Training Day #5

Tonight...it's hard to even gather my thoughts. Yesterday's run was tough, and as the night moved on I realized my shins were starting to take on that faint pain that comes with the dreaded shin splints. Having already been side-lined for a couple of weeks back in December, I stubbornly thought that I needed to keep on my training schedule, even if it was super slow. So I did, despite my husband's warning and encouraging me not to, I tackled my scheduled 2 mile run. And for a while I thought it'd be ok.

I made it a 1/2 mile in before I even needed to stop (which seems like nothing to seasoned runners, but for me, it's a HUGE thing to run more than 2 minutes at a time). I caught my breath and took off again, a little quicker but still slow. Unfortunately by around 1.3 miles the pain really started to crank up. Now, at this point, any good runner would have likely walked a couple cool down minutes and called it quits. But NOOOO, not me. I kept going.

I got my measly 2 miles in, and honestly not much else to show for it. After a solid 30 minutes of stretching down and attempting to roll it all out, the pain and my tears were simply too much. For those who have escaped the horrors of shin splints, count your blessing and give thanks. Those unlucky enough to have experienced them know it's not laughing matter. Frankly, it hurts like hell. And I've given birth to 2 kids.

I'm almost too embarrassed to even post tonights stats. Almost. This blog is about accountability and to help others on this running journey not get down because they don't run fast enough or far enough compared to the mass of runners on Instagram or Facebook (speaking from personal experience here). So here's my stats, promise you won't laugh.

Right now, that pace, oh it hurts. But not as bad as my stupid shins. So for now, I'm going to continue to keep my feet propped up and iced. Tomorrow is a cross train day, so I'm hoping I can at least walk. I have to keep going. I don't want to hurt myself, but I also don't want to quit. 34 days to go.