Shin Splints, Compartment Syndrome, Charlie Horse, Oh My!

I'm a big fan of recovery days, have been ever since I started swimming for Justin Jennings, Coe Swimming Head Coach Extraordinaire. He probably wouldn't agree, but I swear on my stickers that the recovery days are few and far between.

But when it comes to running, how do I know when to recover? If it's not broke, don't fix it, right? That seemed to work out well enough until recently, when a couple short runs in a row had my legs cramping up like leg cramps were going out of style.

The feeling was foreign to me- it wasn't a sharp pain that usually comes with a cramp. It felt like my muscles were just getting so tight they couldn't move. I expect the calf cramping- that even happens in swimming- so naturally it'll hang around for the higher impact sport too!

The feeling on the front of my legs? That one isn't explained away so easily. