After hiking the trail, my conception of what was a short walk/run or long walk/run was altered forever. Having used my feet to go everywhere along the trail and in towns, I began to love the freedom of walking or running gave me. I finally realized that walking and running was an actual form of transportation. With this thought in mind, whenever I ran I just ran and ran. Exploring the woods or different towns and cities with my feet. I noticed that not only could I run further after my hike, but my legs were also strong (especially up hills). After only a few weeks of running, I my mileage went from the classic 3 mile run to 10-12 mile runs. The craziest part was that I was less tired after my long 10-12 mile run than my when I used to finish my 3 mile runs.
A few weeks after I came home from the trail I moved to attend graduate school. I continued running and actually increased my mileage the end of that summer and fall. Eventually I began to run 10 k's regularly and then ran a marathon by the end of the fall of 2014. I not only finished the marathon feeling pretty great, but my time (2 hrs 57 mins) qualified me for the Boston Marathon. I was pumped that I had qualified for the Boston Marathon and that I had done so in my first Marathon. My running regime continued through the winter and early spring. I ran a 10 miler and a half marathon, and was pleased with my times. Then it happened... like most people I always felt like "no, no...it won't happen to me. I run right, I take care of myself...etc.", but it did happen. It caught me off guard and surprised me. It was a beautiful late April day. I did a short hike with some friends, which wasn't eventful. I should have taken more heed though... because I felt a sharp pain in the top of my left mid-foot at one point. This should have sent an an alarm off in my head, but it didn't. Instead, since I felt like the hike wasn't enough exertion for one day, I decided to go for an hour long run when I got home. The majority of the run went fine. It was not until the last 10 mins that I noticed the sharp pain re-emerge on the top of my left foot. Every time my foot hit the ground a sharp pain sprang from my foot up my leg. At this point, I knew I had screwed myself. When I got home I continued to walk around on my foot. Up until that point, I usually just powered through pain thinking that something will pop back in place and it will be better by morning...not so much. The pain grew through the night and the next day until my ignorance and naivety wore off and I accepted that my foot needed real help. Over the course of the two months:
- Orthopedic diagnosed me with stress fracture to my second metatarsal
- wore walking boot for 6 wks
- got walking boot off
- slowly began to get back into walking and running
- First did a few mins of walk jog around track.
- After 2-3 weeks out of the boot I began to take short runs.
- Progressed from 15-45 min runs by the end of July.
- Ran in 4-miler race at the end of July.
- Noticed after the race I had a slight twinge in the top of my foot. Afraid I got another stress fracture.
- The small sign of pain subsided after a day.
- Didn't run for a few days after race. Continued running regime for about a week when two days after a run in mid-August the top of my foot began to hurt.
- The pain increased over the course of 48 hours. Mild swelling and discoloration presented itself. Wrapped foot in ACE bandage and endured the pain with NASIDS.
- Continued cross training without much of a problem. Pain subsided after 10 days.
And this is where my story starts now...
