Peroneal Tendonitis

Happy Friday!!!

Yesterday I had a checkup with my podiatrist regarding my shin splints and the horrible pain I was feeling post Surf City.  I was so worried it had turned into a stress fracture, but the day before my appointment, the pain was subsiding.  So I went in and we took some X-rays, and good news!!!  I do NOT have a stress fracture!!!  Hooray!!!  However, my peroneal tendon which is the tendon that runs on the outside of the ankle just behind the bone called the fibula, is very inflamed.

My Doc said in a perfect world, he’d like me to rest for 3 weeks and let the inflammation go down 100%.  He followed that statement with, “but I know you have LA coming up, so I am going to give you a cortisone shot today, rest for the next couple days, and you should be good to run on Saturday.  In the meantime, ice whenever you can.”

How does the cortisone injection help?
Cortisone is a powerful anti-inflammatory medication. Cortisone is not a pain relieving medication, it only treats the inflammation. When pain is decreased from cortisone it is because the inflammation is diminished. By injecting the cortisone into a particular area of inflammation, very high concentrations of the medication can be given while keeping potential side-effects to a minimum. Cortisone injections usually work within a few days, and the effects can last up to several weeks. (Source)

So he gave me my shot, and I was sore yesterday afternoon, but today I feel much better and I think I’ll be ready to run tomorrow!  I’ve been pretty antsy this week to hit the pavement, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s run!!

Surf City 2013 1/2 Marathon Recap!

This past Sunday was the Surf City ½ marathon in Huntington Beach.  I was a little nervous because my doctor had put me in an aircast a couple days prior and warned me that I may have to walk the race.  I was willing to do that in order to save myself from further injury before the LA Marathon.  Well, come race day, I felt great!  I opted not to wear the aircast to run in and instead used a ton of Rocktape.  When we got there, we used the restroom and lined up in our corral just in time for the gun to go off.

She’s Speedy Gonzales, so I wished her good luck and that I would meet her at the finish (she ended up finishing in 2:05!)

I started out nice and easy and found a good comfortable pace to hang at.  Around mile 3 I got really hungry and decided to take my Accel Gel a little early.

Then up the hill and around the neighborhood we went.  Mile 5.  I was feeling great!  I was so happy my injury wasn't hurting {yet}.

Along the course there were bands playing live music and people blasting records.  It kept the participants up beat, which was fun.  Then came the out and back stretch on PCH.  Around mile 6 I got a text from my hubby asking me how I was feeling and if I was running or walking.  I replied with, “Inning!!”, meaning running, but I was, well, running, and couldn't text well.  I also sent him this pic:

The turning point of the out and back was around mile 8 and I took another Accel Gel.  Now I was running into the sun, and it was warm!  My knees were starting to ache a little but nothing too bad.  And still, my shin splints were not flaring up…WIN!  At mile 10 I started to feel sick to my stomach, but knew I had to push through.  I wanted to complete this race strong for Mom, since all this (the training and this run leading up to the LA Marathon) is for her and MDS.

At mile 11 there was a guy playing a Beach Boys record through his speakers, and as I approached, the song “Don’t Worry Baby” came on.  I completely broke down crying.  I was so overcome with emotions of missing Mom.  It was like she was telling me she was with me and I could make it to the finish (cheesy I know, but I felt it).  I kept running, but couldn't stop crying.  Finally I saw mile 13 and picked up my pace.  I passed mile 13 and sprinted 100% to the finish.  As I was running down the chute to the finish line, I heard people shout “Go Maggie!  Woohoo!  Way to go Mags!!”  I saw my hubby, Lisa and her hubby out of the corner of my eye!  I crossed the finish and waved to them.  It took so much energy not to break down again.  I got my medal and water, and as I was walking towards my hubs, I started to cry.  He gave me a giant hug and said “She’d be so proud of you.  I am so proud of you.”  I felt so much better in that moment.

I gave Lisa a congratulatory 2:05 hug, and the four of us and their pup headed to the beer garden.  We weren't going to pass up complimentary beers post race!  We cooled down, stretched, recapped the race together, while sipping a nice cold Michelob Ultra under the hot sun.

It was a good race!  I ran slow, finishing in 2:56 (avg pace of 13:25), but I ran the entire 13.1 miles and despite my injury I felt great!

When we got home, my hubby was so awesome and got me a big bag of ice for an ice bath.  My knees were so unbelievably sore, I was so surprised.  Still, no shin splint pain.  So I iced bath, and got ready to watch the Super Bowl over at my Dad’s (with ice packs on my knees and ankle).  It wasn't until the evening that I stood up and nearly collapsed under my weight.  Hello shin splints!  It hurt in the place it had the past two weeks, but the pain extended towards my ankle, and every time I put weight on my foot, it felt like my bones were crushing.  I felt the same pain yesterday (the day after the race), and today it’s a little better, but not 100%.  I have an appointment on Thursday with my podiatrist and I’m praying that my shin splints have not turned into a stress fracture.  For now, I’m taking a couple days off and icing.

LA is 40 days from today!!

