Can't run w/ Stress Fracture - Training Advice?

Not to hijack but I'm in a similar boat.  I will have an MRI tomorrow morning to determine the extent of the damage in my foot due to falling off a ladder a little over a weak ago.

I'm wondering what advice people can give me to stay positive.  I so look forward to the summer for the tri training that is difficult at best to do in Michigan more than half the year. 

Once I know the extent of my injury I'll look into what I can do and when regarding training again.  Right now I have to deal with the mental side of things with no workouts and I truly love the workouts as much as the racing.

To the OP, sorry about the hip fracture, that sounds like a rough one, hang in there.

In late March I got a stress fracture on the head of my right fibula due to a little fall on my bike.  It's not as weight bearing as the hip, so I was able to probably do a little more than you---but I swam and I biked (again, could go pretty hard on the bike cause of where my injury was) a lot, and I did some aqua jogging.  If I couldn't have biked as much as I did, I would've done more aquajogging. I did get a workout doing that.  After 7 weeks of no running, I started back with some little and slow stuff, and 2.5 weeks later I did an Olympic Tri and my cycling fitness transferred over and I pulled off a much better run than I had expected. I'm now back at running 11+ miles and getting the full run fitness back.

Anyhow, the key to healing is to avoid what hurt you. I wanted to run, but I did not run until the doc told me I could start giving it a shot.  Minimize the healing time by taking the time to heal and use the time to focus on the swim--keep the biking easy as far as how hard, but you could probably still get in some decent time in the saddle and keep some of the endurance up.  You'll lose a little, but rather lose it for 6 weeks than deal with it the rest of the year.

I would start swimming like crazy and doing a ton of spinning on the bike (acutally spinning, not a spin bike). Watch Lance and try and copy him. Some of the best advice I ever got when I was young was to put the chain in the little ring and keep it there (aka learn a good cadence).

On top of that, aqua-running is a great alternative as long as you focus on running form (many people start leaning over and end up sorta running-sorta kicking.

Above all else don't get down on yourself. Bottle up the desire to train and open it/remember it when you are healthy.

Is it possible to "properly" aqua jog only using the belt or do I really need to look into the hand and foot "things"?

Aqua jogging is seriously hard.  I could manage only one lap at the time without a belt.  Also use this time to work on your flexibility (yoga) and strength (weights or core work).  Maybe even do the PX90?

As for motivation, look for some swim races.  I trained for and raced a 5K swim last summer after knee issues side-lined me last year and am doing it again this year after being out of running for 6 months with plantar fasciitis.

Good luck with your rehab!  Ditto what the other poster said about making sure not to overdo it.