Please…
Please…
Pretty please…
With a BIG cherry on top…
Don’t be a stress fracture.

I made a doctor appointment. My shin hurt the entire time I was running this morning. I have a high pain tolerance, so I’m not sure if I should even call it “pain.” It’s discomfort. And the rest of today the mild, intermittent discomfort continued. It feels swollen. Not to the touch. It just feels off. I don’t like it.

I refuse to make the same mistake I made last fall/winter. I hurt myself and kept trying to train through it. I was unwilling to stop running because I didn’t want to stall progress. Now I know there are other ways to keep and even increase my fitness. Cycling and PiYo…thank you for keeping me sane.

I’m also probably going to make a training plan change. I know, I know. I’ve only been at it for a week, but burn out hit hard this morning. Level 2 80/20 10K training is not easy maintenance training. It’s a bit much. I’m going back to my roots.

This is the first training plan book I ever used when I became a runner. It’s the first one I still recommend to new runners: male, female, single, married, dads, moms, grandmas. It might say train like a MOTHER, but it’s good for everyone. The 10K finish it plan looks much more my speed right now. 3-4 mile weekly maintenance runs and only one day of interval speed work. To be honest, I’m a little tired of timed runs. It was nice knowing that I only had 40 minutes, but 3 miles just sounds much more manageable right now. It’s just the way my brain needs to think about running.

So cross you fingers for me tomorrow afternoon. No stress fracture. Just a strained shin muscle. A deep bruise. I’m finally making progress again. I don’t want another setback.

Please…

Stay neon.