by Molly Sughroue

When I got the call from Dr. Gina that I had a navicular stress fracture in my right foot, my stomach swallowed my heart whole. I held it together through the phone call, managing to utter “Oh okay, thanks for letting me know,” before hanging up the phone and letting go of the floodgate of tears that overtook my soul.

Runners get it. This isn’t your regular “take 4-6 weeks off” stress fracture. This is a soul-crushing, season-ending, surgery-requiring, potentially career-stopping stress fracture.I took a deep breath (after allowing myself to cry for a few hours, let’s be honest). Though the recovery is long, and the rehab is tedious, I knew I could make a full recovery with the right team.

And I did. And you can, too.

Symptoms I Ignored That You Probably Shouldn’t

April 2023. I was crushing track workouts, long runs, and hitting my highest mileage ever. Everything felt relatively fine, but I sometimes noticed a dull ache on the top of my foot, right under my shoelaces. This went on for at least a few weeks.

I was gearing up for my first race of the season, which was May 6. I finished up one of my best workouts of the season, followed by a strength training session in the weight room. Single-leg resisted pogo hops were on the schedule for that day, and I felt an intense, burning pain when I attempted them on my right side. I denied all possibilities of something serious, and decided it was just tendonitis (don’t do this).

Fast-forward a few days, and I was completing a 5k tempo run on the track in preparation for my race the following week. Immediately after making it through the 5k, I couldn’t run without limping. I decided to try to make it through the next portion of the workout anyways (don’t do this, either). Halfway through the next rep, I finally called it quits. And I couldn’t walk.

When I saw Dr. Gina, I noticed pain when I was walking on my tip toes. I didn’t feel any pain when she pushed on the area, which is unusual for this injury. I felt completely off-guard when I received the news of the stress fracture, but I heard from many other runners that this injury can be sneaky.

My advice? Get an MRI if you feel any pain in the area. If you’re able to catch it while it’s still just a reaction, you won’t need surgery and your season is probably salvageable.

Surgical vs. Non-Surgical Options

Bone stress injuries, such as stress fractures or bone bruises, occur when the bone experiences repeated pressure or strain, which can lead to microfractures or weakened bone structure. For athletes and active individuals, these injuries can be particularly frustrating, as they can take time to heal and limit performance.

I consulted with a lot of different people and professionals about this, ultimately deciding surgery was the best option for me.

Surgery seems to be the most common treatment plan for athletes these days, but that hasn’t always been the case.

Some athletes are able to make a full recovery without surgery, and research supports this finding. Other research says there neither surgical nor conservative treatment is better than the other.

According to his research, board-certified foot and ankle surgeon Amol Saxena recommends surgery for Type II and III stress fractures (basically, if the fracture goes through more than half of the bone). He mentions, however, that athletes with Type I fractures should consider surgery for faster recovery times. I had a Type I fracture.

The main reason I opted for surgery is because the period of non-weight bearing for both surgical and conservative treatment is 6-8 weeks. However, with conservative treatment, there is a chance that the bone doesn’t heal in that timeframe, and you’ll have to get surgery, anyways. This means another 6-8 weeks of non weight bearing, and that is a long time to be on crutches.

I took two weeks to do my research and decide what was best for me, and I recommend you do the same. I found that people who have suffered this injury are very willing to lend their advice and talk about their experience.

Recovery Timeline

Soft tissue injuries—like sprains, strains, tears, or tendonitis—are common in both everyday activities and sports. These injuries can cause significant pain and mobility issues as the tissues undergo damage, requiring time and proper care to heal.

First 3 Weeks Post-Op

I’m gonna be honest. I really didn’t do anything the first three weeks. I know there are plenty of people who get to work right away, whether on the bike, rower, or weights. But not me.
My body was clearly tired and asked me to stop. And when it did, I ignored her. Finally, she forced me. I realized that I needed to give my body the rest it so desperately needed. By this time, I had not exercised for seven weeks.

Weeks 4-6 Post-Op

Though I was still in a cast (that annoyingly couldn’t get wet), I was able to start PT and some non weight bearing strength exercises. I alternated days doing at-home, full-body exercises prescribed by my strength coach, Chris Lee, and doing blood-flow restriction (BFR) and range-of-motion exercises at Fick PT.  

