So I went out and did it and got myself a real running injury. At least it feels like a real injury in that if I wanted to go out and grind through 15 miles any day of the week, I could. There is no real pain, per se.
But folks who are in tune with their body and how things are supposed to feel know what an injury feels like and what is just basic aches and pains of our sport.
Anyway, before getting into the exactitude of what happened, I know it all links back to my weekly mileage, types of workouts and a few that pushed me over the edge. One in particular, a five-miler in 26:38 wrapped around an “easy” 10 in 61 a week before the Poconos Mountains Marathon, I never really recovered from. Actually, I don’t think I recovered properly from running the marathon, either. Though I put in back-to-back weeks of 70 and 80 miles after an easy week following the marathon, I never felt right.
But I didn’t feel bad either. It wasn’t really a big deal to go out and run 15 miles at 6:30 pace. Actually, it made me feel sane. I definitely needed a few “easier” days mixed in order to have some leg turnover, but that handful of weekly 15-milers made me feel good.
Anyway, I had done a pair of hilly 12-milers two Saturday and Sundays ago and followed that up with a pair of 15-milers over my standard neighborhood, which is aptly named School Lane Hills. During the run I face eight or nine bona fide hills, not including a bunch of inclines and, of course, a few downhills. No, they aren’t the most menacing of hills, but there is no break. There’s relief with sections of steady, flat running, but the hills are always lurking.
So during the last 15 miler – last Tuesday – I rolled through the first five miles in 31:50ish despite feeling a carpal tunnel-like feeling in my pinky and ring fingers. By the time I hit the hilliest section of the run, the sensation was gone though it continues to pop up here and there every day since, mostly in my right hand.
About 50 minutes into the run while tackling the steepest hill on the course, a dull pain suddenly sprang up in my left shin. Actually, to call it pain doesn’t quite describe it – it’s feels like I bumped my shin into a coffee table or got kicked flush on the muscle. It doesn’t hurt, but it does feel uncomfortable and tight. However, during this run it disappeared before rearing its head again toward the end.
I never had shin splints before so I looked it up and that’s what it sounded like… until I read the part about compartment syndrome.
Yeah.
Most runners know what shin splints are or they heard of it. Compartment syndrome, apparently, gives the same sensation as shin splints only instead of it being a mere muscle weakness or tweak, it occurs when a person’s calves are so tight and the muscle so large that it puts pressure on the sheath that holds it in place.
Actually, both shin splints and compartment syndrome are brought on by tight calves and/or lots and lots of miles. I guess I qualify in both counts because I’m about as flexible as a kitchen table and I run a lot. For me, 100 miles is easy though to put in consistent 130-miles weeks takes some work… and it’s work I don’t mind doing.
Anyway, the way to fix both injuries is with rest, anti-inflammatories, ice, more ice and even more stretching and massage. So far that’s what I’ve been doing, along with a trip to the chiropractor for some A.R.T. treatment where it was confirmed that I had a case of the compartment syndrome.
There’s another way to treat compartment syndrome and that’s with surgery. The conservative treatment – ice, stretching, massage, etc. – works only so much and it is something I would have to do diligently forever with no guarantees that the uncomfortableness would ever dissipate. Plus, there’s always the risk that the calf muscle could tear itself away from the bone, which is an even bigger problem.
That’s no good.
Surgery for the injury is when the doctor cuts the fascia holding the enlarged muscle to alleviate the pressure and give it the space it needs. Doctors say it’s a rather routine procedure that takes less time than actually diagnosing bona fide compartment syndrome as opposed to a stress fracture or mere shin splints. And unlike most sports surgeries, there is an 80 percent chance that a person who has compartment syndrome surgery will be able to return to the same abilities as before the injury occurred.
Of course, there is rehab involved, which I suspect takes about two months. But after an athlete is given the go-ahead to resume training, he can do so without holding back. Though it’s a given that he will pay closer attention to flexibility and core strengthening principles.
