Fresh Start

Well . . . I did the routine I talked about last time for a week. It worked pretty well except my shins still hurt. Not as bad as when I did absolutely nothing and then tried to run again, but still pain. A friend of mine said he dissected a cadaver that had shin splints and basically the muscle was torn from the bone. (yuck!) So, I was thinking that while this new routine helps in many ways I should probably keep my miles up by cross training instead. Because the image of my muscle being ripped apart like that is just too gross. :)

Last week . . . I had an awful cold. I did do the elliptical machine one day but nothing after that. It was a rough week. So I have a new plan. My shins are actually feeling quite good right now, so next week I'll get in my miles by cross training. I've been missing my spin class, so I think I'll do that at least on Monday and go from there. Then, I found a great half-marathon training plan on the Runner's World website that picks up right around where my miles already are. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-258-6851-0,00.html (the beginner's plan) I plan on starting this a week from tomorrow, as long as my legs are feeling back to normal. I sure do miss running!

As far as the half-marathon itself - I finally found one that's on a Saturday. The last Saturday in April to be exact. It's a pretty flat course and is in Tucson. The only draw back is that I wanted to do a big race. Big as in lots of people. I want to be surrounded by other people going for the same goal. I want the pomp and circumstance. I don't know when I'll get to do another (although I do want to do another at some point) so I want it to be big and exciting. That may be silly, but it's what I had in my head. The one I found is pretty small. How small? I don't know for sure, but it's their 2nd annual half marathon and it's put on as a fundraiser by a small non-profit. It'll still be good, and I'm excited to finally run it. I'm just readjusting my expectations, which is something I'm getting good at. :)