I'm still here!!

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I think y'all know that it's because I haven't been running much lately. Hopefully, that will be remedied soon, but let's start at the beginning.

Previously, on The Starting Gun:
A couple weeks ago, I had gone to a podiatrist to see if there was anything I could do to stop the shin splints that had been hampering me for several weeks. He ended up scanning my feet for custom orthotics and gave me the go-ahead to run again... easily, and being mindful of any pain showing up.

Since then, I actually have run a few times. I went to the gym and tried out the treadmill a few days after the appointment, and it didn't work out too well. I started feeling an aching in my shin, and I wasn't sure if it was just soreness, or if it was the Return of the Splint... so I took it easy and quit after just over a mile. But I was incredibly happy just to run that one mile.

That weekend, I went to the Galloway group long run, which was scheduled for seven miles. I was planning on walking the whole thing, but I ended up running with my wife's group, which runs a 1/1 ratio at about a 16 minute/mile pace. And that went very well -- I barely had any pain in my legs at all! Woo hoo!

I took it easy again through last week, not wanting to push things too hard, especially since I didn't have my orthotics or new shoes yet. So I basically didn't "run" all last week. But this past weekend, I went back to the group for the eight mile long run, still planning on sticking with my wife's group. I figured that it worked so well last time, I might as well try it again!

Before I go any further, I just want to point out that this is not one of my "X Reasons Why I'm an Idiot" posts.

The run actually still felt really great. It was a beautiful run around downtown Jax, including two bridges and the historical San Marco neighborhood. In fact, the bridges we ran were the same ones from the Vestcor 5K about a month and a half ago, and it was much easier this time. Granted, I was running much slower than race pace, too... but I even ran some sprints going up the Acosta.

And what is the outcome of this weekend's run? Nothing worth noting. Sure, I'm sore. But I don't have massive shin pain. I did ice my leg on Saturday afternoon, but it feels fine right now. My right leg is sore as all get-out, so I think I was compensating, but still... nothing bad.

I could not be happier.

Except for one thing. My orthotics are in. I got a call from the doc, and I will be picking them up tomorrow. And I'll be getting new shoes tomorrow at lunch. I'll be careful in the breaking-in period, but I think I'm well on my way back to the running fold.

Insert happy dance here.