Stress Fractured

"How long have you had the pain?" my podiatrist says.

"I recall a dull pain starting about August", I say. "More annoying than anything."

"Did it get worse? What's your level of pain today?" he continues to pry.

"It's honestly never gotten better, which is why I decided to come in. The most pain coincided with the race I did back in October, and has gradually subsided. But it's still there."

"OK, well let's look at the x-rays and see if there's anything we can see", he pauses.

Grabbing his computer, he pulls up the digital scans of my x-rays.

"Well look at that", he says. "You've got a small stress fracture."

Well shit. I had given away my walking boot long ago thinking that I was smarter and indestructible. Clearly, that was not the case.

The silver lining is that the stress fracture is healing already - meaning, yes it's fractured but with a little more rest, it will heal up no problem. So what does that mean? 4-6 weeks of no running and the walking boot for extended periods of activity (which really isn't all that often given I sit on my ass all day for work) :-)

Even so, it blows. Really takes the wind out of your sails...I was starting to get back into my HIIT workouts and ramping up the miles again. Womp womp womp. I'll just sit here now, sulk and drink myself to sleep every night.

In the meantime, I've been hiking and trying to get out a couple times a week. It's not much but it's enough to feel active again.