Are Shin Splints Inspirational?

Okay so now I have had them I don’t need to have them anymore. They can go away anytime. While I love the local trail’s I have 15 minutes from my house, the trail running is almost never on flat ground. This makes it a challenge to maintain good Chi Running form. This last two hour run I had to really focus on loosening my legs and a back while keeping good form. It felt better than the first two hour run. I was mostly trying to keep the achy shin splint and achy back from hurting more as I ran. When I have the form correct I don’t have these problems but having it correct is easier said than done.


I increased my running time and added trail running versus road running. This is the direct reason why I am experiencing pain at this point. The problem is my inpatient mind wanting to write checks my slow body is not prepared for. This is not following the practice of gradual progress that my mentor prescribed. So listening to my body last week meant resting and it looks like listening to my body this week will also mean resting. Then next weekend I will try a road run so I can really focus on my form. This is a mental challenge.

One of the mental challenges is when I have to take several days in a row off. I feel like I lose my momentum and the questions changes from “When am I going to exercise today?” to “Am I going to exercise today?” and that is not how I want the questions to be. I want to ask myself “When” not “If”. If is bad and when is good.



Another thing about having shin splints is that they inform me where I need to focus in my form practice. Per the Chi Running book if you relax your feet and ankles and keep your lean correctly you can eliminate shin splints. They inspire me to work on holding better form. Of course I am inspired by many strange things. I am inspired when I hear ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I am not inspired by suffering, anyone can do that.



I will never be at the top of this running game; but, if I can be in the game it would be enough for me. If I can compete and finish as a triathlete on August 7th then I will meet my goal I set a year before. My goals are changing and evolving as I am transforming from Couch Potato. I think I am driven more now, I ran five miles plus with some sort of ache for the last 4 runs I have done. What that means too me is that I don’t want to stop anymore. I am not really looking to sit down A.S.A.P. anymore. I recognize there is as much a shift in my head to become a triathelete as there is a shift in my body.

I am grateful that I have scrubbed my brain clean enough to allow myself the ability to evolve into this new person. Into this young athlete trapped in a 40 year olds body. So many people I know don’t seem to give themselves the freedom to change into something they have not been before.



And YET I still have not swum the lake. I have swum the distance (twice the distance in fact) but mentally swimming the lake is the final question mark. That is a bit freaky even talking about it. Swum does not look like a real word!

I am still a work in progress. Fatherhood reminds me I am far from finished and I have more work to do on myself almost every day.