Saturday, April 22, 2017

Shin Splints, Stress Reaction, OR Overly Cautious - that IS the question?!!

Grandma's Marathon is important to me. 
Honestly, there are days that I'm consumed with thoughts of the finish line. 
Those of you who have been following me along my journey would be living under a rock if it wasn't blatantly obvious just how much it means to me. 

However, marathon training - like life, throws you curve balls.  
This week my emotions have been tested. 



Monday's workout was truly amazing; almost effortless.   I wanted to do some speed work because it had been a while since I'd tested my tempo pace for a consistent 3-4 miles.  However,  I decided to do hill repeats instead.  My thoughts were that if the hill repeats went well,  I could sprint home.

The morning was crisp and cool.  My breathing was perfect, my legs were fresh.  Even after five  - 3/4 mile repeats I was able to tempo home for more than a mile at 8:15 pace.  If runs could be rated A+ this was it.   Plus - say hello to the sunrise.  I cannot tell you how excited I am that it's light when I get home from my run!  




I was looking forward to Tuesday because I knew that I could run easy and relax.  Not right away, but about 2-3 miles into the run, I could feel my legs get tighter.  My shins were not painful and I had no problem running, but we all know our bodies and I just "knew" something was a bit off. After my run, I knew that I would be taking at LEAST one day off.  Turns out, I took Wednesday and Thursday to rest and recover. 

All day at work, in any spare time I had,  I did the jump test.   You know what I mean - jumping on the "injured" leg to see if it hurts.  Yeah - that was me.  All.damn.day.  Does it hurt?  Do I feel weak?  Is it a stress reaction?  Maybe it's just shin splints?  Is there any swelling?  Do I get pain in just one single area?  Am I crazy?  Sometimes, yes.  I am crazy.  Aren't we all? 

I won't bore you with all the answers to the questions.  But, what I will say is that my left anterior tibia is just not perfect.  No,  I don't have swelling or weakness.  I can take my stairs with no problem at all and I passed MY self-diagnosed jump test.  

When I iced on Tuesday night, the look on my husband's face was priceless.  "WHAT are you doing? Are you in pain?"  He was concerned and I was a tad concerned as well.  But I know that ice and rest are good so that's what I did.  

My leg was no longer bothering me at all on Friday morning,  so I ventured out for my long run.  I knew that I could quickly push the stop button and walk home if I needed.   I also didn't have any reservations about cutting down my plan of thirteen miles.  

Up to this point, I have gotten multiple long runs in.  Last week,  was my first 18 miler since last June and it went very well.  I finished 18 miles with an overall pace of 9:21/mile.  That translates to a  4:04 finish time if I would  hold on for 8 more miles. 

I was ecstatic.  That's 55 minutes faster than my first marathon attempt!  

After Friday's run, everything was great.    No pain during.   No pain after.   Did I know my leg was there?  Yes.   But,  I wasn't super concerned.  



I finished 9.5 miles and felt very good after.  Would you look at the light! YES!  6:30 am and it's bright.  Hallelujah!!

As I sit here today, 36 hours past my last run, I can feel my leg.   I for sure have another rest day ahead and Monday morning I will re-evaluate whether or not to go out for my run.  My first 20 mile run is next week.  I'd like to be rested and ready for it.   I built in three 20-mile runs in the last 8 weeks before the race.  Maybe, subconsciously because something like this may happen.  

I've resigned myself to "safe-mode."   But, it does feel a little bit like a bomb - will it explode?  






I will not push.  I have 8 weeks before Grandma's and Dammit  -  I.WILL.FINISH.  

But, really universe??  I've been being such a good girl.   I made a conscious effort to design a training plan that only utilized 4 days of running in hopes at doing a better job at preventing any injuries.  I never run more than 2 days in a row.  I'm cross training.  I'm training smart.   I'm sleeping well.  

Maybe a good loud scream outside will feel good?  

I've been here before.   But this time,  I refuse to get "officially" injured or let this nagging pain-in-my-ass get any worse.  I am prepared to run much less.  I have a good base.  I will overcome this.  

What would YOU do?!

On another note, I know that I'm late to the party and this is so last year,  but I am officially obsessed with Snapchat.  I have laughed so hard the last few days.  Yesterday,  I discovered the voice changer and OMG - I nearly peed myself.  

I actually don't ever send my chats.  I just save my photos so I can laugh at them from time to time.  Here are a few of my gems. 

Do YOU Snapchat? 




Of course,  I'm linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.  The link is live on Sunday, so I'm a tad early.   Enjoy! 




33 comments:

  1. On Gina. I feel you.

    Just take it easy this week--one or two shortened runs or a missed long run aren't going to kill your vibe.

    And no, I haven't gotten on board with snap chat. One of the managers at work told me it's for "young people". Ok then.

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  2. I hope it's nothing serious Gina! I completely empathize with you and yes, scream a little!! Do it on Snapchat so I can see it - lol!

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  3. It's definitely better to just take a few days off, but the question I always try to figure out is why did it start hurting in the first place? Im learning that sometimes injuries are from overtraining, but other times something else we are doing has to change or once we start running again it will just come back. Things like tight calves, worn out shoes, overcompensation from something else... Just something to think about! I really hope its nothing serious and you can jump back into our training!

