Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

I am confused about what to do about a stress fracture I have in my second metatasal. It stopped hurting about a week ago, only 2 weeks into what I had planned to be a 6 week rest. Now, because it doesn't hurt anymore, does that mean that I can start running on it again, or do I need to wait till the end of the 6 weeks? I'm a 16 year old girl who is taking calcium supliments, and was running about 45 miles a week before this, if that plays into anything... thanks guys

[Anonymously Posted by: 'lassie']

[Dan]

Two weeks seems too fast for a stress fracture to heal. Most likely, the pain is just gone due to the removed aggravation of running. Odds are pretty good that the pain would come back the first week of running.

Be cautious with it, but don't let that make you think you can't be active. Biking and swimming will not place impact on it, and there are arm-biking machines that are a great aerobic workout. (I was just reading that Suzy Hamilton did a lot of that while rehabbing from achilles surgery. I had to do it regularly after my hamstring injuries.) Better to take an extra week or two and get it healed than to push it a bit too quick and reinjure it.

Dan

[Guest]

I say, take the extra weeks off!! It's gonna stop hurting within the first few weeks but it's still not totally healed and if you come back too soon, you'll reinjure it. And when you do come back, start slowly, walking and running, then build to running, then the miles.

[mjsbossman]

If you are serious about running, do some swimming . My team mate, who is our best runner, got a stress fracture at the end of track, and over the summer, all he could do was swim and bike, but when he came back at the Alumni Meet he kicked butt. He finished 25 seconds faster on the 2 mile course than the year before. So you should be able to get in good aerobic shape by biking. The good thing is that you can do interval workouts on a bike.