We did some walking, but nothing concentrated or of any particular time or distance – it was mostly touristy stuff.  I tried to remember to do my exercises, and usually succeeded about half of the prescribed time.

A couple days into the trip, I noticed a distinct lack of shin splint pain, and was quite happy about it.  I’ve realized that my natural walking pace is quick, so I deliberately slowed my pace so I was sure to not feel any discomfort.

Now that we’re home and I’m climbing stairs at the house, I feel tweaks but they’re really minor.  The first and so far only upset was an ache that came up after I got into the office.  Apparently, I rushed across the parking lot in the cold wind, this morning!

I have instructions to do an exercise twice a day, with both legs – Sitting in a chair, raise the foot off the ground so the heel can move without grazing the floor and trace the alphabet in the air with your toes, moving only the foot, not the leg.  It seems simple, but I’m thankful when Z comes around.  I found more exercises in a Runner’s World article on shin splints.  I may add another to my list if I handle if/when the alphabet is easy.

I suppose it’s a good thing that it’s shin splints, as it could probably be worse.  I felt less silly when the doctors pointed out they had seen a marathoner just prior to me that also had shin splints.  Even the distance runners can’t get away from it.

I ran differently – focusing on landing on the forefoot/ball of the foot instead of the heel strike, which feels very jolting.  Running this way felt smooth – no bobbing, no pounding.  Previously, I’ve been trying to land heel first.

I’ve been doing some reading on barefoot running and barefoot running technology.  With my foot/leg issues I wonder if something like the Vibram Five Fingers might be better for me than a traditional running shoe, as it seems it would strengthen my foot, ankle, and lower leg.  We’ll see what the doctor says.

Barefoot Running Articles:

• Phys Ed: Is Running Barefoot Better for You? – New York Times blog article (October 21, 2009)
• Barefoot running offers a new challenge, may strengthen feet – Dallas Morning News (October 20, 2009)
• Go Bare or Go Home – The Paly Voice (October 19, 2009)
• Runners are Baring Their Very Soles – L.A. Times (October 5, 2009)
• Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants – New York Times (August, 29, 2009)
• To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes – Wired Magazine (July 2009)
• The Running Shoe Debate: How Barefoot Runners are Shaping the Shoe Industry – Popular Mechanics (April 22, 2009)
• How we’re Wrecking our Feet with Every Step we Take – New York Magazine (April 21, 2008)

Barefoot Running ‘Shoes’:

• Vibram Five Fingers
• Nike Free
• Vivo Barefoot

Other Sites

• http://www.barefootrunner.com/
• http://www.barefootted.com/ – Blog of Barefoot Ted
• Vibram Five Fingers Shoes: The Barefoot Alternative – Review of Vibram Five Fingers
• http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.com/2009/02/shoes-that-mimic-barefoot-movements.html (Blog post comparing various shoes for barefoot running.)
• http://barefootrunningshoes.org (Lots of good information on barefoot running and ‘shoes’)

I wore my everyday go-everywhere trail running shoes, today.  I had reviewed my notes from running and it appeared that things spiked with my left leg after the new shoes purchase, so we wanted to test it.  My mental goal was to make it three laps, today.  We went two (1 mile).  We did jog one thirty second stretch, to see how it felt, but that was the only running.  I definitely missed the super cushiony-ness of my new shoes.  I especially felt each foot strike on the pavement in the run segment.  My left leg disapproved loudly.

I really wanted to go a third lap, but my right calf cramp was more angry than usual and ended up shooting pain up my upper leg.  My left leg hurt, though the pain from running that had spiked to a 4 out of 10 dropped down to a 2.  My real problem was that both legs were weakening.  So, we slowed down to cool-down and headed inside.  I fully stretched, then headed to the shower.  I can’t tell if stretching helps or hurts my left leg.  Some days it hurts more for a while, after stretching.  I took two Advil and will ice at the office, per usual.

We’ll go out again Wednesday morning.  I see the sports medicine doctor Wednesday afternoon.

We got up at six this morning for a walk.  It was ~50 degrees and cloudy.  The streets were wet from rainclouds that had just passed overhead.  We were in our regular running gear, but we just walked at a good pace for two laps (1 mile).

My leg was hurting a bit by the end, but it was at a 4 on of a 1 to 10 pain scale, where Wednesday I was at a 7 out of 10 when we stopped.  I deliberately did not stretch my left lower leg once we were in the house, to try to avoid aggravating things.  My shin and inner leg were not painful or warm to the touch.  I took two Advil, and after a shower felt pretty ok!

I have an appointment this Wednesday with a sports medicine doctor.  Hopefully, he can shed some light on what’s happening to my leg.

This morning, I was fine getting dressed and in the warm-up walk.  It was cold, ~38 degrees, and dry.  I wore my face mask, which I tore off after the first lap – that thing works so well I burn up!  The loop we do is a straight section that goes in front of our house, with a horseshoe connected to it.  We walked to and around the full horseshoe this morning for warm-up, because it was so cold and because we wanted to make sure we were really warm before running.

