Hello, everyone I hope someone can provide insight to my problem. Back in the fall of 2011 I ran on my high school cross country team, my senior year. I ran on occasion before joining the team, but on the team I did more mileage at a much higher intensity. A month into the season, I started to get what I thought were shin splints. I ran through the pain and eventually on one run the pain got so sever that I had to walk. Then, while walking the pain got to the point where I had to sit down. I had gotten a stress fracture around the middle of my tibia. I was on crutches for over three months. After I recovered I went back to less mileage.
This past November I decided I wanted to run a half iron man. I started following a training plan. I ran two weeks of 8 miles. Then, the running club that I go to at my University started to do a running streak and I got a little competitive and ran 19.6 miles, then 22.4 miles. I was getting some hip pain that would get better. Then I ran a 5k and got what I thought was a stress fracture. I caught the pain much earlier than before, so I could still walk. I went to the doctor, and they did not see anything on the MRI or x-ray so after 5 weeks I started to run again. I did the following mileage per week, 3, 7, 9, 7, 9, 7.5(sick), 14, 10.5(went ice climbing), 14.5, 16, 14(sick), 18, 7. The first couple weeks I had some feelings in my tibia, but then they went away. The last week I may have done some high stress activities like jumping around, and running to catch a bus with a heavy suitcase. During the next run I went on I felt some pain while sprinting and I stopped running. Then, I went on vacation and did a lot of walking. I went on one 4 mile run and I was fine. I'm worried that I will get another stress fracture, but don't know if I should rest or just go on shorter easier runs until there are no more feelings in my shin. The pain is occuring around the same number of miles, around 20, even though I increased my mileage much slower. Should I increase my mileage even slower? Should I be thinking about strength training and/or having someone look at my form? If I keep the same amount of training will my bone eventually strengthen and be able to handle the miles.
I am biking around 60 miles a week and swimming around 2.5 miles. Is there any way to spend less time on the bike and in the pool to become a better runner? The running is my biggest concern for the half ironman.
This past November I decided I wanted to run a half iron man. I started following a training plan. I ran two weeks of 8 miles. Then, the running club that I go to at my University started to do a running streak and I got a little competitive and ran 19.6 miles, then 22.4 miles. I was getting some hip pain that would get better. Then I ran a 5k and got what I thought was a stress fracture. I caught the pain much earlier than before, so I could still walk. I went to the doctor, and they did not see anything on the MRI or x-ray so after 5 weeks I started to run again. I did the following mileage per week, 3, 7, 9, 7, 9, 7.5(sick), 14, 10.5(went ice climbing), 14.5, 16, 14(sick), 18, 7. The first couple weeks I had some feelings in my tibia, but then they went away. The last week I may have done some high stress activities like jumping around, and running to catch a bus with a heavy suitcase. During the next run I went on I felt some pain while sprinting and I stopped running. Then, I went on vacation and did a lot of walking. I went on one 4 mile run and I was fine. I'm worried that I will get another stress fracture, but don't know if I should rest or just go on shorter easier runs until there are no more feelings in my shin. The pain is occuring around the same number of miles, around 20, even though I increased my mileage much slower. Should I increase my mileage even slower? Should I be thinking about strength training and/or having someone look at my form? If I keep the same amount of training will my bone eventually strengthen and be able to handle the miles.
I am biking around 60 miles a week and swimming around 2.5 miles. Is there any way to spend less time on the bike and in the pool to become a better runner? The running is my biggest concern for the half ironman.