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  4. I totally understand where you are coming from and I think you are doing the right thing!

    It's better to take a few rest days and let the injury get better. It's better to be cautious, that's for sure.

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  5. Ugh, I get your frustration all too well. But LOL at your jump test - what if you fell while doing that and sprained your ankle - or am I the only one that clutzy? You've got plenty of time to cut back and ramp up again, so I'd do that this week - better safe than ... I won't say it.

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  6. I do that injury test all the time. Good thing I have an office so people don't think I'm crazy.

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  7. oooh OUCH. I would definitely scale things back for awhile...Grandma's is two months away after all. Any more miles between now and then just increase your chance of further injury....take care!

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  8. I got injured marathon training which is why I haven't been able to run another one. I've signed up for three more and ended up either dropping to the half or not going at all. You have trained so hard for Grandmas, I would just take it easy this week and hope your 20 miler goes smoothly for you!

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  9. Oh Gina. I know how this feels. I just had an amazing training cycle with NO problems and then race day -- IT bands went to shit. I truly feel like it's a crapshoot with running!!

    Like you said, just listen to your body. It knows. You can do it!

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    1. How's the knee doing now???? It is isn't it! Stupid running. Oh wait... I love running. :) LOL

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  10. I'm really sorry you're going through this. As someone who is back from 6 weeks off due to peroneal tendonitis, I know it is hard. Plus, with an injury, you lose the innocence of running injury free and you now pay attention to any little niggle or soreness.

    As far as runs go, I like the 10 minute test. Go out for 10 minutes and see how it feels. If you don't feel right after 10 minutes, you're still close enough to just walk home. If you do, you're probably good. I do agree with Lisa up there about trying to find out WHY you are injured and not just taking rest days. Rest isn't a bad thing, but if you go back to what you were doing without any changes, the injury and issues can just come back.

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  11. I like the 10 minute test. Great idea!

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  12. Oh, I've been there and have backed out of races, decreased the distance and survived the injury. Sure hope you leg feels better as the days and weeks go on. Take care of yourself!

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  13. How frustrating when you started with a plan designed to prevent these problems. Sounds like you are really good at listening to your body and resting when you need to though, so that should help prevent anything more serious. At this point I'm pretty resigned to just babying everything along to get to my event day able to perform, it's kind of my norm.

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  14. I would just take it easy this week. A few years ago I had pain in my tibia area and I kind of pushed and ignored it and even ran a half marathon with it that gave me a stress fracture. I will never make that mistake again. Taking a week off is better than having to take 3 months off

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  15. Oh Gina, I hope that shin hangs in there for you. I know how badly you want this marathon. You may already know I send all my athletes with injuries both real and potential to the pool for pool running. It might not be a bad idea to do at least some of your workouts there until you have a handle on what's going on.

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  16. You know when Coach M speaks we should listen :-) I am a fan of a couple of rest days - hard to do I know but you still have plenty of time before that marathon! I don't gave snapchat but my friend does- yes, wet your pants funny!

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  17. Running seems like such a simple thing. Do this, do that, and everything will just be peachy keen. And yet it's not.

    I do hope it's nothing. I seem to always have weird pains and trying to figure it out could drive you nuts! I recommend a good scream wherever (although it really freaks the furkids out).

    I hope next week we read that you're going strong with your training!

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  18. It's nothing I'm sending good vibes that IT IS NOTHING I'm hoping if I say it loud enough the universe will hear me!
    Take it easy remember your in well enough shape missing or cutting a run or two short won't have any effect in the long run! Continue to ice, what can it hurt?

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  19. I'm glad you're feeling better! You're going to be great for the marathon!

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  20. I do cross-training too, so that I'm not doing exactly the same thing two days in a row. Hope you are back to 100% soon!

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  21. Oh, Sister. Can I relate? YES. Those "really, universe?" thoughts have plagued me too many times of late. And that hop test? I think I've hopped enough to cause the problem, if I didn't already have one. Let's stay positive! A few days rest can do wonders and it will not cause any harm to your training. Pool running is always an option too. You got this! Thanks for linking, Gina!

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  22. Oh Gina I really hope the shin thing doesn't linger. I vote for a couple of days off. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

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  23. The thing with marathon training is that you never know how it will go. You can do everything right and still end up with something wrong. You have plenty of time before Grandma's.

    I haven't done the Snapchat thing yet. But then again I always get into the next social media craze a few years late!

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    1. Damn marathon training. Maybe I'm not cut out for the training? Or maybe I need to strengthen my bones?

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  24. Injuries are so discouraging. Maybe you ramped up your mileage too quickly? Well you still have 8 weeks to go so if you miss one week, you won't lose as much fitness. If it's hurting now, you may want to consider cross-training so it doesn't get worse.
    Not doing Snapchat either. I've seen the humorous snaps it can create though.

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    1. That's what I'm afraid of. :( Doesn't hurt - it's just "there " but I know this is a precurser. Have to take it easy.

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  25. Definitely take it easy this week and don't overdo it. The last thing you want is to make your injury and pain worse, and not be able to race at all in June.

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