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Companion forum thread to: Unlimited Podcast 001 | Stress Fractures
Stress fractures in the lower leg and foot are common injuries among long-distance hikers, hikers who are training for big events, vacation hikers, runners, and older hikers. This video podcast episode discusses the definition, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of stress fractures.
What would be an approximate training time frame to avoid stress fractures. I would guestimate about 6 weeks of a daily, increasing duration routine, but, I am guessing.
I would say that it depends. I’ve incurred stress fractures in both untrained and in highly trained states. Both occurred when I was being too aggressive with my training. I think the general principle at avoiding them is to give yourself plenty of recovery time following intense training periods/workouts.
Most stress fractures for endurance athletes are the result of overuse, specifically a too fast increase in the amount or intensity of the activity. Ryan is absolutely right that adequate recovery is is vital in avoiding this type of injury. In addition, if you look at elite runners as an example, seldom do you see more than 15% to 20% of their workload at a high intensity. Secondly the amount of their running seldom increases more than 5% to 10% on a weekly basis. For less accomplished runners 5% is a better bet and reducing mileage every fourth week to improve recovery isn’t a bad idea. For those of us who are older a 10 day schedule rather that a week may be beneficial, though I must confess to still using a weekly schedule as my training guide! I have found that using what I learned as a runner and a coach has helped tremendously in avoiding overuse injuries as a hiker. Of course getting hurt from falling down is another matter, though I’m getting better at falling too!
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