After tearing through John Parker Jr.'s Quenton Cassidy trilogy at breakneck speed, I found it impossible to hold back from an afternoon run. I'd been pretty much sedentary since running 100 miles two weekends ago, but but Parker's narrative of the competitive miler (and eventually marathoner) and his lifestyle are enough to make anyone want to immediately lace up and begin clicking off the miles en route to greatness. The original novel Once a Runner and it's sequel and prequel all have elements that many of us can relate to on some level — the innocence of youth and the hope of great things yet to come, and then longing to relive those youthful days later in life.
Halloween afternoon. Overcast but mid-60s, this is possibly the warmest day Ithaca will see for many months. I arrive home from work, quickly swapping scrubs for shorts and a singlet. It is all I can do to avoid suicidally attempting to rip off a series of 60-second 400s on the IHS track, pretty much guaranteeing a complete rupture of my still-achy tibialis anterior tendon. I restrain
Showing posts with label recovery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recovery. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
From Zero To A Hundred In One Month
"Let's see three hops on the left foot, then three on the right." I complied by lifting my right foot off the ground, hopping six inches straight up and down with the left, and then repeating two more times.
"Okay, same thing on the other side." I lifted my left off the ground and hopped in the same manner off my right foot. The pain was so severe and so deep it felt like that single jump would cause a huge impaction fracture down the length of my femur.
Dr. Getzin then had me lay supine on the exam table and performed a fulcrum test. This involved using his forearm as a point of resistance as I attempted to extend my hip and press my femur down toward the floor. The pain was significant, but not as bad as the hop test. After an x-ray ruled out anything obvious in the bone, and an ultrasound ruled out any soft tissue pathology, there was only one explanation left—a mid-shaft femoral stress fracture. I had been training for and looking forward to running the Eastern States 100 since January, and now, only one month before race day, I was faced with the reality that I'd have to forgo the race and take a DNS—Did Not Start.
"Okay, same thing on the other side." I lifted my left off the ground and hopped in the same manner off my right foot. The pain was so severe and so deep it felt like that single jump would cause a huge impaction fracture down the length of my femur.
Dr. Getzin then had me lay supine on the exam table and performed a fulcrum test. This involved using his forearm as a point of resistance as I attempted to extend my hip and press my femur down toward the floor. The pain was significant, but not as bad as the hop test. After an x-ray ruled out anything obvious in the bone, and an ultrasound ruled out any soft tissue pathology, there was only one explanation left—a mid-shaft femoral stress fracture. I had been training for and looking forward to running the Eastern States 100 since January, and now, only one month before race day, I was faced with the reality that I'd have to forgo the race and take a DNS—Did Not Start.
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