Off the beaten path

So the thing that I hate most about starting a running routine again are the inevitable shin splints I get every single time. I was told by a rather knowledge woman in a reputable running store that it is usually due to worn-out sneakers. That was about two months ago, and I have broken in my new sneakers since that day, but I'm still dealing with these blasted shin splints. Hence why it is been tough for me to run at all lately. I have been hiking in the state forest instead.

I went for a run yesterday for the first time in about 2 weeks, and my shins are starting to be cooperative. I decided to leave the dog behind yesterday because I just moved to a new part of Massachusetts and there really aren't any sidewalks to run on. I stayed on the side streets, and came across a cemetary with a really pretty lake in the middle, so I decided to take a detour around it. I was right in the middle of my run, and found myself either continuing running in traffic or taking a turn around the deserted paths that gently sloped up and around some rolling hills. I'm not sure what the policy is on joggers in cemetaries, but by the time I did one loop around, my 5k program had finished on my phone, and I cooled down by walking around the water. I found myself reflecting on what I think started my downhill spiral into becoming out of shape and lazy, which was my grandmother passing away 9 years ago. That may seem like a long time, but I don't think I ever really dealt with it properly. I'm not sure how a 15 year old is supposed to manage grief, but I'm pretty sure I didn't do a very good job adjusting to losing one of the most important people in my life. Maybe I was feeling emotional, but I feel like I closed one chapter of my life yesterday. I feel like I might have been able to finally say goodbye to something that has been hanging over my head for the longest time.

Today was my day off from my 5k program, but I took the dog for a hike in the state forest. My muscles were feeling pretty good, despite yesterday's run, so I decided to try out a little trail running. There is something about being on the trail and only thinking about where your feet are going to hit the ground next that I thoroughly enjoyed. I didn't have any music to listen to, but I found that I didn't need it, which is unusual for me. When I'm on the road, I need to listen to something to keep me preoccupied. Today all I needed was to feel the pine needles crunching under my feet. My next goal is to find some good quality trail sneakers and some sort of apparatus I can put around my waist or attach to the dog's leash to put my keys and whatnot in.


Hiking at the state forest with the mutt...

Tomorrow is the first run of week 4....here's hoping it goes well!

Running through the rain drops

I'm pretty sure I jinxed myself by being snarky about running in the rain on my last post. My first day of week three came and I had no other choice than to run during downpours. Running with glasses on is not a pleasant experience. I do believe I need some sort of glasses-windshield wiper device to afix to my specs because I couldn't see anything. To make it worse, they were also fogging up. Not a good way to start week 3. I'm spending some extra time on week 3, because I can't seem to get through all of the intervals comfortably. Week 3 consists of a five minute warm up, five intervals of jogging for 3 minutes with walking for 2 minutes in between, and then a five minute cool down. I can get through the fourth interval, but for some reason I just can't finish that fifth one. So, I'm working on repeating week 3. Again.

This is the third week I have been at this level, but I took a couple of days off because my shin splints were really bad. I'm prone to this, and always have been, especially back in high school when I was playing soccer. On my off days, I went for an epic seven hour hike on the Appalachian trail and a short, local hike at a state park. I'm also helping my parents move and paint their new house, which is a good workout in itself.

There are a few 5k races I have my eye on this summer, and I'm hoping I'm in good enough shape to enter one of them before summer ends. Even if I use it to help me train for a real race, I think I'm going to register for one soon so that I can't back out of the committment. Let's see which one I find to enter!