14.0 - How I am trying to prevent an injury

This winter has been pretty mild and I have been absolutely loving it and taking advantage of it especially when it comes to running. Since I have been training for my marathon coming up in May it has been convenient that there has not been much snow. According to my schedule I was to run 14 miles today. I was freaking out a little last night because it has been snowing on and off the last few days and was still snowing throughout the night last night. I knew I wasn't going to be able to run outside so when I woke up I headed to the gym. There was no way I was going to be able to run all 14 miles on the treadmill so I decided to break it up into sections: 6 miles on the treadmill, 4 miles on the gym tack, 4 miles on the treadmill and DONE. Thankfully my friend ran the first 10 miles with me. As we were running we were talking about what we feel like when we run. Sometimes I feel like a pro runner with the wind behind me and other times I feel like I am dragging. In all reality this picture pretty much sums it up:

Ha ha. This picture makes me laugh because it is so true.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago my shins started to bother me. I was worried that it might be my new shoes and that I would have to try out a different pair of shoes (I had just purchased them 2 weeks prior to the pain). I talked to my aunt who goes to an amazing physical therapist who gave her some tips to give to me:

Ice
Stretch- But don't over stretch

And then I found more tips online:

If you have to continue running (which I definitely did and still do) then wrap the shin with an ace bandage when you run.
Ice - on 15 minutes, off 15 minutes, etc.
Ibuprofen afterwards to reduce swelling - not before
Stretch

And my own tidbits: TAKE advantage of your rest day. For the longest time I was not resting on my rest days. Since my mileage has increased so much I absolutely need those rest days for my body to recover. I guess I was just worried about not exercising but I think it is better to rest than not at all... and my legs really need the rest!

Sports cream & massage the area: Not sure if sports cream really does anything but it sure feels good to massage my aching shin with it.

After trying all these things my shin has not been bothering me. (Except for today but I think that was because I didn't rest properly this week) Crossing my fingers that I can prevent injury as long as I listen to my body and take care of myself. I'm just glad that tomorrow is a cross training day and then a rest day... hallelujah!

XOXO,
WHITNEY