Recovery

I made use of the Holy Week break to build up on my weekly distance from 20+km to around 30+km. The problem was that I developed shin splints on my right lower leg and felt it on Easter Monday. After reading up on it, I decided to take a break from running for the week. I also decided not to run so much in my neighborhood to avoid shin splints coming back. According to Runner's World, my shin splints could have been caused by too much hill runs or the sudden increase in mileage since I had so much time to run during the Holy Week. Anyway, by Wednesday, the pain was gone and just to play it safe, I scheduled my next run on the next Sunday.

While I normally would do 5 rounds easily around the UP Academic Oval, that Sunday, I had to work hard for it. I had to rehydrate after my 3rd round and I was slugging it out on the 5th.

Then last week, I was not able to run at all partly because of work and partly because of the strange rainy weather. So when my running buddies said they were running on Saturday, I decided on running 6.6km with them around the UP Oval just to get back into the groove. After 2 rounds, my whole body was complaining and so I went as far as 2 and a half and then I decided to call it a day.

I couldn't understand it. Around 5.5km was all I could do after all that rest!

Anyway, my run this morning was a bit better. After my run yesterday, my legs were a bit stiff as they were getting used to running again. I chose to run in the Ateneo campus just to have a change in routine. I did 7.5km along the main road of the school and felt good after it. I met some really good friends along the route and I wished I had spent more time to talk to them. On my way back to the car, I decided to take a scenic route through the school's lagoon and I loved it so much, I had to turn off my mp3 player to savor the experience of walking through a man-made forest with the sound of cicadas overwhelming me.

I realized how beautiful the school is and that I should run here more often. Maybe I can convince my running buddies to try out this route.