re-evaluating my training

So I scored myself a little stress fracture, and as they say, stress fractures are rarely accidents. So I need some help evaluating my training.

So my training since my peak weeks over the summer has looked a little like this...
40 - all easy
50 - all easy
40 - mostly easy, a few runs got to be pretty steady
35 - mostly easy, a little bit of steady, time trial at the end of the week
35 - mostly easy, 1 cruise interval workout (4.5 miles at threshold), meet at the end of the week
and crack goes my foot

I don't want this to happen again, but i'm not really seeing how this happened. It came at a low point in my mileage and I wasn't doing an insane amount of quality. Is there anything here that looks incredibly stupid? Most of my running was done in trainers, with the workouts and races done in spikes. I want to get back up to about 50 mpw for track season, but I'm not sure if it would be safe. Help...

Try switching to training in flats, just be sure to make it gradual.

Also, runners on the heavier side are at higher risk for stress fractures, so try losing a couple pounds if you think you could without jeopardizing your health.

It could be your form. If somebody had perfect form, they could do virtually as much mileage as they wanted. But when part of your form is off, it makes the muscles and bones work in a way they weren't supposed to, and they take too much shock, causing them to break or get sore. If you land on your heel, gradually switch to landing on your forefoot when you came back. I switched cold turkey, and my toes hurt for a while. But now my stride is longer and my turnover is faster with less noise and the same amount of effort.

Another thing you could try is the Lydiard Lacing Technique. It takes stress off the top of the foot, allowing your foot muscles to function more thoroughly, and prevents injuries.
Here's a link:
http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/lacingthelydiardway.aspx

Other than these things, I don't really know. It could honestly be anything. You weren't doing very much quality or quantity, so I doubt it was in the actual training. It could have been lack of sleep, poor nutrition, or a lot of other things. Just make sure you completely recover from it, and be careful when you come back. Good luck.

running in flats puts even more impact on your lower legs and could lead to stress fractures. it's not without
merit, and it can help eliminate the root of overpronation over time, but it's not gonna help funrunner. stress
fractures are caused by impact forces. cushion dampens impact forces.

ButterySmoothStride wrote:running in flats puts even more impact on your lower legs and could lead to stress fractures. it's not without
merit, and it can help eliminate the root of overpronation over time, but it's not gonna help funrunner. stress
fractures are caused by impact forces. cushion dampens impact forces.

In general, you're right. Stress fractures are caused by too much stress on the area. But the heavily cushioned shoes that we've become so used to can often be the main reason for the injury.
When the foot is wrapped in heavy cushioning, the foot muscles have to function significantly less than if you were running barefoot or in flats, and they often function in way they weren't supposed to. Because of this, the tiny muscles in the feet and ankles become very weak, and the stress that they are supposed to hold is placed on the knees and shins, and even the bones in the feet.

CRACK.

A lot of people get turned off of the idea of training in flats because they start training in flats after hearing about the benefits of it, but before they know it they're injured. This is why you always have to make the transition to training in flats gradual. You're beginning to use muscles that you most likely have never used for actual workouts. Once the tiny muscles that you're aiming to strengthen are strong enough, you'll most likely find that you'll be able to handle much more mileage and quality than before without getting injured.

I think you should stop doing workouts in racers/flats. Save them for races only. Also I think it's highly possible that you could get a stress fracture after running your peak a few weeks before.

FinishingKick wrote:I think you should stop doing workouts in racers/flats. Save them for races only.

+1, if you've never trained in flats.

honestly, these guys are just finding little things that shouldn't give a person a stress fracture. doesn't look like anything in your training is major enough to give you one.

AudienceOfOne wrote:honestly, these guys are just finding little things that shouldn't give a person a stress fracture. doesn't look like anything in your training is major enough to give you one.

All the little things add up over time....

HXC_Runner2012 wrote:

AudienceOfOne wrote:honestly, these guys are just finding little things that shouldn't give a person a stress fracture. doesn't look like anything in your training is major enough to give you one.

All the little things add up over time....

...to little things like shin splints. not stress fractures.

AudienceOfOne wrote:

HXC_Runner2012 wrote:

AudienceOfOne wrote:honestly, these guys are just finding little things that shouldn't give a person a stress fracture. doesn't look like anything in your training is major enough to give you one.

All the little things add up over time....

...to little things like shin splints. not stress fractures.

So if none of the things I said matter, and he wasn't training hard, what caused his stress fracture?

And an entire group of muscles that are essential to proper running being weak is not a small problem. Imagine if, for some reason, shoes weakened the calves instead of the feet and ankles, and we were forced to change our form in order to use the calves less and use the feet and ankles more? Do you honestly think you'd stay healthy for long?

So I looked into it, and I think I was using the wrong shoes. I have high arches, which would indicate underpronation, but I was in shoes for overpronators. My shoes (kayanos) are just about the stiffest of the stiff, but I should be in a more flexible shoe.

Looking back, there are a few things I did a little stupidly. I've done plenty of workouts in flats in past seasons, so I don't think I'll eliminate that, but I might try to cut back. I had a few weeks of recklace mileage changes (45, 35, 0, 40, 50) but I thought I was in the clear after 3 weeks of lower mileage. I hope this doesn't mean that training at 50 mpw is out of the question, but I think if I go about it in a smarter manner I can do it safely.

Nevermind, I just read some more on sfx's and they usually occur a few weeks after the big jump.

/thread

Edit: smiley didn't work

funrunner wrote:So I looked into it, and I think I was using the wrong shoes. I have high arches, which would indicate underpronation, but I was in shoes for overpronators. My shoes (kayanos) are just about the stiffest of the stiff, but I should be in a more flexible shoe.

Looking back, there are a few things I did a little stupidly. I've done plenty of workouts in flats in past seasons, so I don't think I'll eliminate that, but I might try to cut back. I had a few weeks of recklace mileage changes (45, 35, 0, 40, 50) but I thought I was in the clear after 3 weeks of lower mileage. I hope this doesn't mean that training at 50 mpw is out of the question, but I think if I go about it in a smarter manner I can do it safely.

i think you hit the nail on the head. high arches are terrible at absorbing shock and usually require that you wear
very cushioned shoes. kayanos are a bit firm in order to control overpronation

AudienceOfOne wrote:

HXC_Runner2012 wrote:

AudienceOfOne wrote:honestly, these guys are just finding little things that shouldn't give a person a stress fracture. doesn't look like anything in your training is major enough to give you one.

All the little things add up over time....

...to little things like shin splints. not stress fractures.

And those little things like shin splints can add up over time and cause stress fractures.