Hey guys! Since
my last blog I had been taken it more or less easy. I have been experiencing shin splints in my lower left leg and it has been pretty painful. Since my last writing I had run twice prior to going
on vacation. The first run was 4.8 miles around the lake. My splits were about average for me ,my first
mile being the best of course and then I tapered off through the rest of my
splits. They looked like this;
Mile 1 – 9:04
Mile 2 – 10:37
Mile 3 – 11:35
Mile 4 – 12:23
I did finish 2
yards ahead of the last trek along the lake with an average pace of 11:18. My second run was on July 6th
during my lunch break from a detail (extra paid road job). My intention was to run a quick 3 miles but
the shin splints were really painful so I only went 1.6 miles. This was by far the worst workout I have had
in the last 6 months!
Next, it was a good time to take
a short hiatus from running this week.
My shin splints have been feeling a bit better and I took my family on a
vacation to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We had a great time. Instead of running we got what I consider a
lot of cross training in. Here is what
we did;
Monday (7/9) – We went to StoryLand which is an amusement park for kids.
My cross training on this day was dodging kids and parents, as well as
getting miles of walking in over about 5 hours.
Tuesday (7/10) - We went to theLost River caves and gorges. This time I
had a back pack on with my youngest son in it who weighs about 25 lbs. (back pack
weight NOT INCLUDED). A ¾ mile hike up
and down stairs and into caves is as much cross training as anything.
Wednesday (7/11) - We went for a
about a 1.3 mile hike through some of the trails in Franconia Notch, NH. Again I was wearing my son on my back and it
was a great workout.
The rest of our trip was more
relaxed and nothing I did could be construed or mis-construed as training!
I will be purchasing a new pair
of shoes hopefully this week before my long run. The shoes I currently own are Brooks and
although they have been good to me they are old and have a lot of miles on
them. I am actually going to go to a ‘real’
running shoe store to purchase some new kicks!
You see, I have no idea what my gate is or whether I am an over pronator
or an under pronator or any of the other myriad of factors that go into buying
a new quality pair of sneakers. When it
comes to running shoes I am torn between New Balance, Reebok, Nike, addidas et
al… I am going to go see the Pro’s and
let them help me out!
Feeling refreshed from vacation I
decided to test out the shin(s). On 7/14
I ran 3 miles which took forever. I
think I may have been a bit dehydrated as temps soared into the 90’s with what
felt like 100% humidity. It took me 39
minutes to complete the trek. The next evening
before work I ran again it only took 31 minutes for the same 3 miles.
As a novice runner I am finding
it difficult not to over train. I also
have to take into account my different schedule compared to the 9 to 5ers (seethis blog for my career and schedule).
This all being said I have significantly improved from December (2011) when
I decided to take on the challenge of running my first marathon. I have taken on average minutes off my
average pace!
Until, next time,
#keeptraining!
