Stefanie's journal

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221

My left shin is REALLY hurting, and I’m taking an x-ray tomorrow after I have my third blood test…a shin splint shouldn’t hurt this much…or should it?? :confused:
20-30min run today and my shin hurt all the way through…
Then weights, these felt good actually made my shin feel better. Maybe start doing more weights?

4 sets of the following circuit:
leg extensions, 10reps of 20, 25, 30, 40 kg
leg curls, 10reps of 25, 30, 40, 40 kg
machine press, 10 reps of 20, 40, 50, 50 kg
pull downs and chin downs, 10 reps of I don’t know what
incline sit ups, 40reps
deep back squats, 10 reps of 40, 50, 55, 60 kg (last set was 9 reps)

222

I gave blood again for another blood test. The results will be out tomorrow at 1. I’m so curious!! My body has taken in all the iron that it can. And I also think that I’ve taken the most bathroom visits of my life in the last 12 days… :eek:

Took a shin x-ray to ensure no fracture, LUCKILY it was negative…PFFFFEEEEEWWWWW.

But shin keeps KILLING me… I’ve read all the shin splints threads, doing my best to stop the freaking pain…

speed day today: 4 lap warm up, and then in spikes (ouch for shin) 30-50-80. There should be another set following, but I pathetically left the workout to that due to pain. No one did the other set anyways cause they were sore from lifting (no comment…)

10 more days left in Greece… :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

223

I did a 400m test today and I’m disappointed…ran it in 64seconds. My first 200 was in 29sec, my coach told me a have a problem with the last 100m. My problem is I need to do more lactic workouts, last year my lactate acid threshold was so much better. At least I know what to do to fix that.
I want to run another 400 next week before I go back to the States. I’m not leaving Greece with a freaking 64… :mad:

Oh: my blood level went from a 31.5 to a 32.7…yayyyy… :frowning: great improvement. My coach says that with a normal blood count I would be flying, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. I have serious work to do until the end of January.

224

warm up, then weights, arm day:
bench press: 10reps 30kg, 10reps 40kg, 7reps 45kg, 5reps 45kg
pull downs and chin downs, (not in the mood to write down every single rep and weight…sorry…), also did machine shoulder press, then with the 20kg bar did something i don’t know the name for, where you use the legs and push the bar diagonally upwards and in front, then presses with the bar behind the head, hypers and abs.

I need a running workout. I need to run good 400s. Can’t wait till Monday.

225

Today was a reading day, I read all day, and I tried all the rooms in my house too while doing it…
Took several breaks in between, one of which was a 45 min bike ride by the water…love those…
Will miss them too :frowning: One more week left… :frowning:

Shin has been hurting all day, even when walking. I iced three times today and experimented with taping it up (searched on line for the technique). I’ll try it tomorrow in practice and see if it helps.

226

Is it normal if my shin hurts all freaking day?
Answer this too if you can: For how long should anti-inflammatories be taken? Is it too much if I take them…ummm until June, per say?? :confused:

Practice went well (painfully well :frowning: thanks to my shin)
4 lap warm up, stretching, drills, 50m strides

2*(3*150m), with 50m walk between reps, and about 15minutes between sets.
My times were 20, ?, 21, and then 20, 21, 22. First time I do this workout with only 50m walk-rest. But I do like the long rest in the middle :slight_smile:

227

From what I gather Stefanie, you are still young. This means you have the time to sit around and do nothing if that is what it takes to heal your shin. I am not a doctor, but in my opinion you don’t want to have to take anti-inflams if you can help it. They just cover up the problem for the most part.

Are you icing? How long has there been pain? Do you do any barefoot training? Do you do your warm up and tempo on the grass? Do you perhaps need shoe inserts? Are you doing too much medium intensity volume (This was my problem when I had horrible shin splints)? 150m with 50m rest might be good if it is meant for special endurance and you only do 150m x 2 with 15-30 minutes rest in between, but to do 3 reps it too much with that sort of recovery. How old are you again and how long have you been doing track?

