Geez, I haven't raced in a while, especially 5ks. I'm getting quite antsy. Having two meets in the same week should be enough to sate my appetite though.
See this documentary. It will change your life: http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead
Hey running ponies! I have a question. During my last race, on new years day, I stretched and everything but the first mile my shins were in pain. Like I shed a few tears pain. What could have caused that because after a little longer they stopped hurting I thought it was really weird.
that's completely normal, it's just that when you're working out your muscles to their working temperature, they can start to feel funny
Yeti's right with this, sometimes it just takes a while for the muscles in your shins to warm up. Though, pain is a desperate way for you body to convey that something is wrong, so it's best to try to avoid it. Here are some tips: Do some dynamic warmups beforehand. High Knees and Buttkicks work well for me. (Also be sure to stride out) Work on building some calf muscles, they'll help to absorb shock from any impact. If you have any pain in your shins, any at all, put an icepack on for 20 minutes, and then off for 20, and repeat until you feel needed. Take some pills, Advil and Ibuprofen work wonders. (They're pain reducers and even lowers the inflammation in the shin) Stretch out your calves before a long run. You can do this by finding a wall and propping your foot against it and pushing against it, or other ways. (Look up some other stretches, I can't explain these well) If it's really bad, you might want to consider new shoes. Running shoes last only about 300-500 miles, so if you're running in dead shoes, it's going to hurt. If it is absolutely unbearable, like it was for me, you may want to consider changing your running style. Most people heel strike, which is fine, most runners do this, but it sends a lot of shock through your leg because when you land on your heel it has a small surface area which concentrates the shock. What I did is I changed to forefoot striking about 2 months ago. Your forefoot has a lot more surface area and will evenly distribute the shock leading to less injury. The problem with this is it takes a godawful amount of time to actually finish the transition process. It took me 1 and a half months to finally ease into it. Remember, this is only if you absolutely feel the need to. It won't make you run faster, and will make you MUCH slower for at least 2 weeks or more.
Thanks guys that makes a lot of since! Also as an update, I signed up to climb 35 flights of stairs a mont before the first 5k I am going to be running. Ugh I don't know what I was thinking
It's always good to push yourself. Oh god I remember my first 5k. It was for charity and I had to race Ray Allen(yes, of the celtics) I smoked him by like 5 minutes with a 22 flat.
