What do you think?

I'm going to see the Dr. in the a.m. Swelling has really started to increase in the last several days. I'm not running at all and yet, it appears to be getting worse. I'm thinking something has to be cracked or torn. I guess we'll see.

not exactly what i was thinking.

well, it's been 9 days since my last post. 9 days since i last laced them up and tried hit the trail, only to be sidelined. unfortunately, it hasn't been 9 days of healing. it seems that even without running, my shin and knee pain have continued (mostly my shin) with the last couple of days resulting in swelling on my lower shin. it basically throbs all day and even hurts when i don't have any pressure on it. the few times i've taken a quick step or landed harder than usual, it has shot a pretty sharp pain up my leg. so, i guess it's time to get to the doctor. i guess i'll try to get in and see somebody in the next few days. i don't really know what to figure that it is so i won't speculate. hopefully, the diagnosis will be another week off and then a slow mileage build back. wishful thinking maybe...we'll see.

as far as the rest of things go, i guess life is pretty ok. the bankruptcy continues to move toward a 12/31 finish which hopefully means that the uncertainty of employment can go away. you know, it's funny, in spite of the situation we are in, i really have yet to contemplate whether or not this will work out or not. i think i have just been working off the assumption that it would as the alternative would be a bit life changing. as i think about this now, i guess i should have probably been working on a backup plan all this time. but then again, it has been bathed in prayer and so maybe it is not all that uncertain after all.

there is still no doubt that God is doing some really neat things around me. many of the circles that i move in and around have been a real blessing in my life lately. through church, sunday school, my Man Time group, God has been taking us in a direction of being much more aware of His desire for our lives and certainly the accountability that he wants for us. as a family, we are moving into some interesting times where the kids are growing up and being faced with their first run ins with peer pressure and learning that it is ok to be different, to go against the grain. i'm scared out of my wits as my girls get older (12 & 10 now) and ed, jr (8) begins to reveal more of himself and the character that he has developed so far. it seems that we are already running out time when it comes to that parental fingerprint that we would like to leave with them. mostly, i wonder with the time that we have left, what is needed to ensure that they understand how important it is to know Jesus? to know right from wrong? to be confident enough not to be persuaded by to do something stupid by the logic the world will throw at them? man, it's overwhelming! but God is good and He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! Lord help me translate that into a vibrant relationship for my children with you.

My Shin is Splinted!

Starts and stops. Work related, life related, injury related. This attempt of mine to become a runner, not just a hobby jogger, but a runner...marathon competitor...weekly distance goal achiever...limit pusher....i guess you get the idea, has been filled with fits of starts and stops. And this latest may be the toughest of all. My old friend, Mr. Shinsplint, appears to have come back with a vengeance.

Since I have not posted in a while, you wouldn't know that I have been getting my mileage back up, tackling decent length runs and pushing things a bit trying to get back from my earlier layoff in October and early November. So much have I been working at it that in the last couple of weeks of November, I got in 60 miles (I know what you're saying, "That's your problem, Ed"...I know). But everything was hunky dory until my three day running streak that saw 12.25 on 11/28, 12.01 on 11/29 and then a nice recovery 5 miler (turned 4 miler with .85 mile walk) on 11/30. After running my 12's on Sat. and Sun. Timm and I decided to get in a recovery style run on Monday night. I felt great as we started out...Then fairly suddenly, about 3.5 miles in, my right shin and knee started to throb on every footfall. After trying to run through it for the next half mile, it got to the point where I was worried that on my next step, my leg might buckle and send me tumbling...So I stopped. First time in my running life that I didn't finish a run running. Got home, iced everything that hurt, took ibuprofen, slept, almost fell on my first step out of bed the next morning (and the next 2 mornings after that), finally felt a bit recovered by Friday (still some tenderness in my shin, but the knee was good), talked with Timm and decided to get a run in on Friday night before the cold weather hit. Well, we met out at the marina at Lake Oliver to get a river walk run in, bundled, leggings, 45F and falling, but ready to go. I run a 1/4 mile and my shin is killing me (knee is fine)...stop stretch some more...run another 1/4 and I can't bear the pain and have to stop again. Timm goes on (he got a new Forerunner so he was pumped to use it), I again walk back to the truck (more dejected than i have ever been about running and about anything else for that matter).

So now, here I sit, later on that same Friday evening...fire in the fireplace, leg elevated, iced (or at least frozen pead), wondering when I'll get to run again. My January marathon hopes are gone. I plan to take at least the next week off...debating going to see if I have a stress fracture, but not really wanting to find out either...and then I guess we'll see.

What I know is this, starts and stops are part of life...but they are a lot easier to recover from when they are of your own doing...Shin splints in the past may have been a welcome reason to stop running and start being normal again, but this time, it just sucks! Injury is one of those things that comes without warning and disrupts until it is resolved...I guess I'll take my bike down and get it tuned up...looks like I'll need some non-impact exercise here for a while.

Summary: God is good, Injury sucks, I love my family. (It all makes sense in the end).