Shin Splints

I think I may have a bad case of shin splints. I had a great race on Sunday in the 8K, but I think that was mostly due to the fact that I had taken 2 Aleve that morning when I woke up. When I was training for the race, my legs were definitely feeling some pain. At first it was more around the knee, but hten seemed to move down to the shins.

I think this problem could have arisen because I jumped back into my running too quickly. Over the winter, I didn't really run a whole lot. If anything, I was on the bike or the elliptical at the gym. But once I signed up for the St. Patty's Day race, I decided that I needed to step up my running so that I would be ready. Then I got sick with the cough and stuffiness, so I took a few weeks off. With only about 10 days before the race, I jumped right back into running and didn't slowly work up my distance, because I didn't have time!

I think that may have been the downfall of my shins. I over stressed them and now they are not happy with me. I went out to run last night and had to cut my run in half because I was in so much pain. When I finally stopped running, I had to go down a bunch of stairs to get home. That was really really hard to do. Every step I took was a shooting pain. I got home and just sat down for an hour or so until the pain was just minor throbbing. I hate to go see a Dr. for something like this, so I think I may have to just go back to the bike at the gym and limit my running. And of course for my next 2 races in March and April, I will certainly be taking that Aleve!