not quite queen of the mountain

i'm back from a long, but sweet, weekend in the mountains with friends. we had a scandalous bachelorette party/girl's weekend for my former running buddy kt, and rented a cabin, went hiking, played some bachelorette-type games... (it wasn't really scandalous at all as we did not hire chippendale's dancers. sorry, no male stripper photos.)


this past friday was unfortunately a working friday. (the off friday's are just so much better for some reason...) i wanted to get up and run in the morning because i needed to run errands during lunch and then had to leave for the mountains, so it was really the only time i had. well, of course, i missed my alarm. go figure. i wasn't sure if i'd be able to run saturday so i really didn't want to skip friday's run. i ended up packing a lunch and clothes and ran during my lunch break, and took a mid-afternoon field trip to run errands. (oh darn)

it was a warm 62* and sunny with a little breeze, just a bit different than the snow fall we had 5 days prior. although i'd eaten cereal for breakfast and oatmeal for mid-morning snack/breakfast, i got that weak, low-blood sugar feeling about 2.5 to 3 miles into the run. that feeling really sucks, some days i get it and some days i'm fine.

friday (3/6) lunch run: 7.1 miles, 1:01:52 (avg pace 8:42), avg hr (162)

driving up to the mountain house we discovered that it was in a great (safe) area and decided we were definitely going to run saturday morning. you never know 'round these parts, some of the mountain folk are... different. there was about a 5 mile loop around (part of) the lake and our cabin was a mile uphill from the road that went around the lake. it was quite hilly, and the girls i ran with are used to pancake flat, beach terrain, but we made it and didn't get lost which was probably the bigger accomplishment.

saturday (3/7) am run: 6.75 miles, 59:11 (avg pace 8:46), avg hr (165)

after the run i headed back out with another friend who had slept in a bit and wanted to go for a walk. i walked a hilly 3.3 miles with her and my shins hurt pretty much the whole time. terrific. i'm the only person who runs regularly on hills and i get shin splints. not fair. after we all ate breakfast and showered, we headed out to go hiking. (also good for the shins...) we wandered up and down the mountain for 4.4 miles round-trip (according to the map) on a trail that claimed to have a waterfall.


you might be able to see that white speck in the middle that kind of looks like smoke. that's the waterfall. you hike 2.2 miles thinking you'll get to a waterfall at the end, only to find out you get to view the waterfall from 19 miles away. spectacular.

we get back to the cabin to hang out for the night and really start the bachelorette festivities and my legs were stiff. aren't i supposed to be the one in shape? aren't i supposed to be the one used to hills? i iced my aching shins and knew i probably wouldn't be getting in my sunday long-run once again. all-in-all, i did get in over 14 miles saturday and i'm counting it all to make myself feel better. i woke up sunday morning and my butt was sore! all the other girls felt fine. again, they all live in flat areas and/or don't run. not fair again. on top of my aching shins and sore behind, i was also extremely tired. i got a decent amount of sleep both nights (seriously, not a scandalous weekend) but i struggled to stay awake until bed time.

sunday (3/8) non-run: skipped another day thanks to pains in my shins and rear. (shins more so than butt.)

my april runner's world was waiting for me when i got back home and i saw that there is an article about shin splints. how perfect. i'm going to need to make myself do those exercises. i guess after 7+ months of no pains or injuries i was bound to get something. i think you can still run with shin splints though? (or in my case, you can still run through anything. not really recommended. listen to your body!)