Month: April 2011

“I long to fill my life with experiences so that I may someday retire on the richness of my memories." 

This post by Scotticus is really worth a read. He’s done a lot of cool things in his life, with many more to come!

Not gonna lie: I was pretty bummed last night over what I think is a minor injury. I didn’t eat a particularly healthy dinner (pasta with olive oil and LOTS of parmesan; no veggies) and went to bed feeling icky and all-around “off” without having exercised and eaten well.

This morning I had to dig up some black pants for “business casual” wear, since a potential client is visiting my office. I have the exact same pair in two sizes, and I could only find the smaller size. I really hoped they would fit.

They did, and even felt a little looser than the last time I wore them (quite a while ago). The silly idea that they wouldn’t fit was directly linked to my bummed mentality and my not-great eating the day before.

The two sizes I’m referring to are 4 and 6. I tell you that because as a lot of you weigh in today, I know you have a magic number (weight or size) in mind as your ultimate goal. Just know that even when you hit that goal, you’ll probably still have days when you feel skinny and days when you feel bigger; days when you feel fit and confident and days when you feel lazy and unmotivated. EVERYBODY has those, regardless of size. Everybody.

I’m happy with my size, and there’s not a huge difference between what I look like as a size 4 and what I look like as a size 6. The difference is in what I’ve done and how I feel as a result.

I know, for me, the key to a fabulous-feeling day is being well-rested, having my oatmeal and some fruit for breakfast, eating a light-but-satisfying lunch, getting my veggies and some protein at dinner, leaving the gym with sweaty hair and a smile, drinking plenty of water and, of course, enjoying some delicious form of chocolate.

I’m gonna get over my bummed mentality and yesterday’s bad day and have one of those great days TODAY. I hope y’all do, too.

The DetermiNation coach called to find out more about my pain and said it sounds like a muscle thing. I agree – shin pain was probably a bad way to describe it, since it’s actually the soft inner side of each leg right above the ankle that hurts.

Anyway, the coach recommended ice and Aleve twice a day until it stops hurting. At some point while we discussed which half-marathon training plan I should follow (there are four for my group!), she mentioned that she’s running Boston in a few weeks.

Damn. If I was running Boston, I’d make sure to spontaneously drop that fact into conversations, too!

I’m all bored from resting (I’m taking a complete night off), so I put up a little photo tour of my digs on my other blog.

That TV isn’t mine. Built-in flatscreen for the win!

Word. Since threeball also sent the RICE advice, I’ll definitely take it to heart. I don’t know about not running for five days, but I won’t resume regular running until the shin pain is gone.

I’ll chalk this up to pushing myself a little too far, too soon in new shoes. Brooks, I love you and I forgive you. Let’s get through this together!

Tonight would be my first track workout with the DetermiNation team, but I sent this email to my coach… grrr.

“I did the seven-mile run on Saturday and it was great – no pain or anything – although I should have only run about five since I haven’t been doing runs that long. I took it easy on Sunday. Yesterday, I began feeling very slight pain in my shins during the day, then ran one mile on the treadmill in the evening before stopping because the pain increased. It wasn’t very intense, but it felt like the kind that could be made worse if I kept going, so I did the elliptical instead.

"I’m still feeling a tiny bit of shin pain walking around today, but I really want to run tonight at the track. Do you think I should come and run, or go on a bike ride instead? I’m thinking the pain is either due to the distance I did on Saturday, or the fact that I’m still breaking in my new shoes (or both)."I’m planning to run my first 10K on April 17, so I definitely don’t want to put myself out of commission for that!”

I feel like a jerk because I don’t want to miss my first track session, but I don’t want to injure myself either. The pain is on the inner side of each shin, down toward my ankle. And it’s minor pain – definitely not like the shin splints I’ve had before.

What do you guys think? I’m thinking I could attempt some light running near home, and if that hurts, jump on the bike for a bit, then stretch and ice my shins.

I’m not looking for straight-up medical advice, obviously – just practical suggestions from fellow runners!