228

I’m 21, and been running track for the past year and a half. I come from a tennis background, but I just LOOOOOOVE track!!!
The thing is, the idea of sitting around and doing nothing just terrifies me. Last year I got stress fractures and couldn’t run for nearly two months and that was awful!! I was in the pool and on the bike every single day and got so sick of it after a while…don’t want to go through that again. Althouth it seems like I might have to, because last night I forgot to take my anti-inflammatory and my shin was hurting a lot and I couldn’t sleep. Then I took one and was able to finally fall asleep. :frowning:

This pain has been around for about two and a half weeks. At first it only showed up after practice, now it’s a lot more intense. It feels fine during my workout, it appears during the long break in the middle of the workout, then after practice it kills, and during the day I can feel it.
I’ve been icing about two to three times every day for about 25minutes, and I tried taping it in practice yesterday. Maybe that helped just a bit, but I don’t know…

I do my warm up on the grass, but that’s about it. I’m afraid to do barefoot running because I have a history with metatarsal stress fractures, and one thing that prevents those from me is wearing my orthotics.

We’ve been doing a lot of medium intensity-high volume lately, but we’re slowly getting into special endurance stuff (like 2*300m with 25min rest)

229

I’m upset, because my practices are looking better every time, but I can’t be glad about it becaue my freaking shin hurts some much. I can do the practices because the pain goes away at that point, but the pain that comes after kinda scares me; it goes all the way up to the knee and it hurts to walk. Now I’m icing icing icing…

Practice was 2*(3*200m), with 2min rest/rep, 20min rest/ set. Coach wanted them at 30sec,32sec,30sec and the way they came out was:

  1. 28sec, 30sec, 30sec
  2. 30sec, 31sec, 31sec

The very first one was done quite effortlessly and I was glad :slight_smile:

I need to fix my technique and everyone is telling me about this: coach and teammates. I swing my arms to the side. I think it’s from playing tennis all those years… :confused:

230

Can you get video of yourself and compare yourself to some elite sprinters? As you can see in the wonderful work of art below, the arms of this one elite sprinter are not straight front to back, but there is some out-to-the-side movement. Charlie says this helps the hips to move freely.

231

It is inevitable. You need to take some time off now or your body will MAKE you take time off! You should have taked a few days off right at the very beginning of the pain. You would more than likely be fine now. Live and learn. Get better, and then learn to listen to your body. You are still young so take your time.

This is because you are in a state of fight or flight. I am an ultimate fighter and when I am in a fight, I don’t feel much pain at all even when my face is a bloody mess (doesn’t happen often, but it has happened). This doesn’t mean my face isn’t cut up and bleeding, it just means that I can’t feel it at that moment. (it just feels sort of warm)

C’mon now! Don’t do another practice until the pain is pretty much gone. Does your coach now about this??

This sort of submaximal work will only increase the liklihood of stress type injuries. Speed work, maximal, real speed work will not give anyone shin splints. (Of course if the prescribed volume of a workout is too much during a pure speed session, then of course stress injuries can occur, but then again, if it is too much volume, the athlete isn’t going at maximal speed now are they?!! and therefore it can’t be called speed work).

It is good that you are icing. Use the anti inflams for the next few days then give them a break. Keep icing. Do pool workouts.

As far as the barefoot running is concerned…my athletes start with about 200m at the end of practice and work their way up to doing the warm-up and warm-down in bare feet. It takes time. Your shins need time to strengthen. They are the weak link at the moment. It is always the weak link that breaks, so take time, and get them strong.

With the sort of work you are doing, it is no wonder this is happening. Any other coaches around? I never like telling athletes to leave a coach, but if your coach knows you have pain (how can he/she not know if you can hardly walk after practice), then they need a kick in the pants. The second one of my atheltes tells me they have pain, we do something about it…usually ending the practice for the day.

