First long run this year

I really wanted to share my run today.. Well let me back up a couple days first.. Weds I ran 3.72 Miles. When I left it was 83 degrees and very muggy it was a very hard run.. The heat and humidity just sucked the life out of me and I really didn't think I would get my whole route in but I managed to push though it.. However by evening time I started feeling pain in my inner shin again the same exact place that I had trouble with last summer..
For those of you who have followed this blog knows that last summer I really had a hard tine with my leg.. at first the doctors thought I had a deep inner shin splint that ran right up just above my ankle up to the middle of my leg or calf.. And it just wouldn't get better well of course I kept kinda running every so often on it but then they thought it was a stress fracture but with the MRI they found no fracture so I dont know what was causing it.. They thought it was because I increased my miles to quickly and ran to much, so needless to say I ended up taking a whole lot of time off from running because of this.. Anyhow so this winter and spring I didn't really do to much running and my leg finally healed after 3-4 months and it has been doing really great.. I have just gotten back into running more often now and have slowly increased my mileage wanting to be very careful not to have a repeat but after weds run I started hurting again.. I was so mad and frustrated.. I cant believe this is starting all over again.. i really thought I was being careful.. I dont know if I didn't stretch enough or maybe too much who knows..

Anyhow so Thursday I did nothing and Friday I did my kickmax DVD but didn't start it until 9:30 at night and got done about 11:30 by the time I finally finished it.. I had to take a little break in between to put kids to bed.. But I was pretty excited because I had great energy and I was able to get through almost the whole DVD without dying off and having to stop.. There was only 1 exercise I couldn't do the whole series too and that was the jumping lunges. I get through the 1st 3 sets but then my legs start shaking and hurting and my legs give out but I was able to rest a sec and jump back in for the last set of 8. So that means my legs are getting stronger.. I was pretty happy about that but this DVD still kills me..
So anyways I got to bed about 1:00 with the help of a sleeping pill because I was so wound up from exercising so late and I really wanted to get up early sat to go for my long run before I started my garage sale at 9:00 but I thought I would probably be wiped out to get up which brings me to today....

I had my alarm set for 6:30 to just see if I could get out of bed after 5 hrs of sleep and to my surprise my body already started waking up at 6:00 so by the time 6:30 came I had no problem getting up.. I decided to go do my run before eating so I could get it in before it got to late. I was leery running with the way my leg had been hurting and going without any food and energy in my body to sustain me for a long run. I had no idea how far I would be able to go with my leg, and knees and no nourishment.. I really wasn't too sore at all like I thought I would be after kick max just 8 hrs earlier so that was a nice surprise..

Let me just say I had the best run yet this year.. It was my first long run for the year and it was great.. The weather was nice and cool probably high 60's when I left and I was able to run in the shade for most of it.. And no humidity and it made a world of difference on how I felt.. I had plenty of energy my breathing was nice and steady. I didn't get tired at all.. My knee was bothering me a bit and there was a couple of times when I had a couple hills to go through that really bothered them but thankfully they weren't long hills they were just right for a good challenge for my legs without killing me off.. I could feel the first few miles my leg was tight but by the time I got to around mile 4 it was loosening up nicely and I had no pain at all so that was a huge relief..

So other then my knee hurting some it was darn near the perfect run.. My body felt like a machine..I couldn't believe how good I felt for not running this long in over a year.. It wasn't quite the runners euphoria nor felt like I was gliding but it was pretty darn close.. I really felt like I could have done a half marathon today and been just fine despite the lack of no training for it.. There was only 1 big pain I didn't take into consideration.. Since I hadn't been running this long yet this year I didn't think to put on any glide and I had a little shorter and looser shorts on then I normally wear and my inner thigh on one leg really got chaffed as well as my under arm.. By the time I was finishing the last mile I was really feeling the burn of my chaffed skin... OWIE!!! Other then that it was such an awesome run... I got in 7.31 Miles in 71 minutes.. I did walk a little for my warm up and cool down probably about .6 a mile total.. And for being my first long run I felt pretty good about that.. I was really not trying for any speed today....

I'm not sure if I could have gone much further then I did without some nourishment however because by the time I finished I was pretty shaky and a little light headed and it was starting to warm up a bit.. But I really loved the early morning run. The temp was so much better and there was hardly any traffic out and it was just beautiful.. My music really kept me pumped.. I dont know how anyone can run without music...

Anyways that was my run today.. I hope to have many more like it minus the burns.. And I pray that my leg will not start back up with the pain like it did.. I dont want to go through another summer like that.. Is there anyone out there that has had this type of pain before and knows what you can do for it other then icing and not running on it? I just cant not run.. My husband said maybe you will just have to stop running and switch to an elliptical and ride your bike and the very thought just made me depressed and mad.. There is just something about being out side and taking in the beauty and feeling the wind and air and taking in the smells and the way your body feels when you are running outside.. You just cant get that on an elliptical or a bike really.. It's just not the same.. Now that I know what its like to be a runner I just cant imagine not running.. Owell here is to a hopeful running future....