I am fully healed. My recovery from my stress fracture to one of my toes has taught me some invaluable lessons as an endurance athlete and leader. These are:
1) Listen to expert advice. My sports doctor, Roger Tien diagnosed my case well and made some recommendations. From opting for an MRI scan (costly) instead of X-ray (less likely to pick up hair-line cracks), he diagnosed, correctly, I had a stress fracture on my left toe. I experienced my first MRI and saw what a stress fracture looked like from the scanned photographs.
2) A battery of tests conducted on me, led to the earlier prognosis of a stress fracture. Specific-muscle testing leads us to appreciate the situation better. Pain and discomfort is a good indicator of injury.
3) My clear description of my symptoms gave more context to my physical condition. I noticed crippling pain on my left foot one week before Ironman Switzerland. I also noticed that I could not put much weight on that foot during the marathon. My post-race limping was validation of a serious condition.
4) Learning to rest completely was a tough call, but the call needed to be made.
5) Cross-training was allowed, so I could still maintain some degree of residual fitness after the Ironman triathlon. I could still swim or ride, but no running was advised.
6) I learnt how to manage my frustration and impatience (a trait I thought I had developed well) through the trial and tribulation of convalescence. Talking to friends (online) and face-to-face, who had experienced similar injuries gave me a sense of assurance that I would recover rapidly and surely, to return to running even stronger than ever.
7) Having completed the Berlin Marathon (on 30 September) successfully (although in a dismal time of 4:00 hours) gave me a clear direction of my progress. No more pain, and enough residual fitness to allow me a reasonably healthy finish. I raced on no run-specific training.
8) The Berlin Marathon and two shorter tune-up races, recently (last Sunday and two weekends ago), provided me adequate data and confidence to race. The 16.8K and 12K races assured me that my racing 'mojo' was back! I lost an enormous and inordinate amount of running fitness and speed, and I had to recall it (the so-called muscle memory effect).
9) Three more weeks to go, and I think I can nail the Singapore Marathon in a reasonable time of 3:40-3:50. A BQ of 3:24 would be more realistic for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon next July.
10) With another 10K trail run next weekend, I would be in a clearer position to strategise my marathon. I should be able to hold a 5:05-5:15 minutes/km pace. Meanwhile, I will run 4-5 sessions per week (1-2 21K sessions; 2-3 10-12K sessions). Less is more. Less can be faster, as evident from last year's running performance.
Toes crossed!
1) Listen to expert advice. My sports doctor, Roger Tien diagnosed my case well and made some recommendations. From opting for an MRI scan (costly) instead of X-ray (less likely to pick up hair-line cracks), he diagnosed, correctly, I had a stress fracture on my left toe. I experienced my first MRI and saw what a stress fracture looked like from the scanned photographs.
2) A battery of tests conducted on me, led to the earlier prognosis of a stress fracture. Specific-muscle testing leads us to appreciate the situation better. Pain and discomfort is a good indicator of injury.
3) My clear description of my symptoms gave more context to my physical condition. I noticed crippling pain on my left foot one week before Ironman Switzerland. I also noticed that I could not put much weight on that foot during the marathon. My post-race limping was validation of a serious condition.
4) Learning to rest completely was a tough call, but the call needed to be made.
5) Cross-training was allowed, so I could still maintain some degree of residual fitness after the Ironman triathlon. I could still swim or ride, but no running was advised.
6) I learnt how to manage my frustration and impatience (a trait I thought I had developed well) through the trial and tribulation of convalescence. Talking to friends (online) and face-to-face, who had experienced similar injuries gave me a sense of assurance that I would recover rapidly and surely, to return to running even stronger than ever.
7) Having completed the Berlin Marathon (on 30 September) successfully (although in a dismal time of 4:00 hours) gave me a clear direction of my progress. No more pain, and enough residual fitness to allow me a reasonably healthy finish. I raced on no run-specific training.
8) The Berlin Marathon and two shorter tune-up races, recently (last Sunday and two weekends ago), provided me adequate data and confidence to race. The 16.8K and 12K races assured me that my racing 'mojo' was back! I lost an enormous and inordinate amount of running fitness and speed, and I had to recall it (the so-called muscle memory effect).
9) Three more weeks to go, and I think I can nail the Singapore Marathon in a reasonable time of 3:40-3:50. A BQ of 3:24 would be more realistic for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon next July.
10) With another 10K trail run next weekend, I would be in a clearer position to strategise my marathon. I should be able to hold a 5:05-5:15 minutes/km pace. Meanwhile, I will run 4-5 sessions per week (1-2 21K sessions; 2-3 10-12K sessions). Less is more. Less can be faster, as evident from last year's running performance.
Toes crossed!
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