Finally back to double digits

Here's an update of my running, starting with last Saturday:

Saturday 3/17: 9 Miler outside with absolutely, hands down, the craziest wind I have ever run in. It even swept my feet out from under me at one point. It felt like a miracle I was making forward progress at all at some moments. Good challenge, though. And some decent hills. 9:14 pace.
Monday 3/19: 3.2 on the treadmill. 9:05 pace.
Tuesday 3/20: 2 miler on the treadmill. Legs felt bad, but I was planning on a short run anyway and doing some weight resistance. Worked my calves, hamstrings, butt and quads. Ouch.
Thursday 3/22: 5 miler on the treadmill. 9:35 pace. I was absolutely exhausted that morning and had to force myself to go. Feels good beating your laziness like that.
Today/Saturday 3/24: 10 miler on the treadmill. We had a beautiful 70 degree day, but Justin was in St. George for a work trip, so I had to take the kids to the gym and run indoors. It wasn't too bad. To be honest, it was kind of nice not to have to face the wind and hills of Daybreak today! 9:28 pace. I found these new treadmills at the gym that are fabulous for distance running. I've been using the main treadmills that only have a 60 minute time limit, so I have to restart them when doing long runs... kind of annoying. These other treadmills will let you go as far as you want, and they have this cool touch screen that will show you a visual of your run in different ways. I was watching myself go around a track. I thought, "every distance runner's nightmare- a long run on a treadmill, but pretending your on a track!" I only had to go around 40 laps... haha.. Really though, not too bad.

And that pretty much wraps it up, just an update on what I've been doing lately.
And oh yeah, I've also been logging my runs and workouts on dailymile.com. It's way easier for me to remember what I've done when I can record it every day, instead of just trying to remember for my weekend blog post. :) So far I really like the site.

Magic

Something crazy and magical happened last week. 

I was reading Becca's blog and commented something or other about how I might be babying my shins too much. And after I wrote that, I thought, "No really. I might be babying them too much!"

So I started reading my posts from when I got way bad shin splints before my marathon. I did take some time off, but it wasn't like I was 100% when I started running again. I ran a 17 miler with my leg wrapped up in an ace bandage and I was still able to continue training and run an entire MARATHON without being 100%.

So I decided to stop being terrified of the slightest hint of shin pain and just go for it.

The next day I ran 5 miles.

I swear the mental change made a physical change.

It felt like I was completely fine.

I did somehow notice on that run that my right foot overpronates a bit more than my left, so I very slightly adjusted my pronation to be a little more neutral. I knew I had to be careful, because if I overcompensated, I would end up with some other wacky injury.

I iced and iced when I got home even though I wasn't really hurting.

I took the next day off, and the next day was this beautiful, sunny Saturday and I just went for it. I ran 8 miles with hills and wind and it felt awesome. I did a 9:18 pace overall, but half of it was uphill so for a good chunk I was running my normal 8-something pace. It was fabulous.

This week I did a 3-miler and a 4-miler (today) and I'm planning on 9 for Saturday. Feels great to be back in the game. Just icing, icing, icing, wearing my compression sleeve on the right leg for long runs, and making sure I keep that pronation slightly neutral.

Next race is most likely a half on April 28th. Can't wait!

Lately

Alright, just a quick update on running of late.

So in my last post, I mentioned I took two weeks off running. 

That was SO hard. I was sooo tempted to run that Saturday but I didn't.

But by Monday, I thought I might die if I didn't run again so I went for a little run- SLOW and short... I can't remember how long. The left leg was definitely completely healed, and I could only barely feel my right shin, and didn't have any shin pain whatsoever after the run. Good sign.

So since then I have been taking it really easy. I can still feel the shin a little while I run (no post-run pain) so I'm babying it like crazy. Yeah, it is kind of discouraging and sometimes I find myself thinking things like, "Maybe I need a new hobby... maybe I should get a bike." But when it comes down to it, I just love running. I really do crave it. So for now... I'm doing what I can do and taking it super easy- only running a few days a week 2-4 miles at a 10 minute or slower pace. I know ideally I shouldn't run at all until the thing is completely healed, but I'm trying to keep some sort of aerobic base. And it feels really close. Let's hope I can move on soon.