Shin Splints Update - Aircast

Thursday I went to my podiatrist, and he said that my main pain point is usually not a good sign in runners.  We took an xray, but it turns out stress fractures don't show up in xrays for 3 weeks, and my injury is only 2 weeks old.  So I'm going in next week for another set of xrays to hopefully rule out a stress fracture (hopefully!!!!!!), and in the mean time I am to wear this fun little air cast:

It helps stabilize my leg/ankle with hard plastic on the outside and air bladders on the inside.  It's comfortable for a while but then it starts to annoy me.  Luckily though, my doc said I can run in it as long as I feel no pain.  I told him I'm running the Surf City 1/2 tomorrow and he looked at me and said "Be prepared to walk it, or have someone come pick you up."  What?  No way will I take a DNF, but I have to remember that this is just a training run...my goal is the LA Marathon and I want to be 100% for that.  So tomorrow I'm going to go out there, do my best, and if my leg hurts, I'll walk.  But absolutely nothing, not even a stress fracture, will keep me from running LA for Mom :)

Shin Splints

Last week I started feeling pain in the anterior side of my right shin.  It started as an ache, then I would feel sharp pains that would cause my leg to buckle.  I was afraid they were shin splints, and after researching it a bit more, the arrows pointed to exactly that.  So after my long run on Saturday I took it easy and rested until my workout on Tuesday.  The rest helped, but after a few intervals on Tuesday, the pains were back.

The next day I ended up going to my doctor, and he said it’s definitely shin splints.  I told him there is no way in hell I’m going to not run this marathon…this marathon means everything to me and I’m proud I can run my first marathon for MDS in Mom’s memory.  My doc knew my mom well and he understood, so he said to rest a couple days and then before I run to put a heat pack on for 20 minutes.  Then post-run to stretch and ice it.

I’ve been resting and icing for two days now and already it feels better.  I’ll get a sharp ache every now and then, but I definitely feel better.  I have a 3 hour run planned for tomorrow (approx. 14-15 miles) and I’m not yet sure if I’m going to A)run the whole thing, B)run part of it, C)cross train (cycling) or D)rest completely.  Surf City is one week from Sunday, and I want to be healthy for that.  Then it’s just 40 days until the LA Marathon!!!

Have you ever had shin splints?  What did you do? 

129 Days To LA!

The LA Marathon is just under 19 weeks away!! Wahoo!!!

I have been training with my coach for about a month now, and I am so happy with my improvement. When I first started running with him, I couldn’t run longer than 15 minutes (I hadn’t been running much at that point so I wasn’t conditioned at all for running). Now I’m up to 47 minutes. Honestly, I believe I could run for longer, however last week my old IT band injury flared up around minute 40. Remembering how bad it got in 2010 when I injured it, I’ve taken this past week very easy and have been nursing my knee (ice, elevation, foam rolling, etc). I’m also taping it which helps tremendously (Rocktape is my new obsession). Tonight I have a track workout with my coach and my knee feels good and ready to go. I just need to remember to foam roll and ice it after every single workout especially since soon I’ll be getting into the long runs!

T-minus 129 days!

Ghost of Injury Past

I knew when before I declared it that 100 miles in April was a lofty goal. I even admitted it was. And considering my mileage since the beginning of the year has been low, it was not only a lofty goal, but kind of stupid….at least according to my IT Band.



Sunday marked the one-third point of the month (and after my 9 miler, I would hit 30 miles thus far for the month, or 1/3,…right on target to hitting 100). I headed out Sunday morning around 7am for a 9 mile run. It was beautiful out. Sunny and perfectly clear, but not yet hot. Miles 1, 2, and 3 ticked by and I was holding a 9:30-11 min pace! 9:30??? Yep! Go me!! Anyways, after mile 3 my knee started to ache so I slowed down and incorporated some short walking breaks to alleviate the pressure on my knee. The pain subsided and I was feeling good again…until mile 6…


All of a sudden that dull achy pain turned into a sharp burning pain. The only other time I experienced this was when I pulled my IT Band last year. Well, there it was, the ghost of injury past coming back to haunt me. I should have known better than to increase my mileage as much as I did. And why oh why did I decide to run 100 miles this month?? Again…lofty/stupid.


The last three miles of my 9 miler consisted of me hobbling down the street back to my house. The ratio was reversed now…more walking…little running. I had a sports massage scheduled for that afternoon and I was so looking forward to having my IT Band worked on. There was no way I was going to be out of running like I was last year. That was miserable.


My sports massage was great. Man oh man was my IT Band tender! My hip flexors and adductors too! Yowers! Anyways, my masseuse worked on me and it hurt like hell but felt SO good afterwards!


Monday my IT Band was feeling good. No knee pain. Around the afternoon however, my knee started to hurt. By the time I walked down to my car I was limping and screeching in pain. I couldn’t walk one foot without a blinding pain shoot through my leg. I hobbled the 200 yards to my car stopping along the way to rest my knee, and once I was home I foam rolled then iced. I literally couldn’t walk or put pressure on my left knee. I remembered when I was in physical therapy for my ITB Syndrome last year, the day after was the worst…it would take about 24 hours for the deep massaging of the muscle fibers to set in and then the soreness would sink in. Ugh.


I took Monday and Tuesday off, and today my knee is feeling much better. I have an appointment with my trainer tonight, and I’ll make sure to take it easy. As for my “100 miles in April,” that obviously will not happen. I’m not going to risk injury. Instead I’m going to cut it in half and shoot for 50. Maybe 60 next month, 70 the following, and so on and so on? I’m not sure. But for now I’m going to aim for a few 2-3 milers during the week and a 4-5 miler on the weekend and hit 50 miles for the month. Ghost of ITB Syndrome past…it’s time for you to move on now!

What do you do to prevent or nurse injury?