Tag: shin splints

The SF Marathon Training Week 14

14. 14 down, only 4 more to go!

So yeah. Week 14. Ummmm, ouch? Week 13 was awesome- I mean, I ran 20 miles and kind of like it? What could go wrong? Ha Ha.

Monday- Rest. I felt pretty good actually, my legs- shins included- felt fine all day. Part of me wanted to run but I figured that would be silly or worse injury provoking, so I scheduled in 2 rest days.

Tuesday- Rest. Once again my legs felt pretty good but I had a plan man, and I was sticking to it. It made sense. At least I thought it did.

Wednesday- Rest. Hello freight train. Body wise I felt ok, but I was suddenly exhausted. I felt like I could sleep for days. That said, I was still planning on running after work. However my family texted and asked if I wanted to meet everyone for dinner. I first said no- I needed to run. They ended up convincing me. So instead of running, I enjoyed too much food at dinner.

Thursday-6 miles. Seriously I wish someone had filmed the first 3ish mile of this run. I want to know if it looked as hilarious as it felt. I had another half day at work so I was naively hopeful that I could get the weekends 10-12 miler in early. I don’t have a route that length in work town so I headed home. I walked my usual 5 minute warm up and then started running. Or tried to. My legs were not functioning as a team. Nothing hurt but I could not level out. I felt like one leg was going forward while the other was swinging to the side. I felt like a newborn giraffe trying to walk. Mile 1 was 98% walking, mile 2 wasn’t much better. The final 4 miles were all in the 12 minute range but I finally started to feel a little more normal by mile 6. I knew I wasn’t doing any more than that though. This run did put me over 100 miles for June though.

Friday- Rest. I should have tried to run. It would have been the smart thing to do. But, yeah, I didn’t.

Saturday- 5 miles. I wanted more but after working in the morning, running in the 80’s was kicking my ass. When did I turn into such a baby? Once again, I was running while limping. Again nothing hurt, but my stride was all over the place. Miles 4 and 5 felt better but were still so slow. I hobbled/ ran until I hit 5 miles and called it. My ankles and shins were pretty sore that night. I iced and rolled.

Sunday- 10 miles. I was aiming for 13 but knew I was also meeting Heather and Ashley the next day for a run. I wasn’t sure my legs were up to 3 days in a row so I dropped my mileage back to 10. I didn’t even think I was going to finish that. Miles 1-3 were more awkward gait running. It takes me 3-4 miles to warm up, so I just kept going. Once again, I hauled ass across the bridge and saw a 9:37 split- oops. My legs were not happy. I met up with my mother a little before mile 7. I ended up walking all of mile 7 with her. While I do take walk breaks, I don’t think I would have walked a whole mile by myself at that point. But I was tired of running weirdly. I think it helped. The last 3 miles felt the best out of everything- part of me wanted to keep running. 😛

I was sore, bordering on pain by the end of the day though. I foam rolled, stretched and iced. I also “recovered” while eating lots of popcorn watching Tarzan. 😛

There’s a reason I’ve been taking a day between each run and I just got stupid this week. Now my ice pack is my best friend again. Grrr. This is not how I was hoping to be feeling 4 weeks out from San Francisco. I choosing to stay positive and not freak out. Think happy thoughts right? Oh, did I mention I have a half marathon in 3 days? On the beach. #findtheshiny I can do it.

How was your week?

How long does it take you to warm up? I think I am realizing why all my short runs were rough all these years. I was warming up when I was stopping. Oops.

Seen any movies lately?

San Francisco Marathon Training Week 11

Another one bites the dust.

Anyone else just start singing that? Maybe it’s just me. 😛

While my week 11 did not see the start of the strength portion of Hansons, it did see my mileage go back up a little. Little victories, right? There are a few perks to running fewer days though. I suddenly have way less laundry to do on the weekends. Which also means fewer clothing items strewn everywhere while they air dry. Also I can wash my hair less, so that’s a win right?

Monday- Rest day It was a fairly busy day at work and it went a little late. Going straight home was kind of nice.

Tuesday- 6 miles Slow and steady, slow and steady. Outside of long runs, I’ve taken to run/ walk intervals. My walk intervals are always .25 mile and the run portion will vary from .25- .75 miles. It’s slow going but I am getting it done. The shin pain was minimal so I’m calling it a victory.

Wednesday- Rest– We were down 2 people at work so I sure felt like I was running around though.

