Shins...ok?

I'm having a good week of running.  I haven't said that since at least September, and probably earlier than that.

It's only good in my current limited perspective.  The 3.1 miles I ran on Sunday and the 3.1 miles I ran tonight would be 2 of my 3 slowest-ever 5Ks (along with the York Jingle Bell 5K last December).  It's not hard to think back exactly two-years ago, when I ran 10miles effortlessly on Fat Tuesday as my last double-digit run before my first marathon taper.  It's a long away from that in terms of both distance and pace.

But that's not important right now.  What is important is that my left shin felt great.  What's important is that on Sunday I ran through Mt. Wolf, which, as the name implies, is super hilly, and finished my 3.1 without any walk breaks.  I was sore tonight, mostly in the quads, from that run and from last night's session with our personal trainer at the Y, but the shin was fine.  

I still think I'm going to have to defer from the Shamrock Half Marathon in a little over a month.  Adding 10 miles of distance in a month is more than i can do, I think.  But for the first time in a really long time, I can actually envision myself coming all the way back and finishing half marathons, marathons, and Spartan Races (just kidding!) again.

What's made the difference?  I think it's that for the first time ever in my running career, I'm really worrying about core strength and working on strengthening my legs.  I have to give most of the credit to Chris for dragging me to her personal training sessions at the Y, and to our trainer, Mike F. at the Harrisburg YMCA, for making us do 6 different kinds of squats in a row, followed by 4 or 5 different kinds of planks.   Though I'm usually cursing him at the time and threatening to kill and/or divorce Chris for dragging me along, it's the only thing I can think of to explain this recovery.  No pain-free runs in a row hasn't happened in a long time, and I should probably downgrade myself to "cautiously optimistic" instead of "dreaming of long distances."

I'm guessing I'll come crashing back to earth soon, but I'm going to enjoy the rare runner's high while it lasts.
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Meanwhile, as sketchy a runner as I've been lately, I've been an even worse blogger.  A couple of entries though that I'd like to get posted "soon":

• The sad yet inspiring story of an injured kitty and his adorable kitty PT. (With cute pictures!)
• 2013 Race Schedule
• Running....From the Police? (Not as exciting or useful as it sounds)

The ABCs of Being Pain Free?

I ran just 10 miles this week, but that's not important.  What is important is I ran 10 miles without a hint of trouble from my shins or varicose vein, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I've found the fix for it.  And by "I've found the fix for it", I mean Chris told me something to try that seems to have worked.

It's writing the alphabet in the air with my toes.  Here's an example that's a little more thorough than what I've been doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X5-6-Puo20

Please note that I can't endorse all the Red Sox stuff in the background, but this seems like a good example.  I've just been writing through the alphabet once or twice several times a day while I'm working or watching TV and before I run.  I've been doing a little better with strength training lately, which may be helping, but I've noticed I didn't have any exercises for the muscles on/next to my shins, which is where I have so much trouble on my left leg.  This alphabet thing seems like it fills that void in my workout routine.

Now, my quads were another story.  My quads felt weak (I blame last night's fencing class for this) throughout the run, I've clearly lost some conditioning over the past month, and it was digustingly humid and warm this morning.  A four-mile run (per my training plan) that I wanted to turn into a six-mile run since my shins and ankles felt so great ended up a five-mile run when I felt like I was going to overheat if I went another mile.

So today, I lost the battle.  But for the first time in quite awhile, I think I'm going to win the war and be ready for a fall half marathon and spring full marathon.

And since this post is boring and people come here for the cat pictures, here's Higgy helping me work.