7:59 AP. Supposed to be 10 easy plus 2 hard. I noticed a little shin splint in my left leg, it is down on the lower lateral side of the shin, nowhere near where my stress fractures where. I have since poked, prodded, hopped off 2 foot walls onto concrete, bounced and bounded, and determined that it does not feel or act like a stress fracture. Impact does not hurt. Flexing my foot is what reproduces pain, and the pain disappears when I run fast because my footstrike moves forward and I don't flex as much. Still, it is there and it bothers me. I have been so careful. I have run easy, made sure I recovered, never pushed or gotten sore. Everything has felt great, I really haven't been sore at all, haven't pushed the envelope. It doesn't seem fair to have this. Anyways I ran my 10 easy and then mile 11 in 6:24, then kinda had a meltdown freaking out about the shin and shut it down and jogged in. No need to push mentally or physically. We shall see how it does with easy jogging and some ice the next few days. There is a chance it is just an ambulance bite, because I did notice a little scratch in the area. Sometimes I hit my legs and get bruises jostling in the back of the rig and don't notice until the next day. If that is so, then it is just a little hematoma under the skin that gets sore with jostling, and will go away quickly. I'm encouraged that impact is no bother, but discouraged that anything hurts at all. My plane tickets and entry fees to Saint George are non-refundable. I want to cry. | 