13 weeks until the marathon

Well, I am thrilled to report that my shins seem to have made a miraculous recovery.

I had Monday off in observance of the 4th, and I ran 3 miles then. I was able to do it non-stop, but had a general sense of not-right-ness in my lower legs that left me less than optimistic about the longer runs on my schedule.

Tuesday I bike commuted with no issues. Even if I DO get injured, at least I will still have that. It makes me feel a little better.

Wednesday I went to speed training, and Coach had us doing 2-mile repeats. And I thought it couldn't get any worse than 1-mile repeats. But, I did two of those, plus a mile warm up and cool down, so 6 miles for the night -- more than my usual Wednesday 5. I ran them nearly pain free, and instead of picking at my hip placement, Coach griped about my arm swing. I am choosing to interpret that as progress.

Thursday evening I went on a 5 miler in really high humidity. I suffered, believe me, but it was due much more to the heat than to my shins.

Friday I bike commuted, and had the great luck of being on my bike through the entirety of a 30-minute rain shower. ON MY WAY THERE. It was a rather uncomfortable day. But I suppose I should be grateful that my work environment is casual enough that it didn't really matter.

This morning, I headed out at about 6:15 for a 12 miler. This is another situation when the schedule showed two distances -- one for the first-time marathoner, and one for a vet. They were 12 miles and 15 miles, respectively. Last time this came up, I went with the longer distance, and that is when I started to have troubles with my shins. Thus, I started out with the intention of only doing 12.

However, as I got going, I started thinking about my training for the half marathon last year, and it occurred to me that I had never run more than 12 miles without taking walk breaks. I ran 13 miles twice -- once in training, and once during the race itself -- but both times, I walked a lot. And suddenly I really, really wanted to go the whole distance without walking. So, I decided to run my first 6 miles, decide how I felt, then perhaps go an extra half mile before turning around.

Long story short, I still felt good after 6 and did not turn around til 6.5. And I finished 13 miles, plus an extra block to count for the .1 in 13.1, in 2:22:43 -- eight minutes faster than my half-marathon time and just under my goal pace of 11-minute miles.

Today, I ran farther than ever before without walking. Good for me.

I have done a lot of walking and generally being on my feet since my run this morning, and there have been no major complaints from my shins. They hurt a little from time to time, but really not any more than any other part of me -- and believe me, I am sore in a lot of places. But in a good way, if that exists.

In the spirit of being ever-cautious, I must point out that last week's bout of shin splints did not show up until 3 days after my long run. So, I can't really say that I am in the clear. However, the signs are all quite good. I have to believe that while my gait is not perfect, it has improved enough that I seem to be avoiding long-term injury.

Next week's long run is supposed to be 7 miles, but instead, I'm running a 10K (6.2-mile) race on Sunday. It's an all-woman race, and I am really looking forward to it. However, because it is on a Sunday, which is usually my rest day, it throws a wrench in my schedule. I do not particularly want to move my rest day to Saturday, as that would mean I would have to do six consecutive workouts following the race. So, I think I am going to move what would normally be on the following Monday -- either a bike ride or a 4-mile run -- to Saturday, and take Monday off.

So, here's the next week, plus a couple days:
Tomorrow: rest (hurray!)
Monday: bike
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: speed training
Thursday: bike
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: bike
Sunday: 10K race
Monday: rest (hurray!)

Way to rally, shins. Way to rally. Now please stay tough. I promise to keep icing and compressing you liberally.