Thursday I had a 4-mile run scheduled. This is now ridiculously easy. That is unless your legs feel like they're going to explode. Mine felt like I stepped on a land mine with each stride. This happened right from the beginning, all the way up to the first mile, when I decided to stop and stretch out. It didn't help. I hobbled the mile back to my office. I probably looked like a giant loser. People probably thought I was a big tool walking along the river in my sports bra and running tights. Who goes for a leisurely stroll in clothes like that? I mean seriously! It took me under 10 minutes to run the mile but over 20 to walk back. Damn what a waste of time. I came home and iced the shins. They seemed to improve.
Now, I usually have something to blame the shin splints on. This time is no different but I'm not sure I'm actually addressing the underlying cause of the problem. I did push myself really hard to keep under a 10 minute-mile pace in my 7-mile run on Wednesday. It was quite hot that day. My legs started to feel a little off after that run, but they seemed fine. Thursday was the first day of the week that I got to wear normal clothes to work. We'd just wrapped up an event the week before and spent Monday through Wednesday unloading trucks in our warehouse. So, I popped on a pair of heels on Thursday. That is not happening ever again after a long-ish run. Ever. I don't think that helped at all with recovery.
I also stopped running on the dirt paths instead of the asphalt. That was moronic. I will say that the asphalt is easier to run on from a fatigue point of view because the dirt paths are uneven and sometimes sandy. But, my legs will appreciate it much more if I run on the dirt. Back to the dirt I go.
I'm a little nervous because tomorrow is a 15-mile run. Michelle and I are doing it together which is helpful. However, these legs might not hold out. Luckily she's prepared for me to collapse in a heap at some point during the run. I've given her fair warning. But, to keep that from happening, I'm doing this for 20 minutes, every 3 hours today:
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| DG's if you're reading this, that IS an Anchora on my coffee table, and book club members, that IS a half read copy of "State of Wonder." I'm splitting time between that and the book below it, "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest." |
Ice packs held on to my legs via plastic wrap. I'm reminded of the time I spent in the athletic training office after high school cross country work outs. Only they used straight up bags of ice and there was no barrier between skin and ice. Kind of dangerous now that I think about it, but it worked. I remember driving home with those bags of ice taped to my shins. It was especially fun because I drove a manual and slamming down on the clutch jostled the ice quite a bit.
Today, I'm taking it easy. There was supposed to be a trip to the lake planed for some tubing and wakeboarding, but I think that has gotten cancelled due to a high level of "festivity" at a friend's birthday party last night. I'm not sure my friends are even out of bed yet. So, instead of that, I might have a cupcake. Lately I've been a little obsessed and have been spending time coming up with new flavors. Last night for the party, I developed pink lemonade, and it looks a little something like this:
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| Pink lemonade cupcake with lemon buttercream frosting. |
Last week it was margarita and looked like this:
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| Margarita cupcake with tequila-lime frosting. |
I'm hoping these shin splints clear up this weekend. Wish me luck on 15 miles tomorrow. Maybe I can run with the ice packs on my legs...
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