Sunburn!

I think I might have to take a break from running for a few days…

Laying out in the beautiful sun on the beach this Sunday has cost my skin a pretty red penny! The worst is on the back of legs, and right behind my knees. It hurts to sit, to walk, and even sleeping last night was a bit tough. I guess I was more worried about the front of my body, so I was a little lax on the sunscreen application on the back side. No more will I forget about the back of my body, I have learned my lesson!

Never the less, since it hurts all over to do anything at the moment, a run might not be the best idea until I can maybe sit without wincing in pain. 

Surf’s Up 5k…

Didn’t go as well as I had hoped for.

A number of things contributed to a sort of sucky race, I will be glad to put behind me, however one great thing did come out of it.

My brother contacted my best friend who secretly gave him my race info, and he sneakily drove 3 hours in the wee hours of the morning Saturday, registered for the race, and knocked on my door just an hour before race time! I had no idea he was even thinking about coming down to run with me, and was so surprised happy tears sprang from my eyes as soon as I saw him. Could a girl ask for a better brother? Probably not!

Now onto the actual race. It was cold, windy, and rainy!  I did get a bit warm while running but due to the wind and rain did not need to take any layers off. About a mile in my shin splints started to act up! This slowed me way down. I was really frustrated because it was hard to keep running when my shins felt like they would break if I took another step. I think being frustrated only made things worse. I had anxiety and was mad at myself with every passing minute because I knew I wasn’t going to PR. Despite all this, my brother stayed with me and kept telling me that all that mattered was that I finish, which I know he’s right, but I really wanted that PR time.

All and all though, I didn’t do as badly as I feared I would. We crossed the finish line together with a time of 36:45 only about 4 minutes off my goal time.

Looks like it’s back to training and kicking my shins into shape so they listen next time I tell them to stop hurting….

Any suggestions for what to do to prevent shin splints???

Shin Splints…OUCH!

“Shin splints, the catch-all term for lower leg pain that occurs below the knee either on the front outside part of the leg (anterior shin splints) or the inside of the leg (medial shin splints), are the bane of many athletes, runners, tennis players, even dancers. They often plague beginning runners who do not build their mileage gradually enough or seasoned runners who abruptly change their workout regimen, suddenly adding too much mileage, for example, or switching from running on flat surfaces to hills.

 The nature of shin splints, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), most often can be captured in four words: too much, too soon.”

It has been really cold outside the past few mornings, so I took my running inside on the treadmill. The problem with that is my shins hate the treadmill for some reason. I do normally feel shin splints coming on when I feel like I’m pushing myself a little to hard day-to-day, but in just two days of running on the treadmill (the normal pace, and amount) IT HURTS!  I have been trying to take the necessary precautions, stretching before and after, icing them after I run, and taking ibuprofen to stop any swelling. But still, they seem to bother me almost as soon as I start running on the treadmill. So today after a light jog accompanied by a lot of shin pain, I switched over to the elliptical.  I would much rather just get in the cardio and avoid the pain. I’m not sure if my legs are just not used to the treadmill (not that I want them to be, I hate running inside) but I am afraid to find out. I don’t want to keep running, and cause damage, I would rather just cross train on the bike, elliptical, followed by some core strengthening. 

More information on shin splints from Runners World