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January 20, 2005

Oh Whatever

I'd told myself at the beginning of this week that I'd take running easy until Thursday, and then try to get something worthwhile in. Unfortunately, Gilbert's fun group was doing track - a workout that I'd normally really enjoy, a downward ladder - but I'm afraid of track when I'm feeling vulnerable. So I did another "dice run" with a group of friends instead, most of whom are faster than I am, and secretly hoped I could con one of them into running something resembling a tempo run on whatever route we rolled.

It was a fun run - those guys are always entertaining - and at one point I had a group of about four of us running a good clip, but then there was a stoplight and a motion to let the group regroup, and that was the end of that. It was probably less than 4 minutes. Bah. I totally understand, though - socializing is the point of the dice run! I ended up cutting out early and running about 4 miles on my own at a good clip - a clip I'm calling "tempo." I was happy that I did it, especially since I kept it relaxed and I actually enjoyed myself. Maybe I'll be more inclined to do it again! I just dread doing stuff like that on my own.

I feel like I'm adrift right now without a plan. I did have a plan, but I think it's too aggressive for right now when I'm feeling vulnerable. Long intervals one day and a tempo another. It was a plan I thought was brilliant in its simplicity. But now I just don't know what to do. Now I feel like I'm making it up as I go along, which is tough to take mentally. I had wanted to feel like I'd prepared as best I could! I guess I *am* doing the best I can given the circumstances, but it's not a real confidence-builder, ya know?

Posted by jenandmats at January 20, 2005 6:48 PM

Comments

I know it's hard not to have a plan and this has been a pretty big bump in the road, but I'm so glad to hear that you're healthy enough to run again!!

Posted by: Alison at January 20, 2005 8:33 PM

I know how you feel. Its great to see that you're up and chafing at the bit though.

Posted by: Richard at January 21, 2005 5:47 PM

Planless in Austin, you should make a movie out of that. How are you doing now? How are things going? How's your leg? You are sooooooo close to the end now, I hope you can keep yer' head up through these last bits!

Taped shins:
So, a shin splint happens when the muscle attachment site on the back of your lower leg gets inflammed. With every toe off, your calf muscle pulls away from the back of your tibia, creating and eventually exacerbating the inflammation.

(I'm no expert here, as I just learned all this 3 days ago!) Essentially, the purpose of taping is to compress the lower third of your lower leg with tape. Taping it pushes the calf muscle back against the bone and keeps it there, so you don't tweak that inflammation with every toe off. You can't tape the whole calf muscle, obviously, or you wouldn't be able to run.

I'm following some pictures I got off the internet. Take a strip of tape and stick it on your lower calf in the middle of the strip. Take both equal-lengthed ends and wrap those around to the front of your leg, soft of pulling in your calf as you do it. With the conical nature of your leg at that point, the tape ends should make a slight 'V' right across your shin. Repeat all the way down your shin (about 5 1" strips for me). I've been taping up to about 1 inch above the line of calf muscle definition on the back of my leg, and then trimming the back to make room for the muscle. It's not perfect and you can still 'feel' your shin splint, but comparing it to running without taping, it feels like heaven, I tell ya!

Leilani and I have been talking about going out to dinner the night before the race. Are you interested also? And if so, do you have any good suggestions (We are both staying up near the starting line, are you?). You know, I'll just stop rambling and email you...

Take care!
Meghan

Posted by: Meghan at January 22, 2005 2:25 PM