Stefan's Insights

I couldn't run with my regular running group this Saturday, but caught up Sunday morning with my 23 miler. Started at 31st street (which is the 6mile marker), ran down to the 1 mile marked (end of lake shore drive), back up north to North avenue beach (12mile marker) and back to 31st street, where I added just another 1/2 mile south and back to complete the total of 23 miles. For all you runners, I ran the first 12 miles on a 4:2 interval, and 11 miles on 2:2. No shin splint pain (new running style!), no blisters (double-lined socks), legs a little sore. Lessons learned - dont forget salt packs (important after 15miles), and !!! put sun lotion not only on face and arms, but also on the BACK of your legs (i ran 11 miles straight north) - got sunburned on the backside of my knees LOL ! Now I am back on my running schedule and am looking forward to run with my group again.. Thank you to all of you who provided donations so far - your support is highly appreciated and makes the effort ...

Image by kenkilfedder via Flickr 20 Miles – This Saturday morning I ran with my running group at 7am to do our step-down run with 8 miles at our typical 11:30min. pace on a 4:1 interval. This means that we tried to run each mile within 11:30-12minute pace and switch between 4 minutes or running and 1 minute of walking continiously during the length of this 8 mile run. Well, for me today was special. I had dealt with Shin Splint issues over the last couple of week, but by changing my running style, I was successful to get rid of it. Basically, my running is now similar to that of a cross-country skier. So after the first 8 miles (1:34 hour later), I stocked up with water again and within 10 minutes continued to head out again, continuing for 6 miles at a 3:1 schedule and finished the last 6 on a 2:2 schedule. Yes, it was hot – around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, it was loooooooong, but really not that bad. Appropriate hydration was really important. I am back !

Image via Wikipedia As I now know (learning by experience LOL), there are quite a few runners that eventually deal with ' shin splint ', a condition that causes pain on the front of your lower legs, in short because you are training too hard. I had bummed up my midweek mileage from 4-5 to 8 miles every other day and after the second week experienced this weird kind of pinch/pain, in this area that i didnt know i have muscles at :-). so now i had to give it a couple of days rest.. missed my 20miler weekend run (sorry running group, i really missed running with you!), but am recovering very well, trying to get back on track within the next week or so. my advise - dont force it, listen to your body, inform yourself and learn. this is not only for the short-term, but for the long-term and improvement of your health and your life-style, not just a short-term win. i told a friend about my marathon preparation and the shin splint issue, and he told me about CHi running. Now i am check...