It's all connected

I’m fighting the Post Race Blues…

It’s been two months since my marathon and I can’t seem to light a fire under my training these days. I didn’t really plan the second half of the year with any races or events and that has left me going through the motions of training.

I’ve been out of town a lot on the weekends and that has impacted my long runs…I got lonely doing all those Tempo Runs solo during training, so I’ve been skipping those runs in favor of a more social pace.

Plus…shin splints.

I had them months before my marathon and Kathleen from the Strong Center had been helping me keep them at bay long enough to complete my race. I was kind of hoping that my postrace recovery would help them go away, but that doesn’t seem to be working.

My hips have been out of alignment since I wore that boot for my foot fracture. I’ve known it…Kathleen’s known it…but I haven’t done anything about it either.

 

It turns out that my hip is probably the root of all my issues. I’ve had tight hips for years now, and like all my other issues, I’ve hardly done anything to fix it. Mostly because it doesn’t hurt constantly and it’s easy to ignore in favor of getting my run in. I’ve had headaches, sore shoulders, a raised hip, tight hamstrings (what runner doesn’t?) and super tight calf muscles…which now that I’m thinking about it, was an issue directly pre-dating my shin issues…

The shin splints are weird ones. It all started in my arch. After my long runs, my left arch was more tired than usual and tight. The tissue directly on either side of my shine bone in a specific spot about two inches long was/is EXTREMELY tender. Like “catch your breath break out whatever breathing techniques you might have” tender. Honestly there have been moments during the massage treatments where I wondered if I didn’t have another fracture.

 

Kathleen explained that I have Anterior Shin Splints combined with the aggravation of the Anterior Tibial Tendon and Posterior. For some reason I noticed the ligament discomfort before I noticed the Anterior muscle discomfort. I might also have a touch of Plantar Facetious. If I do, it’s also a weird case because it doesn’t feel like any of the descriptions.

Probably because I don’t use my roller enough. Or stretch enough…or cross train enough.

Why? Because I don’t like doctors. I don’t have a good reason.

It’s particularly stupid when you put that together with the fact that by avoiding treatment I’ve caused more trouble, pain and MORE treatment to fix the problem.

Runners are the some of the dumbest at preventative medicine. It’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous.