Six good miles and one hurting shin

Today's run (street): 6.07 miles

Every time I have a bad run I fear that I'll never run well again. After yesterday's difficult time at Stillwell Woods I questioned whether it would make better sense to take two days off and resume my training on Tuesday. I've been away from the office for three days and while I've run each day I haven't really covered much distance. I wanted to reach 20 miles this week so I planned to go out for 5 miles that would get me to that number. It was 29 degrees on Long Island so I wore a light short sleeved running shirt under a Columbia long sleeve jersey and together they provided a perfect combination of warmth and wicking for that temperature. I followed a different set of roads than I normally do and before I knew it I had covered 2.5 miles and was feeling good. However, I began to notice some pain in my left shin. This may be a shin splint - I'm happy to say I've never experienced one before - but the pain was not intense and I didn't feel like I was doing any damage if I continued to run.

I shaped my route so that I would return to my house after 5 miles but I felt strong and continued on, following an extra loop that put my total at 6 miles. I'm icing my shin in hopes of heading off further troubles. I'm puzzled as to why I would develop this problem this week but you never know how these things start. I'll be watching this injury closely and perhaps take an extra day of rest this week. For now I'm pleased with my run today, especially after yesterday's bad experience.