The first run was ok.  It was slow and awkward.  It was difficult to get my left leg moving smoothly, and my stride didn’t come together well.  I felt like I was favoring my left leg, with my left foot landing flat on the pavement.  I tried to even things out and it helped a bit.  Once the run was done, my left lower leg hurt, but at a low level.  The right calf cramp was starting, but was minor.  We ran a second segment.  It hurt and was still awkward, but I could do it.  Larry then decided I should stretch, so we stopped and did that.  It was difficult.  It made my left leg really angry.  When we started again I was limping.  We walked a longer stretch then decided to run, again.  I took several running steps, but I couldn’t do it.  The pain was immense.  My left leg was on fire, and really weak.  It had gone quickly from a minor pain to severe.  So, Larry made me stop and we headed to the house.  I had to take breaks walking the short distance to the house.  We got there and Larry had to help me take the one step up to the door.  We had gone two laps (1 mile), with two run segments.. bah.

We got inside and I sat on the stairs.  I was upset and in pain.  I wanted to keep going, even though my body was clearly telling me there was a problem.  The pain in my leg started around the inside calf scar, went through my lower leg to the outside, and both down into my foot and up to my hip.  It was sharp at times, but would grow dull, then come sharp again, even though I wasn’t moving.  Larry loosened my laces (ouch) and helped remove my shoes.  I peeled off some clothes, then hobbled to the couch.  My left ankle and knee didn’t want to bend.  Larry brought a frozen pea pack.  I sat on the couch a while, willing the cold pack to help things calm down.

I moved from the couch upstairs to the bed with the ice pack.  Larry brought 3 Advil and laid with me a while until the pain had subsided enough that I wanted to get in the shower.  For a while, I didn’t think I’d be moving off the bed at all, today.  The pain came and went, both sharp and dull, but gradually backed off.  In the shower, I felt very little pain – must be the whole pleasure travels faster than pain thing (or the Advil kicking in!) – and the hot water felt really good.  I moved slowly to get ready for work, with the pain at a low level, about an hour after we came inside.

Larry says no more running for me until I see a doctor, so I will be calling someone today.  I may start with our fabulous family physician and see what he says.  He’s tough to stump, but when he’s stumped, he’s quick to say it’s time to see a specialist.

The pain is a dull ache at this point, and I’m off to work.  Hopefully, the biggest challenge facing me at the office will be avoiding the latest round of birthday cookies.

With my foot/lower leg issues, we’ve decided to take it slow and not follow the C25k program to the letter.  We’ll go as my leg will allow, but keep pushing.  Last week was Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.  We did interval training Tuesday and Thursday, and took a long walk on Saturday.  It was about 39 degrees that morning, and the walk felt great!

This is our third week at the Week 1 level.  The way my leg is complaining, we were smart to go slow.  We did about 4 laps (2.0 miles) with 8 run segments, this morning.  The warm-up and cool-down were a bit shorter than normal.  The first few run segments felt great, and almost ‘easy’, until my right calf cramp and left lower leg pain started.  Later, my left calf cramped a bit.  The last lap, we did three run segments close together, and it felt better running than walking.

The lower leg pain had me limping and groaning, again, but I was determined to not let it win.  I felt like I really pushed today, even though our overall distance was shorter.  On a few of the run segments, I kept running for five to ten extra feet just to make the point to myself that I can do it, even if my scars hurt like hell.

I had no toe tinglies, today.  I tied my laces a bit looser on the left side, and that seemed to help a lot.  We did stop once for me to stretch, which seemed more painful than keeping moving, but I think it helped.  However, we learned that if you’re running in the rain, don’t stop!  Once you stop, you get cold!  We picked the pace back up with a longer run to help re-heat and it felt good!

We’ve noticed some things are getting easier.  We recover breath quicker after a run segment and we don’t have the muscle burn from use – just my cramping and scar pain – though I’m sure the burn will return when we increase run lengths.  I’ve also noticed I can pace my breathing for the first half or so of the run segments, then my stride usually breaks and my breathing along with it, though by the end I’m almost back on it.

Today’s scar pain was not on the shin front, it was on the inside of the lower leg, radiating from the scar there.  Once we got out of the rain and peeled off wet clothes, I could see some bruising near both scars.  It’s nothing huge and dramatic, but there is definite discoloration and darkening in a few places.  When I was stretching, I once grazed my left shin lightly with my fingertips and it was exquisitely tender.  So, I’ll be icing during the day and getting more Advil on the way home after work.

No excuses!