Thursday-6 miles I had a work meeting in another town and about 3 hours in I started to feel super sick. The room was so hot and stuffy, I thought I was going to lose it. And this is coming from the person who runs her space heater everyday at work. I still felt crappy at the end of the day but I wanted to at least attempt to run. River path this time, so more concrete and baby elevation gains. More run/ walk intervals but my shins were still manageable. I was able to pick up the pace a bit on the downhill portions and things felt pretty good actually. I also saw a bunny or two at the end! 😃

Friday – Rest Another open to close and I was tired. While my shins felt ok, my calf muscles on both legs felt like they were seconds away from a massive charlie horse all day. I was supposed to run with Heather and Ashley the next morning but between being exhausted and my crazy calves, I texted and canceled. I knew I would push harder than I should if I ran with people. 😢

Saturday- Rest Oops. The weekend was supposed to be cooler so I planned for an afternoon run. It was nice not even setting an alarm that morning. I admit I slept until 10. No shame. I needed it. After lunch and a few errands, I was planning on heading out for a run. I started to feel super nauseated though. I waited to see if it would pass but eventually decided that Sunday’s long run was more important.

Sunday-16 miles -Run 1- 11.5, Run 2- 4.5 miles Not the way I planned it but got it done! Once again, I listened to the weather man when they said the weekend would be cooler. I started my long run at 9 shooting for 16 miles. 6 miles in, I was over heating and my form was trashed. My shins were holding up but I knew finishing 16 at that point would probably do more harm than good. The plan had been to meet my mom at the high school after my run and go to lunch. I texted her at mile 6 and let her know that was going to be sooner than planned. With a route change I hit the school at 11.5 miles. Good enough. I felt like ran most of it but my Garmin data shows more than a few dips where I walked.

We ate lunch, then I rested a bit before heading back out to finish my mileage. I was expecting to feel tired and have to concentrate on my form but I felt surprisingly good. My legs actually felt kind of peppy. I knew it was going to be slower due to the heat of the afternoon but I was fine with that. What I didn’t account for was some….ummm… uncomfortable chafing issues that had me taking more walking breaks than planned. I had changed everything I was wearing but my socks so I have no idea what was up with that. I hope it never happens again though because that was not cool. Sorry for the TMI.

Overall- 28 miles.

Not too bad. Better than the previous few weeks at least. Survival mode it is, which means my long runs have become the most important part of my weekly mileage. I do kind of miss the speed work though. #justkeeprunning

Dietary wise– my breakfasts, lunches and most of my snacks have been on point. Dinners have been a whole other ball game. Kind of a mess actually. Grrr. And why does everything have soy in it?! Some of my favorite Crystal Light flavors have soy in them. What the hell does lemonade need soy for?

This week will probably see fewer miles than last week if I stick to the way the long runs are scheduled on my plan. My boss is back though so hopefully things will calm down on the work front a little. Fingers crossed!

How has your week been?

Do you flavor your water with anything?

May Mileage

Holy crap.

So yeah that happened. For the first time in 5ish years of running, I cleared 100 miles in a month. I used to chase that goal so hard and fall so short every time. Until this month. Thank you marathon training. The part that freaks me out is that I missed 4 runs over the month- 2 easy, 1 speed work and last weekend’s long run. That would have been another 35+ miles. Say what?!?

There were a few races too-

SLO Marathon 13.1
Bands on the Run 10K

The month started with a bang and ended with a whimper. I won’t lie; I am tired. I need to work on getting more sleep. Or better sleep, but both are easier said than done. Any tips? May also brought me some gnarly shin pain. My speed work has screeched to a halt since last week’s intervals and I am trying not to freak out about it. Lots of RICE going on around here. I would like to run 13 miles this weekend- even though the training plan only calls for a 10 mile long run- but right now I wonder if either is likely.

My first run of May was a half marathon, my last was a whimpering 3.5. I am choosing to look at the shiny of all those miles I ran and try not to think too much about my shins. My original plan for June includes a 20 miler, my current training plan says no. I am still hoping for it though. I would also like to get back to running the tempos- oddly enough, I missed it this week. Who would have thought? #stupidshins

How was your May?

Any plans for June?

I’m Cheating

So, is it possible to run yourself out of shoes? And I don’t mean by putting too many miles on them.

When I first started running, I ran in Brooks. A pair usually lasted me a year. I was also barely doing 200 miles a year but that’s another story. The shoes weren’t bad but I didn’t love them either. I had a bad case of shin splints that would come and go as well. After a few pairs of Brooks- Ravenna, I think- I switched to Mizuno. Instant convert. I loved my first pair of Wave Inspire 9’s. I put over 500 miles on them. I replaced them with another pair of Inspire 9’s. Loved those too, until I didn’t.

