Soon, very soon (running update)

As I said in a previous entry, I have been taking a self-imposed break from running. The good news is that, even though I haven't been doing the full RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) routine, I have been resting, some icing, and a couple of streching and strengthening exercises.

As a result, my shins feel pretty good again. By the end of this week, I plan on climbing onto either an elliptical, a bike, or a stairmaster. I know that all three are low-impact/zero-impact kind of exercises, and probably wouldn't have exacerbated the problems with my shins. Of course, the recommendations on all of those is to "take it easy" when using the machines if you are recovering from a shin problem. The concern was that my definition of "easy" is actually pretty hard on my body. (Why yes, I do tend to compete against myself, all the time. It's one of my less-endearing habits.) Since I know that I tend to train too hard (though I am working on it), I decided that a complete rest was better than a low-exercise rest.

Hopefully, I'll have healed enough that a few days on machines other than my hamster path won't be an issue, and I can ease back into running. I might be missing the Martian Marathon, but I have plenty of time to get ready for the Borgess Half Marathon.