One of those days.

It was one of those runs last night. When the breathing is hard, everything hurts, you question why you want to keep going. The three miles I put in were slow and painful, I finished at a slow 27:00. Yup, this morning it happened again, but not until about three miles in. The last two miles were torturous. My shins hurt, my legs were barely moving and I felt like I was so incredibly far away from my house. I knew I was much overdue for a crap run but man, I forgot how awful they are. Oh well. Tomorrow morning is a short three miler and then this weekend Saturday and Monday I hope to get in some miles at least 12-15. Hopefully my crappy runs are over.

I have realized that in order to reach my goal of running 500 miles for the year (I know you crazy people have run WAY more than me! I'm jealous, but I didn't run as consistently as I am now until July.) I have to put in about 30 more miles. Shouldn't be too hard, but I know I'm going to die of frostbite when I run up in Northern California when I go to visit Mr. R's family for four days.

Speaking of shins hurting, that's what the Gift of the Day is! My cousin has started running latley and is really beginning to enjoy it. She did the Couch to 5k plan, and is improving a lot! I am proud of her. Anyways, she has really bad shin splints and way back in the day (when google wasn't born yet and Al Gore was still perfecting the Internet) her basketball coach told her about these lovely little things called Shin Ice. It's a neoprene like sleeve that you slip over your ankle onto your shin. It has ice packs sewn inside the sleeve in pouch like form and a little area that your calf fits into too. I was skeptical myself of these contraptions but the other night at dinner she opened the package and I saw how these little babies could be VERY helpful for those who suffer from shin splints. They also seemed durable and the pack was very well sewn in, and for throwing it in the freezer I think it would be perfect.

Now, I know, I know, ice baths (eeek my worst enemy) are the way to go, but this, when you need a quick treatment after a shorter run can be super helpful and the material they are made from seem to be able to take a beating as well. It's almost like a wetsuit material and once slipped onto the leg it will also give compression, and that's also super helpful when it comes to dealing with shin splints. You do have to measure your calf to get the right size, but it seems like a perfect gift for those who are plagued with shin splints.

There are lot of different places to get these magical things online, and I've included the links and prices below for each place.

Footsmart - $19.99 each leg

Amazon.com - $12.89 each leg

Support USA - $26.00 each leg

AliMed - $20.50 each leg

MedEx01 - $13.53 each leg

xoxo