I started feeling aches in my feet and achillles. My 10K PR was set at 55:40 and I still don’t know how. My left achilles hurt so bad throughout the race I came to a complete stop at one point to stretch it out. And then there were the walk breaks. I took a week off after that race and started looking at my shoes. I had also been running in a pair of Wave Rider 17’s for my shorter runs and I felt better in those. But they were neutral and I was supposed to be in support shoes, so back to the store I went. They suggested a high cushion shoe to cure the aches and pains. So hello, Brooks Adrenaline 14. Holy crap, those were bricks. Plus the right one was way too big and even shoe-doo’ing the laces didn’t help. It was the first time I ever returned a pair of shoes. I felt really bad about it- I tried to like them, I did- put about 100 miles on them but just couldn’t. Back to the store again. Another treadmill test showed I pronate the same in support shoes versus a neutral shoe so what was the point? The employee helping me suggested I run in what was comfortable to me and not what “anyone” recommended. Glory days! I switched to running in the Wave Rider’s full time and it was smooth sailing from there on. Over the next year I picked up a pair of Wave Hayate’s for trail running and Wave Sayonara 2’s for shorter, faster runs. Things were awesome…until they weren’t.

Now, I admit I have odd feet. The left is bigger than the right, one arch is high and one is medium. Oh, did I mention they change size? Legitimately change size, I have had them measured more than once each time I felt like they had grown or shrunk. The shoes in my closet range from 8-10. Some of them collect dust depending on what shoe cycle I am on. Those Hayate’s and Sayonara’s that I love? Too big now. When I run trails, I wear multiple socks. And my much loved Rider’s? They’re not right anymore. Something’s off.

4 pairs in and they make my legs hurt. My knee aches, my shins and calves are tight, my ankles hurt. I tried going back to supportive shoes and tried the Wave Inspire 11. Yuck. That was the second time I’ve returned a pair of shoes. Sorry! So I bought the updated Wave Rider 18. What the hell. They are awkward and make my left foot hurt and ache in odd spots. I’ve tried reworking the laces but no luck. If I wasn’t embarrassed I may have returned them too. 😂 So back to the drawing board.

Everything feels like a lot of shoe these days. I was kind of embarrassed to go back to the Running Warehouse with my current issues. I wanted to try things on but not have to bother anyone. So I headed to Dick’s. I tried on every shoe in my size that I could reach and put away on my own. I made sure I didn’t leave behind a mess. The only things I didn’t try on were Hoka and Nike. I’ve never liked a Nike pair of running shoes and as for Hoka? I have troubles picking my feet up as it is, let alone with that much shoe. There were 2 options that felt good to me but I was still undecided. I felt like I was cheating on my running shoes. The shoes I liked were entirelydifferent than what I have been running in. Decisions, decisions.

To help my choice, I ran a few runs in my Sayonara’s. Too big yes, but overall so much better than my current shoes. Before last Thursday’s run turned creepy I was experimenting with my shoes. I ran 2 laps of the lake in the Sayonara’s and 2 in my Wave Rider’s. I was going to change back to the Sayonara’s for one last lap but then creepy truck happened. Grrr.

Saturday I headed back to the Running Warehouse to make a decision. I asked for 3 pairs of shoes. Mizuno Sayonara 3, Brooks Pure Cadence 4 and Brooks Pure Flow 4. The Sayanora 2’s have been phased out and while the 3’s were awesome colors, I didn’t like how they felt on my fit. To me they look and feel like an entirely different shoe. Closer to the Rider 18’s actually but they felt wrong on my foot. The Brooks Pure line is entirely different than anything I have run in. I tried them on years ago and hated them. This time they made the arch on my left foot happy. One pair more so than the other. So I left with a pair of Pure Flows. What have I done?! 8 pairs of Mizuno and I left with Brooks.I am breaking them in slowly but so far I like them. I am running differently in them but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My shins are achy but that’s happened every time I’ve switched shoes so I am not alarmed at the moment. And my left leg joined the party!! I’ve mentioned before that my left leg is lazy and usually the source of my problems. I went for a short run on Monday and it was like my leg woke up. Hey, where have you been this whole time?! So now the problem is long runs. I don’t feel adjusted to the Pure Flow’s enough to run long in them but my Rider’s make my knee hurt. I’m trying to figure out how to change my shoes at some point during the run. Hmmm. Laps of the lake would work but I don’t want to go back for a few weeks.

So, thoughts?

Have you ever just stopped liking a shoe?

Am I the only one with odd feet? 😃

Thoughts on how I should attempt long runs?