After being in so much pain from shin splints, I scarcely logged two hours of sleep last night. But, I woke up to snow and slick roads to help motivate me to excel (Sarcasm) another day. I came home from work and Melissa and I changed and both went to the gym to do our daily 5K. She hit the treadmill (aka Torture Machine) and I stretched. I did my calf stretches, which felt like my calves were on fire and I assumed my awesome Yoga-esque pose on the floor to further stretch those shin splint muscles. Spoiler alert: It helped. I didn’t feel any hint of shin muscle tightening or pain until about the 1.6 mile mark, which is a big relief over earlier attempts.
I walked/jogged on the .1 mile track around the gym machines area. Yes, .1 miles–so roughly 10 times around is a mile and you can do the math yourself for a 5K (3.1 miles). And you thought NASCAR was boring.
Melissa and repeated the rolling pin routine from the night before on my shin splints. Additionally, I used our heated “corn pillow” to relax my muscles. I logged a very average 15:18 pace, which to me was amazing considering the amount of shin splint pain I was in by the end of the 5K. Not as bad as yesterday, but still pretty bad. I did a few post 5K stretches to help relieve the tightness.
My best advice that I didn’t obey for continuing, but slightly subsiding pain: Take Ibuprofen, stretch more, and use a “muscle rub” ointment.
5K a Day 2017 