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November 4, 2007

That shin thing

is back. Unbelievable. In early January of '05, near the end of a training cycle that was looking like it might get me in marathon p.r. shape, I have an entry that starts "On my right shin the muscle that flexes my lateral toes is very sore. You'd think I'd traumatized it somehow." And then the next entry I say "It hurts when I press on it, but if I keep pressing it doesn't hurt anymore. It hurts when I flex my foot, but if I keep it flexed or repeatedly flex it it goes away. It's an acute pain, not a soreness."

Oh good. Now I don't have to write all that again. Just change the reference from "right shin" to "left shin." How totally awesome!

We went down to New Braunfels for a five-miler yesterday. I did fine, but I didn't blow myself away like I'd hoped I would. I was marginally faster than at the five miler a few weeks ago. I was hoping for some sign that I would miraculously be ready for a p.r. in Philly, but I don't think 6:38 pace for five miles will translate to a sub-3. (Did I mention that my last mile on my 20-miler last week was faster than that pace?) Oh well. Time to come back to earth.

Maybe this shin thing is kharmic revenge for griping about not being in p.r. shape, since I'm definitely in good shape and shouldn't be taking it for granted.

This is actually the third time this has happened to my shins. In my log from October of '02 I have an entry that says "hurt leg from yesterday. Stumbled on a rock?" And I remember stumbling on a rock and not thinking much of it until after the run and my shin got tighter and tighter. And puffier and puffier. No puffiness today, but at the race yesterday I had a woman catch me with less than a mile to go and she really pushed me in, and with only about a 400 left to go I stumbled on some uneven pavement. It wasn't until well after the race, while in the beer line, that I realized that it was starting to hurt.

Stupid shin!

Posted by jenandmats at November 4, 2007 9:35 PM

Comments

Keep soaking it in your ice-cold pool. That'll help.

Posted by: hokgardner at November 5, 2007 1:34 PM

Is there any solace to be had in that this is occurring much closer to marathon day than last time? That there isn't time to train through it and make it really bad?

I dunno. That sucks. I'm sorry.

Yes, lots of ice, lots of rest. Use that taper for shin healing, also.

Meghan

Posted by: Meghan at November 5, 2007 7:58 PM