Acceptance... and perhaps a new plan

Today has been a day of acceptance.  Acceptance of the fact that I will not get to run this weekend.  Acceptance that this may very well be the best thing for me right now.  Acceptance that I am indeed injured in some way right now.  Acceptance of all of this... and moving forward.  A friend on a running FB page where I frequently post gently reminded me that I have a very full plate, and to try to relish my days off.  Thanks to her, I made today much less about a lack of running and much more about a fun day with my family. 

Update on my calves/shins: I tried very hard to go without ibuprofen today.  I lasted until around 7:00 PM this evening.  I didn't have to do a ton of walking/moving around this morning/afternoon, as we had a yard sale so I was mostly just sitting in the garage taking money.  I took a short walk with the kids to check out a few of the other sales, and then later on in the afternoon we went to a pool party and a picnic at a park and there was quite a bit more movement/walking going on.  I realized when I was walking that I was very uncomfortable.  Not quite in pain, but definitely not feeling great... and this was slow, basic walking.  In fact, I found myself limping a bit at times, which is difficult to do when both of your legs are hurting!  

I still feel that this injury is just shin splints. I don't have the "specific area of pain" that is the hallmark of a stress fracture, and also because both legs are hurting in the same area, this is much more likely to be shin splints.  The happy moment of the day occured when my foam roller arrived.  I finally bit the bullet and purchased one of these babies.

I know it doesn't really look like anything special, but runners swear by rolling for both rehab when injured as well as just basic stretching/massaging after their runs.  Until now I have been rolling with a rolling pin.  It did the trick, but after hearing so much about foam rollers, I decided it was time to get one.  Tonight I found several YouTube videos on how to use a foam roller, and I put my roller to the test.  So far, I really like it. I was able to get a lot more pressure using the roller than I did with my rolling pin. 

As far as running goes... I may try to run tomorrow night, but more than likely, it will be Monday evening before I can run again.  My son has soccer practice that night, so I think I am going to try to get a run in during his practice.  There is a nice trail around the soccer complex where the practice takes place.  Typically Mondays are speedwork for me at the track, but I realize that I need to get healed up before speedwork is incorporated into my workouts again (see, more acceptance!).  So I will take it easy, as hard as that is for me.

Which brings me to the other part of this post: a possible new approach.  I have said that I develop my own training plans, mainly because I haven't really found one that totally does what I want to do.  So I sort of hodge-podge plans together.  Well, I am starting to think that maybe I want to follow a plan that someone else has written, just for the sake of not having to think it all through myself.  I am considering using the "Own It" Half Marathon plan from the book "Train Like a Mother."  I love this book, and as I was looking over the plan again the other night, I really do like the way it breaks things down.  I will decide in the next day or two if this is the plan I want to follow.  If I do choose to follow it, I may have to adjust my expectations for my next race (a 5K at the end of the month), as well as for my quarter-marathon at the end of August.  However, it will all be worth it if I get a super PR in October at my next half.