After the race, John, Mary, and I were walking towards the subway. we were hobbling there. I could not walk without pain and when I saw a cab, I flung myself into it, barely saying goodbye to my friends.
I was in that much pain.
I woke up in agony, literally crying. I cancelled my plans for the day (easy run; going to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens with Wayne; going to a dance party w Dite and some of my burner friends) and spent the day with my foot up, ice pack on, popping Ibuprofins, really worried. I become even more upset when I began Googling "pain lower shin."
Oh no, did I have a stress fracture? No, no, no, no, NO!
I went to my PT, Dan, at Fresh Pond Physical Therapy (AWESOME PT!), who is just around the block from me. He said he thought it was just tendinitis, but said I would need an MRI to verify that.
I called Dr. Goolsby and they somehow squeezed me in for an appointment. I took a cab because I could barely walk and almost threw up in the cab I was so nervous. I tried to focus on studying Spanish while I waited but I was so nervous.
She looked at my foot, talked with me, walked me walk - and then said yes, it's impossible to verify if it's a stress fracture without an MRI. She got me an air cast and told me to wear it all the time, except when I was sleeping. She told me I could bike with no resistance, or swim, or aqua jog. Bleh.
MRI was the next day. The whole appointment took me nearly two hours, and they played Alicia Keys while I was in there, which was nice when I wasn't hearing those awful "EH EH EH EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH" sounds. I was on edge when I left....
I called my doctor....and she was so busy she didn't call me back. I felt awful and everyone kept texting me, IMing me, emailing me, calling me...."Did you hear back from your doctor?"
"NO I WILL TELL YOU WHEN I DO!"
Finally, she called. It wasn't a stress fracture, but a stress reaction, she explained. I had significant swelling in the muscle. I should keep off it for two weeks.
"From my race? I mean, it's already been five days without running?"
"Well....why don't you schedule an appointment for a week and a half from now." Eeeek.
She said I could bike, so that was good at least. I hit up the gym the next day and got some great trashy novel reading in while biking. It wasn't as fun as running, but at least it was moving my legs.
My PT said I could start running, slow if I had no pain. The run was like heaven. Nothing had ever felt so wonderful....
I'm resting, I'm bracing, I'm chilling...and soon I will hopefully be 100% running and back to my normal crazy self!