lazy student takes up jogging (again)

Jay Pentatonic

Hey!
I've experimented with jogging before, but the longest I ever kept it up was about 6 months.
I always end up quitting, mainly because of me being sick of shin-splints (I hate those things:mad:)
but, to be honest, I think I constantly got them because of me being completely clueless about warm ups/warm downs. I usually did about 20 minutes of streches & then just headed off:eek:...should I be doing something else?

I'm hoping to do the "Tom Brennan Memorial New Years Day 5km", it's the first time that I'm actually going to enter a race, so I hope this'll encourage me not to quit:)
*FINGERS CROSSED*:cool:

Slogger Jogger

Good luck Jay. I never got shin splints myself but I'm lax at stretching too and its never really impacted me. Have you got physio advice? Seek professional advice before you start. It could be your running shoes for instance, so you could try gait analysis (amphibianking in Bray for instance) Perhaps someone who encountered shin splints can give observations without being prescriptive.

BeepBeep67

I'm a Shin Splints sufferer and normally when I'm coming back after a bit of a lay-off. Good shoes, soft surfaces and try to focus landing on your midfoot, ensuring your centre of balance is neutral or slightly forward. I usually find once my weight gets back in check I'm fine.
Obviously if it's persistent you should get it checked out by someone who's qualified.

Jay Pentatonic

Hey guys, thanks for the support!:)

Slogger jogger you're so lucky never to have shin splints!!!
I actually just bought new shoes about 6 months ago, I thought they were ok, but I'll have a better look at them now, I'll also check out that shop in bray,;) cheers for the tip!

as regards to getting checked out, I never actually have been:o I always thought having shin splints wasn't a big enough problem to go to a physio, guess I was wrong there!:rolleyes:
beep beep, you say it's best to run on soft surfces?, I always just run on the footpath, so should I be running on grass or something? or are you talking about the base of the shoe?:pac:

Jay Pentatonic

Had my first jog in about a week, since I was going easy on my legs 'cause of the old shin splints:rolleyes:.

This run was my first ever 7k, I didn't take note of my time because my main goal was just to finish it in one piece, which I did, so I'm in a good mood!!:cool:

best of all, I spent loads of time streching & warming up/down, so shin splint wise, I feel great!!:)

Bally8

Thats great jay, well done on the 7k. I used to suffer from shin splints too. I think it happened because I tried to do too much too soon. For about 2 Januarys in a row I took up running and was couch bound by the end of the month due to shin splints. 2 years ago when I took up running yet again I eased into it with a run/walk programme and they havent bothered me since (plenty other running related injuries but you dont need to hear me go on about them here)

Jay Pentatonic

Thanks for the support Bally, you're right easing into it really does help!

Anyway, to all joggers out there, I found a good site that helps you calculate your distance, http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Turns out I actually ran 8k instead of 7!!! :cool:

Jay Pentatonic

My left leg is a little sore today, don't know if I'll take today off or not.
I'll do some streches & warm ups later today, see how I feel & then decide...

Jay Pentatonic

the soreness wore off & I did the 8k again, probably be regretting it in the morning.
All went well during the run, didn't feel heavy or anything & I finished it in 43 minutes.

I won't be doing any jogging until Wednesday because I have to catch up on some work that I ended up not doing over the weekend:D

Jay Pentatonic

Had a fu:eek:king sh*te day in college today, everything in my presentation went wrong, & I was very tempted to skip todays run...

...but I did 8k in 43 mins again:D

GO ME!!!!:cool: