Wacky Wednesday

It's obviously been a while since my last post ... it's the same 'ole story, different week. Clinic hours, catch-up reading, paper writing, and driving back to Charlotte for the past 2 weekends for various celebrations have kept me busy in my "free time" (haha--free time, yeah right!). But have no worries, only 3 1/2 weeks left until this semester from hell is over : )

In running news, there is none. I know, I know. I'm just barely getting started and here I am, no running in over a week. I could give you a lot of excuses, but I'm just going to give you one (I'll save the others for another week where there's sure to be another lapse in running). MY SHINS. They kill. What gives? So here I am, asking for a little help. For the past few weeks, my shins (both of them, but the left more than the right) have been hurting. It started out with just a little ache in the mornings and at the start of a run. They always felt better as my legs warmed up. For the past couple of weeks though, they haven't been letting up as much. The ache doesn't completely stop while I'm running, and after a run--oh after a run--they are so painful. Going up and down the stairs to our apartment is not so much fun, especially with 120 pounds of dog pulling me down the stairs. So ... I iced them after my last run, and bought some Tiger Balm. But I've also been letting them rest this week, hoping it will improve. Does this sound like shin splints? Does anyone have any experience with this and recommendations on how to make it go away!?

Runway 5K Race Report:
On Halloween, Jett and I drove back to Charlotte for the weekend to celebrate my dad's retirement with a combo Halloween/Surprise Party for him. He's only 54, and lucky him, has put his service into the post office and was able to retire after 28 years. I'm so happy for him.

(The awesome cake my sis-in-law made)


(My dad's "CONGRATS" pumpkin)

On Halloween morning, I met my friend and old college roomie at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport for a 5k race, the Runway 5k. Jett ran it with us too! I'm hesitant to post when I'm planning to run a race, or a report afterwards, because at this point I'm not really racing. I'm really merely running to finish and loving the atmosphere of the race community. I'm not fast, and I struggle with whether I should actually post any of this here, or wait until I've gotten a little better.

I finished the race in 33:05. This run was fun because we were actually running on one of the runways at the airport. We were side-by-side with planes taking off. They had all kinds of neat planes and helicopters to check out after the finish. And, it was flat--a big plus! It was also raining, but not as cold as the last run in Charlotte.

Some dislikes of the race: the water stop! Now I know I don't really need a water stop in a 5k run. But, the cold air isn't something I run in often living in Charleston, so my mouth was dry (does this happen to anyone else running in cold, dry air?) and water sounded SO good. They appeared to have a water stop set up at the half-way point, but apparently they closed it/moved it/ran out? No big deal, only 1.5 miles left. So after I ran past the closed water stop, I just thought I'd drink at the end. But then, probably about 2.8 miles into the race or so, low and behold, a water station. I assumed I'd grab a cup on the go, throw a little back to wet my mouth, and keep going. That's what I get for assuming. There were no water cups to grab. As I approached (mistake #1), the guy at the station was filling the cups up one by one as each person came by. At this point, I had already slowed/stopped so thought I might as well get the water (mistake #2). He literally was doing the 2-handed, prop the container with one hand, fill the cup with the other hand, as the water jug was obviously running low. After he filled my cup about a centimeter, I said "that's good", grabbed the cup, and finished the run. That probably added at least 10-15 seconds onto my time. The other disappointment I had was the timing system. We had d-tags for our time, but they only posted clock time--no chip time. We started out probably mid-pack, and I would guess it took us close to 45 seconds or so to cross the start line. And I didn't start my watch this time, thinking I wouldn't need to because I could just check my chip time after the race was over. No such luck. Any other race I've run has posted both clock time and chip time. Is this typical or is it more the norm just to post clock time?

(Veronica and I before the start)


(Jett and me after we finished)

Overall, it was a fun morning! I always struggle with my feelings about my speed when I run with Jett. He doesn't regularly run, but when he does he's always way faster than me (his time was somewhere in the 27 minute range, I think). He was an athlete in high school, but that's been over 7 years ago now. I wonder if I'll ever be able to speed it up!?

For those of you who are experienced runners, what do you recommend? Building more of a running base before trying some speed work, or incorporating speed work into my runs now? I would love some advice.

I'm planning to go out for a run this evening, so here's to hoping that my legs feel great! I also just discovered that we have exercise tv ... sweet!