I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned at least once or twice how on occasion I don’t feel like running. If I haven’t, I’ll let you know now: most days I don’t feel like running. Once I’m doing it I love it, but it’s a lot of work to get myself going most of the time. I’ve (re)discovered the best way to turn this problem around though – get injured. As soon as I can’t run, I really want to run all the time and am super upset that I can’t go.
Having shin splints is especially frustrating because things start feeling a lot better once you’ve been running a while. It’s just the first mile or two that it really hurts, and then it’s almost unnoticeable. This doesn’t mean it’s getting better. It just means that it takes a lot of restraint to keep myself from running. If the injury would stop here then I wouldn’t even care, but as we all know this will ultimately turn into a stress fracture if I ignore it, as it has in the past. My hopes are that by taking a couple weeks off from running completely, it’ll be good enough to do the marathon I’m signed up for in less than three weeks.
This brings me to something else I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned in the past: how much I hate cross training. I play soccer once a week, and that’s about it. I had been enjoying the Insanity workout, but that involves a lot of jumping up and down, which isn’t optimal when you have shin splints. The only thing I can really think of doing is biking. Biking outside is scary, and using a stationary bike is boring as fuck. But that’s what I’ve been doing, for two whole days now. Today I tried to go to a spin class, because I thought that way it would be easier to do a whole workout without getting bored. I got up at 8, but then by 8:15 I was tired again and went back to bed, so I had to go later to bike by myself.
Doing a marathon has been one of the most consistent goals I’ve had in my life, and I know if I can’t do this one it doesn’t mean I won’t ever do one, but the idea of missing out on my first serious attempt at one in entirety is really depressing to me. I also have a lot of other running things lined up after this marathon though, so I don’t want to just do it even if my leg’s hurting and ruin everything else. Gross.
I’m sorry I don’t have many funny/interesting things to say about being injured. It’s kind of bringing me down and I’m having a hard time being not sad about it. If you have any hilarious jokes about shin splints, feel free to contribute. Or if you know super fun cross training activities I would like, or ways to make the stationary bike fun.
PS. This is what shin splints looks like from the outside. Kind of. It mostly just looks like my normal leg so I edited the picture to make it look scarier.
PS Again. Let me know if you have any photo editing needs. I’m really good at it.
6 Comments
have you tried pool running? you get to wear one of those cool water aerobics belts that maybe your mom wore in the 90s. i was out with two stress fractures last year and got really good at it. everyone warned me that it was the most mind-numbingly boring thing ever, but i actually thought it was a lot of fun. plus you get to hang out in the slow lane with the fun old ladies.
there is a dog in your photo
I’ve done pool running before, but never with a belt. I might have to investigate. But I also hate the part where you’re not in the pool and then you get in the pool and it’s so cold and horrible.
Murphy – that’s Pascal. You used to live with him.
oh my gosh you have to try it with a belt. it’s no fun without toys. also you have to find a pool with lots of old people in it, because that probably means it’s warm. i wish i could go with you, i’m always looking for pool running partners.
that photo is frightening! true story, it caught my eye so i scrolled down to look at it, and i thought your leg was on fire! but then it sometimes does feel like your legs are on fire when you have shin splints and you just ran. or, for me, it feels like my shins have become buttery wet noodles. so really, my shin splints feel delicious.
Wow! In that photo it looks like you’ve got a beautiful dog growing out of your foot!
On more painful note, like you, I’ve done cross training ans suffered shin splints. I find that I get very tight and have to do more stretches than my team mates and visit my massage therapist and physiotherapist in Sydney more often to help me stay limber.