Weeks 6-8 Post-Op

Goodbye crutches! Goodbye iWalk! Ya girl is back on two feet! 

After a visit with my surgeon who determined a successful procedure, I was able to bear weight “as tolerated” at this point. I started off in the boot, and slowly progressed to shoes. I continued to progress my strength exercises with my coach and at PT. 

I also decided to start cross training after taking about ten weeks off. I started off with 15 minutes on the bike and let me tell you… it was rough. But you gotta start somewhere!

Weeks 8-12 Post-Op

A lot of tedious work went into these next four weeks. We needed to catch my right leg up to my left leg after taking so much time off. I did this by spending two hour-long sessions a week at Fick PT, at-home strength exercises from my coach three times a week, and daily cross training sessions on the indoor bike. I would alternative my at-home strength days with my PT days, usually doing them in the morning with cross training in the afternoon. 

I focused on building up my aerobic system on the bike, progressing from 15 minutes to one hour. I did my longer sessions on Sundays as my only workout for the day (meaning no PT or strength) to allow my body time to recover. 

Weeks 12-16 Post-Op

I was cleared to run on the Alter-G after 12 weeks post-op. I was finally running again (albeit at 30% body weight) but I was running!! 

I ran on the Alter-G twice a week after my PT appointments, starting with a 20-minute walk/run (3 minute run, 2 minute walk) at 30% bodyweight. I slowly, slowly progressed the duration and body weight over the course of four weeks. I didn’t pay attention to the pace, because that didn’t matter at this point. It was all about increasing to full body weight and making sure I wasn’t over compensating on either side. 

I continued with twice weekly PT sessions, twice weekly strength sessions, and cross training six days a week (with Sunday being my long session that progressed to 80-90 minutes). I took Saturdays completely off to allow my body to catch her breath. 

Weeks 16 – 20 Post-Op

Finally, after four months, I quite literally hit the ground running! I started off 4×5 minutes running with 90 seconds rest on a soft trail. I also started doing drills like A-Skips, B-Skips, bunny hops, side skips, all that good stuff. 

I steadily progressed my runs up to 30 minutes by mid-October. I was doing some pretty long cross training sessions on the bike and in the pool six days a week. I continued doing strength sessions twice a week, but only went to PT once a week at this point. 

I was basically cleared at this point, but I still had a lot of work to do if I wanted to get back into race-shape. 

Months 5 – 7 Post-Op

Nothing exciting here, just a lot of meticulous work. We’re talking daily 60-90 minute cross training sessions, strength training, and gradually building up my running time on the ground to 60 minutes. 

PT became much less frequent at the time, but I would still go in on occasion. 

Months 7 – 9 Post Op

January 2024. New year, new foot.

My coach had me doing actual running workouts at this point. They were heavily modified, but I was pleasantly surprised at how natural it all felt. Although my paces weren’t what they were a year ago, they weren’t that far off. I could see the light. 

I was running four days a week now and supplementing it with cross training. And strength training twice a week, of course. Since my strength training included plyos, I didn’t run on my strength-training so as to not overload my body.

Ten Months Post-Op: (Literally) Back on Track!

After 10 months of intentional, patient, and non-glamourous work, I made a full recovery back to racing. My first race back was a solid time of 4:14 over 1500 meters, seven seconds shy of my personal best. 

And although the outcome time was encouraging, the biggest win of all was the perspective I gained from the journey. 

From day one of the recovery process, I decided to focus only on my progress and my journey. No trying to rush back into things to keep up with others. No comparing myself to other athletes with similar injuries who seem like they are progressing faster. No doom scrolling social media and reading into race results. 

As an athlete, I’m naturally competitive. I see someone else working hard, my instinct is to work harder. I want to be the best!

But here’s the thing: you can’t control who is the best. All you can do is your best. I think this is something I lost sight of before my injury. Let go of what others are doing, and control what you can control.

This Is YOUR Story

Everyone’s journey is beautifully unique. Everyone’s body is beautifully unique. If you listen to your body and give it what it needs (and not what someone else’s body needs!), it won’t fail you.
Your comeback story isn’t going to look like anyone else’s.

And guess what? That’s the best part.

-Molly

Molly is a professional runner and ambassador for Fick PT & Performance. She holds personal bests of 4:07 in the 1500m and 2:02 in the 800m.