Injury Deja Vu

Last year I had signed up with my friend Jess to run our first 10k race together in the Ottawa Race weekend in May.  I didn't love running, but wanted to see what all the hullaballoo was about.  I began training a few months out, and actually fell in love with it within the first week lol.  I started running almost every day!  I was super confident in my abilities and thought I was well on my way to completing the 10k in 50mins..... until I fractured my leg.  Simply put: I ran too much too soon.  I was increasing my distance by 30% or more per week, when everybody (apparently) knows you should only increase by 10% weekly.  The doctor told me it was a stress fracture and I should stay off it for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer, depending on how it felt.  Come race time, it still wasn't completely healed so I opted to walk the 5k instead of running the 10k. 

Fast forward to present day.  I've been taking it super easy the last month or so, only running for 20-25 minutes at a time, and only a few times per week.  I started getting that familiar feeling in my leg a few times, but dismissed it as "phantom pain".  Well, this morning when I ran to catch the bus, there was definitely no mistaking it: that stupid injury is back. 

The bad news is that I'm now restricted to just the bike and elliptical for all my cardio work which gets soooooo boring!  Especially as it starts to get nicer out (it's gonna start happening!!!), it's going to be hard not going out for runs.  I'm also an avid walker (love love LOVE to walk), which I'll have to cut back on, too.

The good news though is that the race isn't for another 15 weeks, so even if I take 7 or 8 weeks off, I could still make it in time.  Heck, I'm pretty sure with the amount of cardio I'm doing on a daily basis right now (upward of 70mins) I could definitely FINISH the 10k no problem, though my time wouldn't be as good as I'd like. 

So for now I'm going to keep off it completely for at least 6 weeks.  I'll test it out at the beginning of April, and just go from there.  Think healing thoughts toward my leg! lol