It's been a busy week at work, plus werewolf, so I haven't had quite as much time for working out as I'd hoped. I've crammed in a short lifting session on Monday and Wednesday evenings and about 15 minutes of running on a treadmill on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm hoping to go 20 minutes or more of jogging today, plus lifting, but it's looking less and less like that will happen. I'll make sure I get in something though.
Despite the fact that I haven't worked out all that much, I've had really bad shin splints the day after my runs. It's gotten to the point where I might even go buy some orthotics. I've found them helpful in the past, so maybe they'll be worth it again. Can't let a little pain keep me from pushing through.
Diet has been solid this week. Several meals of soup, which tends to cut down on total calories. No soda or eating out, per the Lenten resolution, and that's been really good. I'm still sitting at about 5 pounds lost.
Losing weight will help shin splints, but jogging is probably the worst thing for them. Walking would reduce the pounding, but if you could somehow manage to use a stationary bike, that would be much better. An elliptical also would be helpful.
I don't have access to either of those machines right now, but I'm not huge fans of them anyway - I don't get (or at least I don't feel like I get) as good of a workout on them. They'll probably fade in another few weeks too - at least that's what has happened in the past. That said, thanks for the suggestions!
I've read that shin splints are actually the result of taking strides that are too long, not from the pounding. I'm not sure if that is true or not.
Not sure about shin splints, but the half-marathon training program I did last year emphasized shorter, faster strides (180 bpm) - much less stress on the feet, and more endurance for the long haul. If you run with music, they suggested downloading music that is at that pace.
Today was the first time I had done standing tabatas in spinning. Wow!
For cross training last Sunday, I went to Bikram Yoga (in Glastonbury). Hadn't been there a while (and I paid for it).
For those of you that haven't tried it, it's a 90 minute yoga class in a room heated to 105F - there are 26 different postures, all designed to stretch out or strengthen different body areas. Your heart really gets racing, and if you are new to it you can almost pass out.
I typically sweat 5-6 lbs of water during the class (but get it back right away after rehydration). A good purge of toxins, and I always feel clean and refreshed afterwards.