My Downfall

Mark:

Well, last week marked the beginning my downfall. I was excited to run. Wow! Did I just say that? I was excited because we went to get some new shoes that are designed for running. I will spare you all the details, but I couldn't wait to wake up and try out my new digs. Have you ever had a moment you were really looking forward to, and then when you got there you were disappointed? I ran about a mile, and my shins starting killing me. I am not a quitter, but when you can't even walk because your shins hurt so bad, that means your body is trying to tell you something. Mine was screaming, "STOP!" So, I took the shoes back, and they gave me another pair. Oh, the person at the store told me if I continued in the original pair it would have caused a stress fracture. That's never good to hear. I was excited again to run, but I was also a little timid because I did not want to experience that pain again. The run went great early in the week, but as the week progressed the pain came back. Last Friday and Saturday I tried to run, but the pain was so intense I could only go for about a mile. Let me remind you that a marathon is 26.2 miles. How am I supposed to run 26.2 when I can't even go one mile right now?

So, I did the intelligent thing and started researching on the internet because everything on the internet is true...haha. I discovered, much to my disappointment, that I was developing shin splints. I learned that I broke the rule of the three too's...too much, too soon, too fast. I think I broke all three of those. I have been icing my shins and calves every night this week. Let me just say that icing your shins is kinda weird. I also read that stretching as much as possible is good to do. Tomorrow marks a new day. I am going to try to run a couple of miles and see how I feel. Keep your fingers crossed, and let's hope that I can get back on track.

Shannon:

I guess you could say I had a bit of a downfall as well. I am the more "experienced" runner between the two of us...however, I started getting sick about the middle of our first week of training. Being the diligent runner I am, determined to check off every box of our coaching app (I might be just a little OCD about stuff like that), I continued to run while sick. I noticed my miles getting slower as opposed to faster. I was also noticing my stamina wasn't what it had been. I know I can run 13.1 miles without stopping...I've done it before, and that wasn't too long ago. So to say I was getting frustrated is just a bit of an understatement. As much as I didn't want to, I took a break starting last Wednesday. Slept in a little, hydrated myself well, and started taking an antihistamine...because running with fluid in your ears apparently causes serious balance issues. I was also in Dallas for the weekend at an AdvoCare conference (because you know, we are totally fueled by AdvoCare and powered by Spark in our house ;-) ) and didn't want to even attempt running in the fabulous Dallas heat. We are talking 85 degrees and 1000% humidity at 5 am! I am back on track now. I can finally take a full breath and push it out to get me through the "burn" I typically feel all through mile 3. I ran 4 miles yesterday and I'm getting ready to run 4 miles this evening, gearing up for our 6.2 long run on Saturday.

Although we have had a bit of a "Downfall" in our training, I am still proud of where we are. We may not be logging every mile on our training app, but we are still making PROGRESS :-)