About 10 days ago I felt soreness in my heel after a run. I didn't think much of it because it was the longest run I'd attempted so far (7 miles). Two days later I went on a slow, recovery run and only got about 1.5 miles in before I had to walk because my heel pain was too intense. I didn't run for a week, wore supportive shoes all day and tried to limit mobility, but the pain was still pretty intense by the end of each day.
I made an appointment with an Orthopaedic physician to have it checked out and unfortunately my suspicion was correct. He told me that the following makes me vulnerable to stress fractures:
- Female
- I'm thin (not sure what this has to do with it but he's the expert!)
- Just had a baby (body depleted of nutrients)
- I'm not drinking much milk while breastfeeding
- I ramped up mileage pretty quick
It's so disappointing to have this for so many reasons. I was looking forward to the Army 10-miler next weekend, the weather is gorgeous right now and I just really miss running.
Once the pain in may heel is completely gone, I am supposed to wait 2 more weeks to start running again. Unfortunately, the Dr explained that stress fractures of the heel are slow to heal because it's difficult to rest it in daily activities. It could take up to 3 months. Ugh.
I am supposed to start at no more than 4 miles per week and increase weekly mileage no more than 10% per week. That is going to take forever to get back up to a half marathon, but I suppose I'd rather take several months to ramp up than injure myself again.
I am trying to stay positive and am re-joining our gym so I can swim and do yoga/Pilates. I've always wanted to try a triathlon but never had the time to learn to swim more efficiently so it looks like this may be the opportunity.
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