Deep Thoughts

I went to the doctor last Wednesday for my regular yearly checkup, and I also asked her WTF was going on with my left leg. She said that it seemed like my hamstring was definitely strained, and there is a possibility that I have a stress fracture in my shin. Stress fractures usually don’t show up on X-rays, but she sent me to get my insides photographed anyway (hello, deductible, nice to meet you, thanks for being so high). I am supposed to cut my training in half for two weeks to see if that helps, and it looks like that’s not going to be a problem because my leg is really only letting me do so much before it begins to scream at me to stop. That’s one of the things that I’m slowly learning: how to interpret my body’s signals. Where’s the line between pain and discomfort? How do I tell if I really should stop or if I’m just being a big baby and need to push myself? Anyway, I haven’t heard back about the X-ray results yet. I wonder if maybe she sent me to get them because it’s a prerequisite to having an MRI? Which is what she said I may need if it doesn’t get better and nothing shows up on the X-ray. I don’t think I want to pay for an MRI… they aren’t cheap. Thursday I tried to run after work. I was only going to do 2 to 2.5 miles, half of what I’d normally try to run, but I had to stop after only a mile. Shooting pain was running up my leg from toes to thigh. Yesterday morning, I decided to try again (36 hours off… that should be enough time to heal, right?!). I was able to run […]

I seem to have hit a brick wall in my marathon training. I got up to 5 miles a couple weeks ago but haven’t been able to top it. I guess part of it is that I went on vacation (although I did run 3 of the 5 days I was out of town, for a total of 8 miles). I am having two separate issues with my left leg, one of which is likely either a bad chronic shin splint, or possibly a stress fracture. The other issue has something to do with my hamstring… I cannot stretch that leg hardly at all (toe touches are nearly impossible), and when I run there is occasional pain that shoots either up from the back of the knee through the thigh, or down to the toes. I don’t know that running is making it any worse, per se, so I’m just trying to stretch it a little bit when I’m warmed up, enough to keep as limber as I can without making it worse. Oh, also, my leg occasionally feels weak as I’m running, like it’s about to buckle. The other thing is, I have had insomnia for a few nights, and I don’t have much of an appetite. My stomach constantly feels like it’s full of butterflies. Don’t know what’s going on there. So, weirdness all around. But like I told a friend, I’m learning to work with the leg pain rather than let it stop me. I was supposed to have run 6 miles last weekend, and didn’t, and still haven’t managed to this week. The most I’ve done is 4.5. I may take it “easy” and just do my 6 mile this weekend rather than 6.5, and basically fall back by a week. Maybe I just need a […]