Tibia stress fracture

sarafil

Short story: My doctor feels strongly that I have a stress fracture in my tibia (shin). Fantastic timing, because I am 10 days out from my first half marathon. Doctor and I mutually agreed that I will run the race, and then we'll address the fracture (have not done any imaging yet, his diagnosis is based on exam and testing with vibration on the bone). Curious if anyone else has dealt with this particular kind of injury, and what was your time off from running? I experience no pain except when running, so I am hopeful that I will be able to keep up cross training with cycling and water running.

luvmypwds

I've had a stress fracture before when training for my first marathon, oh, 18 years ago. Mine was around the inner ankle area. To my knowledge (and experience), however, a stress fracture comes with severe localized pain, i.e., even slight pressure on the area (and it would be very localized) will cause a lot of pain. I could barely put weight on it. I had to take 6-8 weeks off running completely. It was hard to take the time off, but I did pool running during that time as per my coach's instruction. Are you seeing a sports medicine doctor? If not I highly suggest it. If you have a true stress fracture, I doubt you'd be able to run a half marathon. For your sake, I hope it's not a stress fracture.