FLOAT ON

Do you ever get those days when you have to ask what day of the week it is?  I had to look at my watch this morning to tell me it’s Wednesday.  This seems to happen when I’m injured and I don’t have a schedule that distinguishes one day from another.  Usually I have workouts on particular days, a long run once a week and core on specific days.  Now I just seem to go from one day to the next.  What’s on for today?.. try and use a stationary bike, do core, repeat.

So today when I my watch informed me it was Wednesday and not Tuesday I was happy, one more day closer to a fixed bone!  The opposite was true when I was injured in the spring.  Because I desperately wanted to race at the Olympic trials if I thought it was the 8th and figured out it was the 7th on my calendar I was pumped that I got an extra day to get healthy to race. 

I keep thinking back to the morning when I broke my foot.  I was running through McMaster on my way to the trails and I went a slightly different way than I normally do to avoid a crowded area where students wait for buses.  This particular route has similar footing, they are both paved asphalt, so it’s not as if I was taking any more risk this way. After I broke my foot I thought that perhaps if I had gone the regular way this would not have happened. The reality is that breaking my foot could of happened anywhere and there was obviously some underlying problem that caused my 5th metatarsal to break with a simple ankle inversion.  A healthy bone would not of broken that easily.

My foot problem goes back over two years ago when I twisted my ankle warming up for a race in Germany and I noticed that I hurt the outside of my foot rather than the ankle itself.  That day I felt pain in every step of my 1500m although once I put back on my training shoes it was fine.  Throughout the rest of that track season I would feel a slight pain now and then, but nothing that ever stopped me from running.  The pain on the outside of my foot got fairly painful from time to time over the past two and half years with the pain peaking at the end of my 2007 track season when I was diagnosed with a stress fracture and consequently took three weeks off (I would of taken two weeks off regardless).  I figured all the time I took off from running this past summer while I was x-training would of healed it up.  I remember thinking that it felt quite strong this fall but, a few inversions through the past two months and a very slight pain reappeared.  I didn’t take too much stock in it because the pain was minimal and easily manageable.  I never thought the signs pointed to such a weakness where a simple ankle inversion would cause a break.

My right calf has atrophied quite a bit and is noticeably smaller than my left just by looking at them from the front.  I have exercises for my quads, hamstrings, glutes and hips although my calf can’t do much without my foot hurting.  In the last couple of days I have been able to dorsiflex a bit so I’ll sit and watch TV and move my foot a couple inches up and down to at least use my calf.  Let the rehab begin.

Fat foot and fat toes (a couple days after the break). Where did the tendons in my foot go?

I got the tendons back but lost some calf.

Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and I got some bad news.  My bone is actually broken all the way through and I have a Jones fracture. A Jones fracture is a specific type of fracture of the 5th metatarsal which is worse than a regular fracture.  It takes more time to heal, there is a chance of non-union (then surgery is required) and a greater chance of re-fracture.  Instead of looking at recovery of 4-6 weeks I’m looking at non-weight bearing in an aircast for 6 weeks, and then going from there.

At least I did have a few good weeks of running where I actually felt fit.  This will help me stay motivated and that feeling of being able to run well is not long forgotten.  I even paced one third marathon which reminded me of racing.  If this injury would of happened at the beginning of October before Run for the Toad I would have felt so far from competitive running and feeling fit.  Also, if this would of happened next March (hopefully it doesn’t occur again) then I would see another track season go down the drain.  I always try and see the bright side of things because if I get too wrapped up the shittyness of this injury it’s really discouraging.  It also helps to put life in the big picture and realize this will be only a relatively short period and one heck of a learning experience.

From Thursday afternoon until Sunday I managed to watch the first two seasons of Dexter.  That’s the worst part of this injury, that I’m not able to do any aerobic X-training yet.  I thought I would be able to get in the pool after two weeks, which doesn’t look to be the case anymore, it will likely be longer.

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Trouble

Four minutes and 30 seconds into my run this morning I stepped on some uneven asphalt at McMaster and heard a crack.  I could tell right away that this was more than just a regular sprain.  This time it was my right side and my foot was killing.  This pain was on another level and I knew my foot was broken.  Sent an email to the troops that my foot was broken and I would not be making the trek to Quebec.

I got some X-rays that confirmed my 5th metatarsal was broken.  The good thing is that it didn’t break right off and it doesn’t need to be re-set or need surgery.  It’s busted 2/3 the way through the bone.  I have an aircast so when I’m ready I can take it off and pool run. 

The doctor asked if I had broken my foot there before.  He asked because there are signs of calcium deposits right where the fracture is.  It must of been from a stress fracture I had last September but never got fully diagnosed because I had my bonescan a couple of weeks after the end of the season.  Makes sense now why it hurt on some of my runs last year.

The prognosis is 4-6 weeks with no running although I will see an orthopedic surgeon next week for a closer look.  Luckily I have another orthopedic surgeon looking over my X-rays today to make sure everything is in the right place.

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