232

The thing is…my coach doesn’t know about this. Actually if she found out that I have been in pain and haven’t said anything she would get quite upset with me…
This is my last week in Greece, Monday I’m flying to the States and then I’ll be working out alone for the next month (with workout from my coach here), until practices with my other team start again. I don’t mind doing pool workouts and working on the bike for a few days until this thing heals. I know this sounds extremely silly, but I just don’t want to tell my coach here anything and I want to finish practicing normally until this Friday (tomorrow is only weights). I’ve been with this team since July, and I really really don’t want to end my last week by doing nothing…how silly does this sound… :confused: Plus, I want to have another 400m test this Friday…so that doesn’t really count as a workout, does it?

I’m a very stubborn person…

233

Oooohh I see. I’m not sure to what extent I swing my arms to the side, but it definately feels a lot more comfortable than when I try to do it the way my coach tells me. I’ll try to make the comparison you mentioned. Thanks :slight_smile:

234

Weights make my shin feel better:
I deep back squated up to 60kg, for 10 reps and it felt good. Also benched pressed, but I struggled with 50kg…that didn’t go too well. Leg curls up to 40kg (10reps). Also did abs and hypers, and an arm thing with the bar.

Tomorrow I’m not going to practice. 1)want to give my shin a break, 2) I should spend time studying for finals.

I’m going to miss my Greek team soooo soooo much!!! :frowning:
Today my coach told me she’s never met such a devoted person like me in her life and that I’m something else… :slight_smile:

I drew up some track posters for all my teammates so the remember me and they loved them :slight_smile:

235

I went to practice today, and my shin was actually feeling better than before (of course that didn’t last too too long…).
Coach was unusually nice to me, and she gave me the workout to do until the end of February.
The workout for today was 350m, 2min rest, 100m, and then once more, after 20minutes rest.
Why is my knee hurting now? I’d say that my knee bothers me more than my shin.
This is how I ran my first 350m: the 200m was in 29sec, the 300m was in 45 sec. My last 50meters were done in 10 pathetic seconds while coach was screaming that I’m running them completely unpassionately (the last 50m that is…). I just don’t know how to push myself at that point… :confused: The 100m that came 2minutes later were just under 15sec: 14.90.

I rested and soon my knee and shin started hurting again (since they got cold again), so when I started warming up again for the second set and attempted some “limping” strides, the coach saw something was wrong and asked me, so I told her my shin has been bothering me and she said “sit down”, then she said it was wrong that I didn’t tell her anything before, I told her I get shin splints every year (which is true, but not really to this degree - by the way, didn’t tell the degree to the coach…) and she said I should have told her, cause I have meets coming up, and they could be at their worst during that period if I kept going. But really, my coach is really exaggerating about injuries; last year when another athlete had signs of shin splints, he didn’t run for 2 months…2 months!!!

So I didn’t do the second set, and for the first time didn’t even argue about it…

So I have my whole schedue in front of me for until the end of February. The meet in which I have to “peak” for indoor is Feb 18-19.
Let me know what you think:

For the next three weeks starting Monday, Dec 20:

Mon. warm up, stretch, drills, strides
(30m + 50m) * 3 sets
(3*150m) *2 sets, rest:1min or 50m walk

Tue. morning: 20-30min jog, WEIGHTS: arms (8-10reps)
evening: (3*200m) *2 sets, rest: 2 minutes, rest to set: 15-20min

Wed. morning: 20-30min jog , WEIGHTS: legs
evening: (30m-60m-80m-100m) * 2 sets with spikes (all out)

Fri. easy 20-30min, stretch

Sat. (350m + 100m) *2 or *3 sets

Sun. easy run, stretch, optional weights on legs

Fourth week ( Jan 10 - Jan 14-15):

Mon. 30min jog, WEIGHTS: arms (8-10reps)

Tue. (30m-50m-80m-100m) *2 sets, all out in spikes

Wed. easy 20-30min run

Thur. easy 20min run, strides

Fri-Sat. TRACK MEET

NOTE: The thing that I will definately change, are the 20-30min easy runs, which will be replaced by either tempo pool workouts or biking.

