I already strongly suspected this would be the case, but now it has been officially diagnosed. Well, here’s what this means:
The Bad
- Can only bike or swim for the next 2 weeks. Have follow-up visit on September 12.
- Will most likely miss the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 7th.
- Will most likely miss the Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon on October 13th.
The Good
- I don’t need crutches.
- The MD said this is a “Low Risk” stress fracture since the bone is very thick (i.e. not likely to become a full fracture)
- I should be able to return to running in 4 to 6 weeks
- When I return, I should NOT have to gradually work my way back into running. He said that if I wanted I could run a marathon the next day (not planning on it…btw)
- Therefore, I should still be able to run the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon and maybe the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon (though not as fast as I had hoped)
Considering that I already expected this diagnosis, this turned out to be pretty good news. I was expecting to be out for 8 to 12 weeks, so 4 to 6 was much, much better. He said that you generally only see a stress fracture of the femur in “advanced runners” (his phrase, not mine) who are in top condition. I thought this was a very nice way to tell someone they had a stress fracture 🙂
Anyway, I plan on hitting the bike (and maybe the water) hard over the next two weeks, and look forward to my next follow-up visit to track progress. Keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead! Thanks to everyone for their support.