But we aren’t quite there yet. On Wednesday I go to a sports doc for the hardcore diagnosis. I assume I’ll undergo a test where a needle is injected into my calf to measure the pressure kind of like with a tire.
In the days since, the shin has responded well to ice, stretching, massage (I have “The Stick”), and all of that other good stuff. I had some really sore calves last weekend, which, I think, was a response to the deep-tissue massage. But after warming up and going through all my pre-training run rigmarole, the bruise-like tightness reappears within seconds of starting the workout.
Yeah, I can push it and run 20 every day, but what would that prove? Instead, I continue to treat the injury and warm up like normal but with the addition of a 25-minute yoga routine with the hope that the tightness won’t be there when I go run.
So far, no luck. There has been no change in my condition at all. Worse, twice during the week my heart rate has spiked over 70 or 80 beats per minute. For a guy who wakes up with a heart rate around 42, anything around 60 is very noticeable.
Hell, I’m falling apart.
Nevertheless, my wife and I decided that if the surgery option is presented, that’s the route I’m going. And yes, surgery likely means that I can forget about the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K in Washington during the first week of September, as well as the 15-mile race in Vail, Colorado that goes up a mountain and over 11,000-feet of altitude.
I guess I can also forget about racing on the Fourth of July or the speedy York Bon-Ton five miler, which I was targeting as the race to run a P.R.
It also means that a November marathon is probably out, too. Or at least it means it’s pushing it.
But then again maybe I can use one of those November marathons as my first long run back…
That is if the knife is the answer.
Anyway, here’s the training log for the week:
Monday, May 26
15 miles in 1:37:58
I have a cold that still is driving me nuts. I can feel it in my chest, throat and face. Sometimes it feels as if I’m having muscle spasms in my chest and I’m spitting green shit like crazy. My heart rate feels a little elevated, too.
Needless to say, it feels lovely in the morning.
Anyway, I ran well despite the high heat. I did some hills too. My hips were tight, but maybe I’m about a week from a starting a decent training cycle.
splits:
1st part: 27:39
2nd part: 31:56
3rd part: 38:23
Tuesday, May 27
15 miles in 1:38:50
I had a weird sensation on my left shin. As I wrote, it felt weird. Like something was gripping my shin.
Maybe it was the bone or something. Either way, after getting loose, I ran pretty well and I felt good aside from the shin thing and some tight hamstrings.
Wednesday, May 28
Nothing
Did not run. Actually, I ran for two minutes, decided I didn’t want to deal with my shin discomfort. Plus, it’s probably a good idea to actually rest for a change.
Still, not running is more difficult than running. I hope this shin thing is nothing more than shin splints or whatever and I can get back to normal soon.
Thursday, May 29
6 miles in 39:52
I felt fine this morning, but the second I started running my shin flared up. I felt it pretty much the entire run so I stopped after 6 and went home to mow the lawn.
I still have the problem with my hands, too. That could be carpal tunnel or something. Nonetheless, it appears as if my tight calves and hips led to a good dose of shin splints…
Yay!
Friday, May 30
Nothing
Took another goose egg after going in for some A.R.T. and learning that the shin pain is likely compartment syndrome.
Yeah.
In the meantime, I’m going to ice, use the stick, stretch and ice some more. Next Wednesday I go to the M.D. to learn what my plan of attack is. I’d rather not lose the year, but at the same time I don’t want to have a chronic problem, either.
Saturday, May 31
6 miles in 42:05
More of the same – my hips were tight and my shin is still the same. Meanwhile, I felt heavy, tight and tired and it was as humid as possible.
Fun.
… 2:44:33 for sixth place. It was a pure strength run. Put your head down, pump your arms and grit your teeth… nothing glamorous or sexy as evidenced from the blood that filled my right shoe from some sort of cut. Blood and sweat would be the cliched phrase on the poster of this one.
splits: