Taking a licking but I'm still ticking

Catchy title, no?

Well, it's been a little while. I've been super busy, though, but still no excuse to hold up on blogging. Poor little blog. I usually start up on some posts and never end up finishing them for some reason. I'll have to work on that.

Anyways, I have been running since the St. Louis half-marathon back on April 19. I took about a week and a half off of hard training, mostly because I didn't have any immediate goals set. Four pounds gained and nearly a month later, I'm back doing some short miles before starting to train for the Chicago Marathon in October.

I've been struggling with some rather severe shin pain in both of my legs since St. Louis. I thought for a while it was because of my layoff from running. It isn't too uncommon for me to be a bit tight after a large race, and am no stranger to a little shin pain. Now, after almost three weeks of running, I am still struggling with the pain that comes along after about two miles of running a route.

Then, this past Monday after my run, it struck me. Maybe the pain isn't due to lack of running. Could it be the shoes? I sat down and found out my shoes have close to 300 miles on them and are nearing five months old. Tuesday, I went to my local running store to pick up a new pair of Brooks Defyance 2's.

I took them for a three mile spin on Wednesday, and lo and behold, no shin pain! Duh. The shoes ended up being a bit too tight near the front, so I exchanged them for a pair one size larger. I'll find out by Saturday how they work out. I'm just relieved that the shin pain is gone. I was really having a hard time with that.

So that's a quick update. I was planning on running an 8K this Sunday, but it may just be a last minute decision depending on how the new shoes work out. Otherwise, I'll be shooting for the Skirtchaser 5K on June 13, followed by the North Shore Half Marathon on June 14. A two-fer!

Write soon!