Goals...

Yes! The shins felt okay for the Jingle Bell 5K this past Sunday and I ran a 17:57! I forgot to get my Santa costume on Saturday and thus missed out on the dash for cash. While only one santa finished ahead of me, it's doubtful I could've finished as fast in a Santa outfit... but still, 2nd Santa paid $100!

Funny story from the end of the race. Some dude w/ a girl in tow passed me about 1k from the line. I stayed close, then Carlos from SRR pulled up next to me w/ about 700m to go. We pick it up and catch the two in front of us with about 500m to go. But speedy girl in red is turning around every few steps and crankin' it... she wants to throw down! So she pulls up next to her buddy and Carlos next to her... and I'm stuck behind a 3-wide wall. WTF! Enough of this BS, ~200m to go I throw my right elbow into Carlos, then I jab speedy girl in red with my left and suddenly I've got a hole. Buh-bye. I shot outta' there like my ass was on fire, caught baggy sweatpants kid (seriously?) that dropped me a mile back and high-fived Pickle at the line. And were it not for the shoving, I wouldn't have hit my goal... the speedy girl in red had to settle for 18:01.

And speaking of goals, entries for the Super Sunday 5K/10K are coming in much better than I expected. We had 331 finishers last year and I was hoping to double that in 2009. But with 6 weeks to go, we've already got 460 people entered. Time to adjust that goal upwards.

Lights Out

I got to track practice @ MIT tonight but nobody was in the lobby. Instant first thought was "shit, i'm late." Nope, right on time. Then noticed the lights were off upstairs so figured I screwed up dates and it's tonight's practice that is canceled, not next week's.

Having rushed over from a meeting and psyched to test my legs, I wanted to run so meandered over to the outdoor track. While stretching, another BAA runner (John B.) arrived and told me there was a power outage at 5pm and practice had been canceled.

After a 2 mile warm-up, the legs started to feel a little better. Though still some lingering MTSS pain, it was not enough to cancel the workout. So John and I ran 1 mile in 5:39, rested 2 minutes and then ran another mile in 5:43. As long as the shin splint pain continues to dissipate, I expect to reach my PR goal of sub-18 at Jingle Bell on Sunday.

Tomorrow I'm helping with the Jingle Bell registration at Marathon Sports from 3-6:30, then running with Niketown @ 6:30, then having a Super Sunday race staff meeting at Globe at 8pm. Before all that, I gotta' ride... damn bike's been on the trainer in the middle of my living room since yesterday. Collecting dust.

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome - Shin Splints

I was so excited to run the Jolly Jaunt on Saturday morning... a 5K just a few blocks from home. But after running one block w/ my dog Libby, things weren't looking too good.

Yeah, a blind monkey could've seen this one coming... OVERUSE INJURY! Last weekend's 10.5 miler was too much too soon. (master of the obvious, 'eh?) I ran poorly @ track practice on Tuesday (6x800...worst running workout ever) and felt pain for most of Wednesday's 5.5 miles. "Wicked lower leg pain in the bone..." is how I described it to fellow Niketown runners; a few mentioned shin splints. Huh? Isn't that in the muscle on the front outside of your lower leg... the one that flexes when you lift your toes off the ground? (tibialis anterior) I have pain in the bone!

Welcome to running, Mr. Biker Boy: there are a few kinds of shin splints, apparently now referred to as MTSS. The kind on that front muscle are anterior shin splints (why plural?) and then posterior shin splints are on the back. Press along the inside/back edge of your tibia and you'll feel a muscle there. If it's sore and/or bumpy to the touch, you probably have posterior shin splints like me. Since that muscle runs right on and behind the tibia, it feels like the bone aches. Here are some exercises; be careful though, you may also have a stress fracture.

After an hour on Google, I know everything about MTSS except whether I'm over it. 5 days of no running... hopefully enough rest to get me to track practice tomorrow night.

4 days, 25+ miles and the Super Sunday 5K/10K

Last week, in what can only be described as a small miracle, I managed to:

1. run 7 miles w/ Pickles on Sunday
2. arrive early to Tuesday's BAA indoor track workout
   
3. race the Gobble Gobble Gobble 4 miler on Thursday
   
4. run 10.5 miles with the Marathon Sports crew on Saturday
5. open registration for the Super Sunday 5K/10K on Friday
   

The fact that I actually ran 4 times in one week is enough to make most of my (three) friends wonder what the hell is going on. But factor in that many of these miles were fast, total 25+ and came without any complaints about my hip (or any other joints) even once, and we've got ourselves an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Lest you think I'm morphing into a runner, know that my buddy Jon came around me for a sprint sign during our 2+ hour ride on Saturday afternoon. He's been riding the trainer for a few weeks... and losing that sprint was all it took to dust off my own trainer.

December goals: run three times per week, ride three times per week, run sub-18 at the Jingle Bell Run.