Visiting my parents for a few days means that my regular training schedule has hit a snag. My usual running route is hundreds of miles away, and no GPS devices work here because they live in a small, isolated town (thanks for nothing AT&T).
My first morning here, I actually set my alarm and tried to wake up for an early run, but something about sleeping in my childhood bedroom made me press the snooze button until the optimal running time had come and gone. After one day of being lazy, though, I pulled myself out of bed this morning and drove to the local high school, and to their track.
Which brings me to the first word of the day: FARTLEKS!
Fartleks (Swedish for 'speed play') involves altering your speed in regular intervals to strengthen muscles and gradually get your body used to moving at faster speeds. I've been doing 3-minute interval fartleks to gradually increase my speed, trying to hit new PRs. Plus, It gives me something to do between long runs.
Since my GPS wasn't working, I allowed my fartlek intervals to be two trips around the track: two at what I considered a 'moderate' pace, and two at what I considered a 'fast' pace. After each interval I moved to the next outer ring on the track, making each interval a little longer than the previous.
And now my right shin hurts. Great. Which bring me to the second word of the day: SHIN SPLINTS!
So it's time to stretch, maybe add a little ice, and let it rest for a day so I can try to be up for my long run on Sunday morning. See the video above this post about preventing and treating shin splints (thanks Active.com for the video!), and please feel free to contribute your own experience with fartleks, shin splints, and advice on either! I'm always looking for new tricks and remedies!
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