BENCHED!!

Shin splints.  2 evil words full of mean-ness and no sense of pity whatsoever.  For those who have had them, there is no explanation needed.  But, for those who haven't, there is one word that I can use to explain...P.A.I.N.

Shin splints are when the muscle on your shins starts to separate from the bone.  There are several causes...dehydration, not enough stretching, over training, bad shoes, repeated runs on hard surfaces, lack of leg strength.  And the list goes on.  Now, I'm not positive what is causing mine.  All I know is that I have them, I hate them and they are putting a kink in my training.  I tried to run through the pain on my Wednesday run, and it was almost impossible.  Actually, the only reason I kept running was because it hurt worse to walk.  I cried the whole time.  So much fun. 

I drove my aching, (engulfed in flames) legs to South Sound Running to tackle what may be one of the problems...my shoes.  The people there were super fantastic!  They watched me run in about 6 different pairs of shoes, gave me great pointers and even gave me some medicine because I was about to chop my legs off from the pain.  I hope with all hopeness that this will help!

The new digs.  They are BROOKS - Adrenaline GTS 11.  And this is what it says on the inside of the blue and brown box they came in.  "EVERY RUNNER HAS A DREAM.  A DREAM OF THE IDEAL RUN.  OUR JOB IS TO MAKE IT COME TRUE.  This isn't just a pair of the world's finest running shoes.  It's our passion.  What you see here is the result of paradigm-shifting technologies that have been tested and re-tested (again and again).  Years of research on fit, ride, comfort and biomechanics, and an almost frightening obsession with every last detail.  Brook's mission is to deliver the perfect ride for every stride.  Tucked with care in this box is your Run Happy revelation.  Go set it free."

Oh, man...do I want to set it free...

I WANT TO RUN HAPPY!!

But, for now...I'm benched.  Sad.  The best thing to do is give my silly shins time to heal, as much as possible.  I don't know how long it will be till I can run.  And the fact that the R and R Seattle is in 5 weeks, has me a tad concerned.  Yikes...sniff..sniff...!

So,  in the meantime, I'm building a stronger relationship with my padded bicycle shorts.