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Monday I'm signed up to do my first road race since 1980 ... a 4.25 mile charity run for the Puget Sound Blood Center. I signed up for it in June, as an incentive to help keep me motivated to exercising and working on my weight.
The past few weeks I've been running around this lake near my home ... it's a three-mile loop with a lot of hills. At first it was really hard ... those hills can really take a toll. Then, a couple weeks ago, I started (for the first time) having issues with shin splints. I still don't know why ... haven't been doing anything different than I'd been doing all summer. But suddenly I was unable to complete even the shorter, 2.4 mile course I'd been doing weeks earlier. So I laid off a bit on the running, to give my legs a chance to rest. Instead I concentrated on biking and going on day hikes.
Tuesday I figured I'd give the round-the-lake run another try. My two weeks of taking it easy seemed to pay off, as I was hitting my milestones in really good time. One thing I hadn't been able to do yet was to complete the loop in 30 minutes ... usually takes me somewhere between 32 and 34, depending on how I'm feeling. But as I'm coming down that last hill, with the end point in sight, I looked at my watch and realized I could just about make it ... so I picked up the pace just a bit. A few seconds later, I felt a sharp pain in my leg ... just back of my calf. I finished the course right at 30 minutes, and did my 5 minute cool-down walk. The pain never went away, but didn't seem too bad ... till about an hour later. Then I couldn't even walk without a noticeable limp.
It's been two days now, and doesn't appear to be getting any better. The race is Monday ... something tells me I ain't gonna be doing it. I don't think I could walk 4.25 miles right now, much less run it.
Maybe this belongs in W&C ... but I'm pretty bummed. I've been working hard to do this race. I didn't expect to do all that well anyway ... but I really wanted to just be able to cross the finish line ... would've been an accomplishment for an old, fat guy who's trying to get in better shape.
Oh well ... next one's in December ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
The past few weeks I've been running around this lake near my home ... it's a three-mile loop with a lot of hills. At first it was really hard ... those hills can really take a toll. Then, a couple weeks ago, I started (for the first time) having issues with shin splints. I still don't know why ... haven't been doing anything different than I'd been doing all summer. But suddenly I was unable to complete even the shorter, 2.4 mile course I'd been doing weeks earlier. So I laid off a bit on the running, to give my legs a chance to rest. Instead I concentrated on biking and going on day hikes.
Tuesday I figured I'd give the round-the-lake run another try. My two weeks of taking it easy seemed to pay off, as I was hitting my milestones in really good time. One thing I hadn't been able to do yet was to complete the loop in 30 minutes ... usually takes me somewhere between 32 and 34, depending on how I'm feeling. But as I'm coming down that last hill, with the end point in sight, I looked at my watch and realized I could just about make it ... so I picked up the pace just a bit. A few seconds later, I felt a sharp pain in my leg ... just back of my calf. I finished the course right at 30 minutes, and did my 5 minute cool-down walk. The pain never went away, but didn't seem too bad ... till about an hour later. Then I couldn't even walk without a noticeable limp.
It's been two days now, and doesn't appear to be getting any better. The race is Monday ... something tells me I ain't gonna be doing it. I don't think I could walk 4.25 miles right now, much less run it.
Maybe this belongs in W&C ... but I'm pretty bummed. I've been working hard to do this race. I didn't expect to do all that well anyway ... but I really wanted to just be able to cross the finish line ... would've been an accomplishment for an old, fat guy who's trying to get in better shape.
Oh well ... next one's in December ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)