next up in my ongoing fight to heal my bad leg is an MRI. this should provide all of the missing details in terms of just how severe of a stress fracture i have. after that is a conversation with my doctor and sports chiro to figure out a game plan for moving forward. i keep reading horror stories online about people with similar tibia stress fractures that have been advised by their doctors to stay off their feet for times varying from 4 weeks to an entire year. AN ENTIRE YEAR? you've got to be kidding me! i couldn't imagine not running for a whole year. i'm not going to stress about it until i've had all of the necessary conversations, but i'm glad to know ahead of time that i could be in for a longer than expected bout of recovery time. yikes. the thought is definitely terrifying.
in the meantime i'm still going to the gym and riding as much as i can to keep my fitness up. i'm also water running as much as i can. i was at the cottage this past weekend and got a 70-minute aqua jog workout in on saturday afternoon. i'm sure i looked ridiculous out there in my wetsuit, running along underwater with my head bobbing above the surface. "that guy's walking! look at him! he's just walkin' along!" was the commentary from a boat full of geriatrics that slowly made their way past.
one thing i've realized is that i'm hesitant to ride like i normally do, fearful that pushing the pedals too hard too soon may compromise my recovery. i brought my bike up the the cottage because i wanted to get out on the roads for a 60k ride, but i had to psyche myself up to even want to ride. i ended up not riding because i don't want to do anything to stress my lower leg any more than it should be. i still ride to work as much as possible but that's usually fairly light spinning and there's no pain during or afterwards. i'm sure a 60k ride on my tri bike won't do any harm, but, at this point, i think the key is to be as patient as possible and come up with a game plan before anything else. in the meantime i'll continue to force myself into staying off my feet as much as possible. which is tougher than i ever imagined. who doesn't want to sit around on the couch, put their feet up and relax? not me.
