Monday, August 10, 2009

Shin Splints and other Running Woes

Ouch! I wish I could say my half marathon training was going great, but I've been having a lot of leg issues lately. My left shin has been bugging me with some painful shin splints and my left calf has had a funky pain in it. They actually hurt more when I'm just hanging out or when I'm walking or standing. After the first 10-20 minutes of my run it really doesn't bother me anymore, but afterward it is much worse. I've been using the first half of the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) and the rest, especially seems to be helping. Unfortunately, this much rest is NOT a part of my half marathon training program! I'm getting a little bit nervous that this is really going to mess with my ability to finish the LB half. I haven't run since Saturday, when I did a pretty good 5 mile run (56 min, my fastest 5 miler yet). I'm really going to try and work through this.

The other thing that makes training for this race difficult is my schedule (or lack thereof). I don't always know where I'm going to be, or when I'm going to be working a 14 hour day (or all night) or if I'll just have one short flight and a long layover. This has been making it pretty difficult to get into any kind of regular training schedule. I know I shouldn't complain too much about my schedule, since I really do have it pretty good, but certain things have just been grating on my nerves.

On a good note, I've worked my way up to 7 miles so far for my long run, and I've still got 2 months before the race.

This has been a venting post... I'll try and make my next post a happy one!