I am very thankful for doctors who don't hesitate to say "just come in now" or work me in as soon as possible on the same day I call, with no hesitation or questions asked. But, today, when I was told to come in right away for lab work and x-rays, I just wasn't a happy camper. So much for the reprieve.
I got ushered right in as soon as I got to my primary, despite a couple of others in the waiting room. She took a few minutes to run through everything again face-to-face, to make sure we were on the same page and she had all of the info she needed. For the leg pain, her initial thought was shin splints that just weren't responding to the normal recovery methods I use. We talked about the impact of running in the past 6 months and how it's done more good than bad, so we'd just have to find a new way to deal with the pain if it was just shin splints again, but she was confident I'd be fine to run my race Wednesday evening.
Off I went with the nurse for the x-rays, then back to wait a few minutes longer. As soon as she walked in, my doctor had this look of "I'm SO sorry on her face" and said, "Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is your tibia and fibula are solid. Nothing there. The bad news is, you do have two tiny stress fractures. But, they ARE tiny, and they look like they are already healing." I took a deep breath. She sat down. She said, "No race Wednesday evening." I took another deep breath. She looked like she was just waiting on the meltdown. It never came. I handled it fine. I asked how long. She said we'd estimate about 3 weeks. Normally it'd be 6-8, but since they were so small and already looked like they were healing, she thought I'd be good to go in 3. Another deep breath.
Then she said, "Do you have a boot?" I immediately perked up because I saw where she was going with this. Somethings, only runners understand. I didn't have a boot. She asked me if I thought I could get in to the ortho surgeon today, have him look at the x-rays to confirm, and, if she was right, get in the boot. She said, "Then you can go to the race." Note, she did not say I could run the race, but she also said she knew me and knew I'd go anyway, so as long as I went, I should wear the boot. But she also said she could not condone nor encourage me to run in the boot for the race, but, again, she knew me. She also said, I hope he tells you I'm crazy and he doesn't see anything. But, let me know either way.
Before I went, we discussed the other issue. I knew before Tahoe my eating was off. Then, when we got to Tahoe and I stayed nauseous for days, I knew something was up. When I felt sick during the run, I knew something was up. After the run, still knew it. When I got home and spent a week doing nothing more than sleeping, working, surviving runs, and sleeping more, I was certain I knew what was going on. But I kept saying I'd be fine and ignoring it. One of the biggest things I picked up on was that I was likely anemic again. It's something I've dealt with off and on for decades. I recognize it almost immediately. Most of the time I just adjust the diet and it goes away on its own and I'm fine. Well, I knew a week after Tahoe that it had not gone away and was worse. I filled the doctor in on all of this. She enlightened me that between the lack of eating and the anemia, it was highly probable that I ended up with altitude sickness, even though I've NEVER had an issue with it before, in any of my numerous trips above 7000 feet. She explained that if I was already anemic when I went, it would make me even more susceptible to the altitude sickness, which in turn, could also be affecting my legs with the lack of oxygen-rich blood circulating. We talked diet/intake (again) and how important and essential rest was. Then she sent me in for the lab work.
After they took way too many vials of blood, she sent me on my way to the ortho. I called at 10:15. They said to be there by 11:10. That's how fast and awesome they were.
Arrived at ortho with copies of x-rays in my hands. Explained everything to the nurse. She went to get the ortho. He comes in with a new PA. He says hello, turns to the PA and says, "Kristi here has a whole lot of unusual stuff going on and is NOT your typical patient." I didn't know whether to be flattered or feel like a freak show act. But, the doctor is awesome. He really is. So, he explained why things were anything but textbook with me, and the PA look mesmerized. I told the ortho my doc had said he could call her crazy. He said, "Well, if I tell you she's crazy and I don't see anything to stop you, are you going to be able to go run?" I stared at him for a minute, felt hope rising, and said, "well, it hurts." So we talked. He showed me the x-rays. He said, "it's still the same nerve stuff - there is nothing here that shows me that you need to stop doing what you are doing. I want you to continue running. Plus, you eliminated the possibility of the compartmental syndrome we discussed. If you ran a half-marathon with no nerve pain, you're doing something right. Keep going." I asked if I could have it in writing. I knew my coach was going to think, "there's no way" after all of the back-and-forth texting all morning going from "shin splints not responding to the norm" to "oh no - not 1 but 2 stress fractures" to "you are clear to keep running." It just was completely insane.
So, after all of that, I was told I could continue running with the only limitation being my pain. So let's discuss that for a moment. I tried to run this morning. I walked half a block to warm up. Then took 2 strides running - and immediately stopped. The pain was like a 25 on a scale of 1-10. For me, that's pretty significant. I can normally run through most of the nerve pain I experience. Not lately. It's been super high impact. When the doctor said I could run through the pain as long as I could tolerate it, I hesitated, though I wasn't about to let anyone know it. My initial thought was, "but it hurts so much worse now than before" and "am I really getting that soft that I can't just run through it anymore?" I wrestled most of the afternoon with it. The ortho did also point out that there really was no point whatsoever in me trying to push through the pain to do a 5K that wasn't on my priority list just to say I did it, and said to think about it before I attempted it Wednesday night. He also admonished me to follow my coach's instructions - even when I felt like he was holding me back and I wanted to do more. It's that slow progressive overload (yes - I used the words) that is working and that I need. When I try to go beyond that and do too much too soon - my nerves overreact. When we gradually train them to take on a higher impact in speed or distance or duration - it works. What stinks about that is that it means progression moves forward way too slow in my mind. I want to do it and do it NOW - not work towards it for months. But - I get it and I am (for the most part) complying with it.
My girls asked to go walk this evening. There was no way I was saying no. They've been in NYC for almost 3 weeks and it's their first evening home. We grabbed their scooters and set off towards their favorite path. As I was walking it dawned on me that I really needed to get a grasp of where I was in terms of pain level and ability - BEFORE I get to Wednesday's race. I know me - if I just show up cold turkey and run, I'm going to ignore all of the pain and regret it later, or end up injured again. I need to know how far I can push it and when/where I need to limit myself. The best way for me to do that is tomorrow during the group run class - but I can already hear my coach's reaction to that now. Especially since he already told us he didn't want to see any of us there doing a hard workout with the race the next evening. I may need to think about how to approach this one.
The funny thing about today is how stinking CALM I was through the whole ordeal. I don't know how, but getting the news I was out for 3 weeks, and then an hour later being cleared to run that day did nothing to me emotionally. I just accepted it all as it came. Totally out of the norm. In fact, my doctor was asking if I was okay - BECAUSE I was so calm. Maybe I've learned to just deal with things as they come? Or maybe I already knew the worst was inevitable and expected things to be far worse than what they were saying? Who knows. But, I'm just really glad this day is over and I'm allowed to run. At least by the doctor. I'm really hoping it doesn't make my coach over cautious and hesitant to let me loose again.
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