When people find out I broke my leg in several places, the first question they ask is, “How did it happen?” I wish I had a great story to tell, but here’s the truth: I broke it slowly, over many miles, as I trained for a fall marathon. After running the London Marathon this year, I took a few weeks off to recover before I started training for Chicago. I planned on following a 16-week training plan, but because I had taken some time off, I slowly began building my base back up three weeks before the official start of my plan.
Everything went great to start. The hip pain that ailed me in the winter disappeared and my legs felt fresh. I ran a few 4-milers to gauge my fitness level, and I was shocked when I almost scored a personal best.
After the second 4-miler, I felt a slight pain in my shin. I’ve had shin splints before, so I thought nothing of it. After a few more weeks of consistent running, though, the pain grew so severe that I pulled back on my running to let my shin heal.
After a month of never-ending pain, I went to the doctor for an expert opinion. After a round of X-rays, the doctor told me the issue was probably shin splints and that I could slowly return to running. I asked whether it could be a stress fracture because the pain felt more intense than a normal shin splint, but was assured my leg was fine.
Three days later at a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, I turned to say hi to a friend and felt a pop. I immediately knew that I broke my leg. A rod, plate, and seven screws later, I’m now sidelined from running for months, if not longer.
Turns out, I probably did have a stress fracture–but they are hard to detect on X-rays. In fact, Runner’s World published this a story the week before my injury that details how stress fractures are “notoriously tricky to diagnose.” Our story also goes through the five stress fracture warning signs you need to pay attention to. And looking back, I checked off every box, from discomfort with activity to pain that increased throughout runs.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
