Jammed 3rd & 4th Toes

Question
I jammed my left foot 3rd & 4th toes about 1 1/2 weeks ago.  Two days later I
ran 16 miles - lots of hills - with only a little pain.  Two days after that I ran 5
miles (hills) with a little more pain, and two days after that I ran 6 miles (hills)
with even more.  So I took a 4 day break, then tried to run this morning
(treadmill).  I had to quit before I reached even 3/4 mile!  X-rays show no
fracture - just a bad sprain.  
My first question is how to speed up recovery?  I have a marathon in less than
4 weeks that I am running w/my 3 brothers (we're actually pushing our oldest
brother in his running wheelchair), so it's kind of important to me to be in
that race w/my brothers.    
I hate to lose any stamina I've built up - so my second question is what can I
do to continue training or at least maintain until I can run again?  HELP!

Answer
Hi Stephanie
Just cool the running all together till race to insure healing.The stationary bike is the magic tool.Just ride for time.You can do all the workouts on the bike that you do running.Long 2hr bikes,tempo's,intervals.With four weeks to go your training is all in the body and your hole focus should be on the healing process.Get a bag of ice and put it  in a bucket and then submerge your foot to the top of the ankle and repeat this many times.If you have other questions just get in touch Stephanie.

All the very best

John