too old to run. I plan to run well into my 70's and maybe even 80's! Note she was also pretty shocked that I train and lift weights, etc... Why would that be so odd? It really shouldn't be and it should be encouraged so people are stronger as they age.
I asked about my Altra Escalante (took them with me) and she doesn't like them either. I need to have more cushion in the heel, a 'more traditional' running shoe like Asics. She has never heard of Too Athletics or Altra but I guess if you aren't a runner you wouldn't know but I thought at least Altra and/or the idea of 0 drop, natural shoes would be known in the podiatry world.
She also told me no going barefoot, especially on hardwood floors - I am rarely in shoes at home when I am not injured like this... Apparently I also need 'cushioned' slippers or something. I wonder if my OOFOs sandals would count or maybe a pair of the new Topo recovery shoes I've been wanting to try them and now I have an excuse right?
So now I am trying to figure out how to transition back into 'traditional' running shoes when I really don't like how they feel. Any suggestions?
Find a new doctor.
I'm a fan of barefootedness. Shoes are not natural. Just my opinion here, but i wouldn't take running advice from a non-runner.
If it were me, I'd do what feels right with the shoes. Unless you have tests that show you are prone to stress fractures due to bone density, or something like that, I'd dismiss every bit of that advice.
Hope you heal up quickly and get back to running soon (dispite dr doom) haha!2 -
So saw the doctor today. With the level of pain I still have (especially when she pushed on it) she wants me in the boot shoe another 2-3 weeks... Once I am pretty much pain free I can start going with a regular shoe an hour a day and move from there and start putting some direct weight (standing on one foot) on the foot without the boot. I go back right after Christmas for another X-ray and exam.
She is definitely not a runner and not a fan either. She also made me feel old by saying I need to consider that I am much more prone to stress fractures at this point in my life and maybe my focus should be on walking and not running. I don't consider myself old (63 tomorrow) and I definitely don't think I am too old to run. I plan to run well into my 70's and maybe even 80's! Note she was also pretty shocked that I train and lift weights, etc... Why would that be so odd? It really shouldn't be and it should be encouraged so people are stronger as they age.
I asked about my Altra Escalante (took them with me) and she doesn't like them either. I need to have more cushion in the heel, a 'more traditional' running shoe like Asics. She has never heard of Too Athletics or Altra but I guess if you aren't a runner you wouldn't know but I thought at least Altra and/or the idea of 0 drop, natural shoes would be known in the podiatry world.
She also told me no going barefoot, especially on hardwood floors - I am rarely in shoes at home when I am not injured like this... Apparently I also need 'cushioned' slippers or something. I wonder if my OOFOs sandals would count or maybe a pair of the new Topo recovery shoes I've been wanting to try them and now I have an excuse right?
So now I am trying to figure out how to transition back into 'traditional' running shoes when I really don't like how they feel. Any suggestions?
Find a doctor who treats runners. There is a world of difference between talking to my podiatrist, who understands feet; and talking to my sports doc, who understands running.2