The rest of the season has one meet every weekend and it looks like this:

Mon. Jan 16: easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: arms
Tue. Jan 17: 2*(2*200m), 2min/rep, 15min/set
Wed. Jan 18: easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: legs
Thu. Jan 19: easy run, stretch, (30m-50m-80m-100m)2, 2min/rep
Fri. Jan 20: 2(350m+100m), 2min/rep, 20min/set
Sat. Jan 21: 20-30min easy run, stretch
Sun. Jan 22: same thing as Sat
Mon. Jan 23: TRACK MEET

Jan 24: easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: arms
Jan 25: (2*200m) *2, 2min/rep, 20min/set
Jan 26: easy run, WEIGHTS: legs
Jan 27: easy run, stretch, strides
Jan 28: TRACK MEET

I’ll post the rest another time. Again, all easy runs are going to be tempo pool or bike.

236

Here’s the rest of my training schedule:

Jan 29 20-30min easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: arms
Jan 30 WU, drills, strides, 2* (3150m)
Jan 31 WU, drills, strides, WEIGHTS: legs
Feb 1 easy run, drills, strides, 3 (30m-50m-80m)
Feb 2 WU, drills, strides, 2* (2*200m), 1min rest/rep, 20min/set
Feb 3 20-30min easy run, stretch
Feb 4 20min easy run, drills, strides
Feb 5 TRACK MEET

Feb 6 20-30min easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: arms
Feb 7 WU, drills, strides, 2*200m, w/15min rest
Feb 8 WU, drills, strides, (30m-50m-80m-100m)*2 or *3, w/spikes
Feb 9 30min run, WEIGHTS: legs
Feb 10 20-30min easy run
Feb 11 20min easy run, drills, strides
Feb 12 TRACK MEET

Feb 13 easy run, stretch, WEIGHTS: arms
Feb 14 WU, drills, strides, 350m+100m
Feb 15 easy run, stretch
Feb 16 easy run, drills, strides
Feb 17 easy run, drills, strides
Feb 18,19 TRACK MEET

237

I’m officially not doing ANYTHING that involves left leg activity for the next week (not even walking and stuff), only arm strengthening and core exercises/circuits, because my shin HAS to heal. Then the week after I’m finding my endurance by doing a lot of pool and biking and elliptical machine and then I’m getting on the track again and hopefully running a meet on Jan 22nd so I can be as ready as I can for my first official indoor meet for the season, Jan 28…
My coach here in Greece now knows all about my injury… I got a good yelling, and I actually got away with it quite well, just because I’m leaving tomorrow to the States and she will sure miss me… :o

Today I did weights, arms stuff; my last practice in Greece… :frowning:
Three sets of ten reps of the following:

pull downs, chin downs (not sure weights), machine shoulder press (30,40,40kg), abs, hypers, three way arm raises (5kg plates), lifting bar behind head (20kg bar), 40arm swings

238

I’m back in the States!!! :eek: I can’t say I was thrilled to see all the snow on the ground and then go outside and experience the -8degree Celcius grueling temperature, but I am sure happy to see the whole family again!! :slight_smile:

As I mentioned before, this following week will be total rest for my shin. It still hurts to walk and my knee bothers me a lot mostly. I will kill myself with core workouts though and everything I can do that won’t hurt my leg. When I came back yesterday (after an 11 hour flight) I did some tai bo with my sister (only upper body though). Tai bo is GREAT, but I kinda need my leg to do it (duuuh). I want to buy a pilates tape too. I hear that is some good stuff.

239

I seriously need a strong leg to go out there and do some sprinting…I’m going to go nuts…
And it still hurts to walk. :frowning:

Did a lot of abs today, some shoulder strengthening exercise and then went out and bought two tapes: a pilates tape which I just finished and thought it was all right and an intense core workout with medicine ball that I’m going to try tomorrow, once I put some air in my ball…

Shin, please heal!!!

240

I suppose this thing is healing, cause the knee doesn’t bother as much, nearly not at all, but shin still hurts.
My abs are sore from yesterday, did some more today with the big ball.
I need to do a good workout tomorrow where I actually sweat. I miss losing my breath over a workout…
How do I know when it’s time to start running again??? I don’t want to be wasting this “off-running” time, to start running again and then have the same problem… :confused: