Shins are STUPID

I am having a really hard time keeping up with my blogging responsibilities. I suppose it's because my last few runs have been horrible because my shin splints are back to haunt me. Posterior shin splints, to be precise. Argh, what a pain they are - literally. After the crappy run I had on Monday I again gutted out six miles on Wednesday with numerous stops along the way just to muster up enough mental fortitude to keep going.

I decided to bag my one remaining run of the week - an 8-miler and replace it with a long bike ride instead. We were camping in Copper Harbor, so I rode from the Burma Road to Eagle Harbor. 28 miles at around 16 mpg. That's not so shabby for a bike newbie.

I debated all day long whether or not to run tonight. Since I only had two miles on the schedule and my shins had four days of rest, I finally decided to head out and see how things went. I opted for the super soft surface of the Chassell railroad trail, one of my favorite routes from last summer. My shins were a little tender and burned the entire way, but it wasn't too bad. The soft surface helped quite a bit. So did the Ibuprofin I took before I left. Maybe the pre- and post-run stretching, too. I'm also hoping the six ice packs that are wrapped around my legs at the moment help as well. If those things don't work, I'm really hoping the new shoes and insoles that I have coming on Wednesday will take care of everything. I'm trying everything else, might as well throw some money at the problem, too.