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Tuesday - 10km Easy

This was my first time running on a treadmil. It sucked.

I felt like I was running too fast for what the speed said on the screen. I'm probably just unfamiliar with running on a treadmil so it felt strange.

Anyway, I stayed within zone 2 for pretty much the whole hour I was running, which was nice.

Part of the reason why I decided to run on a treadmil today was because I assumed it would be better for my shin splints because of less impact on my legs. I was wrong apparently.

I felt fine for most of the run until about 3/4 in, when I started to feel a slight pain in my left shin. Nothing bad, more of an awareness of the pain. This was near the end so I finished the run as planned.

The next day though, I felt pain in my shin that I hadn't felt in a few weeks since cutting my load. I was slightly concerned.

Thursday - 10km Tempo

I woke up with my leg still sore from Tueday's run. Still had to get the run in today though.

Plan for this run:
3km W/U,
6km @ 4:45-5:00/km,
1km C/D.

I decided to do this run much slower than my usual tempo runs because I was sore, but still wanted to keep a consistent faster pace than my easy runs. I did not feel good running today. Looking back now it probably would have been smarter to run tomorrow intead and give myself an extra day to recover, especially considering I have a physio appointment today anyway.

This was also a very challenging run mentally. My shin splints haven't been this bad in a long time, and it was so discouraging to face this less than 2 weeks out from a half marathon. I considered pulling out of next weekend's race, or dropping out of Gold Coast Marathon and doing a half instead. I did not feel fit at all.

Completed the run despite not feeling good, and then headed to the physio for some treatment.

Saturday - 8km Easy

This was a very enjoyable easy run by the beach at sunrise. Heart rate was unusually high for my pace and effort, but still good to get ~50 minutes of running in.

Leg felt slightly better whilst running, but sore again afterwards.

Sunday - 16km Long

I was frustrated again today to be starting another run sore and not feeling 100%.

My aim for today was to make this run a 'dress rehearsal' for next weekend, where I get up early, take my usual pre-run drink, and run in the same kit I'd wear on the day. At least I did 1/3 of those by wearing my race kit today.

I also didn't want today to just be another long easy run, where I'm just getting in extra time on my feet, so I decided to run at a 5-6/10 effort with a strong focus on keeping a consistent pace and heart rate.

After a 2km warm up, I wanted to keep the remaining 14km around 5:00-5:20/km, which would usually be zone 3 heart rate for me. This wasn't a challenging run, but it was definitely more enjoyable than an easy run.

By about 5km into the run, I could barely notice the pain from my shin splints, and for the first time since earlier this year, I felt comfortable on a long run. I pushed myself just hard enough that I am proud of my efforts, but ran light enough to recover quickly.

Finally, I feel like I can look forward to running again.

I finished the run with an average pace of 5:09/km, and a very consistent pace (at least for me) for most of the run.

Looking forward to my short taper week and half marathon next Sunday.

Weekly Summary:

Total Distance: 44km

11 Weeks Out.