This morning’s plan was to walk and run, with six run segments of roughly 60 seconds (running between 3 street lamps), but we got so into it, we did 8 run segments!  At the time, I was sure we did four loops, but now that I’m trying to break it down, I’m thinking we did five (2.5 miles in total).  Our warm-up was most of the first loop.  Loop 2 had two run segments, loop 3 had three (!) pretty close together, loop 4 had two close together, with a third after a nice walk break, then we did a full loop of cool-down.  Thinking about it now, I don’t see how we could have done it in four loops, with most of a loop for warm-up and cool-down.  Whatever it was, it felt great, mostly.

We did stop to stretch a bit at the end of the warm-up.  I could feel my right calf tightening and wanted to head off the pain.  It kind of worked.  By the fourth run segment, my right calf and left lower leg had woken up and were getting angry, but we didn’t have to stop for further stretching.  We tied my left shoelaces one hole shorter today, to help reduce front tendon pressure that may have been causing my toes to get tingly.  It worked pretty well.  I found that the shin pain coming on coincided with the toe tinglies.

The shin pain today was different than Tuesday.  It was above my shin scar, a hand-span or so below the kneecap, just inside and against the bone.  It was somewhat sharp, so I thought at first it might be shin splints, but when it radiated down to the scar on the inside of my lower leg, I figured it was scar tissue, again.  The pain came and went and moved around.  By the end of the seventh run segment, I was limp-walking.  And on the last run, I was limp-running, though really trying not to.   I moaned and groaned my way through the cool-down lap and up to the house.  When I untied my shoes, I got a rush of woozyness and laid back on the stairs for a bit.  The pain came and went, but inspection showed no discoloration, which I guess is a good sign.  It is tender to the touch, though.

Two hours after exercising, after ten minutes of icing and two Advil, it’s mostly back to normal.  It’s just gently aching, and mostly lower down around the shin scar.  I’ve contacted the hospital where the surgery was performed and plan to request a copy of my medical records, so I can figure this out.  It’s probably just scar tissue that isn’t happy about stretching and/or breaking away from the surrounding structures, but it will be nice to know how things were moved around down there.

The next run is set for Saturday morning.  The plain is another 8 run segments.  I’m looking forward to it, already.

No excuses.

I used my inhaler before heading downstairs.  It was cooler outside than I expected – in the forties.  We had decided to not follow C25k this week, but focus on just moving – fast paced walking on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with relaxed walking Wednesday and Friday – for warm-up and stretching.  It felt good to be out, again, even though it was cool, and really dark, and some neighbors don’t have it in them to share a ‘hello’ just after 6am, we really enjoyed it.

The iPod went with us, but died before the end of the second lap.  Before it died, I was trying to keep pace with Week 1 of PodRunner’s Interval podcast.  I was fine with the walking segments, but the running segments were too fast.  My left shin and right calf woke up to complain, again.  We stopped on loop 3 for me to stretch.  It helped with the calf cramp.

We ended up running, too.  There are street lamps every so often in our neighborhood, and it ends up that running between 3 of them takes about a minute – Larry counted it the first time – he stopped running at 60 seconds and I stopped at the lamp a few seconds after that.  We decided the landmark was easier than counting.  We did that four times, and twice had a sprint between the middle and last lamp.  Surprisingly, the running helped calm the cramp.  Also, I tried to push off with my left leg more than my right when walking, to give my right side a rest.  It worked, but I really had to concentrate to do it.

We did 5 laps in total (2.5 miles).  My left shin calmed a bit but was still very achy.  By the time we got to the house, my left lower leg felt weak, and I had that tingly feeling in my toes.  Then, it hit me.  My left lower leg is bound, to some degree, by scar tissue from a surgery I had ~30 years ago.  I have several surgery scars on my lower leg and foot, and one of them runs up the middle of my shin for about 3 inches.  The pain and ache runs on either side of and parallel to the scar.  So, I’m pretty sure I don’t have shin splints.. I have scar tissue!  I took a couple Advil and will ice it at the office for a bit.  Larry and I plan to work some massage into our routine in the evening, to help break up the scar tissue.

Moving was easier today, despite the lower leg issues.  I noticed when my walking pace slowed too much, and was even able to push myself to run faster at the end of a run segment.  I’ll call this progress.  Running itself felt more rough (jarring), but I was moving faster than last week.

No excuses.

We went to bed an hour and a half late last night and felt it this morning, electing to sleep in instead of exercising.  We both noted we were not in good spirits, and did not have the energy we had last Monday, post-exercise.  It’s really not a surprise given that we stayed in bed an additional hour and a half, but I didn’t really expect to be so utterly grumpy.

We decided to skip this morning’s run and instead hit it tomorrow.  Right now, the plan is to walk at a fast pace for 25 minutes for the next 5 mornings (Tuesday through Saturday).  I may take the iPod along and listen to Week 1 to see if we can stay with the bpm of the music – and test how long the iPod lasts.  It died (battery completely tapped) before the Week 1 PodRunner podcast was over when I tested it, yesterday.  I tried some button-pressing resets recommended on the Apple site, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes.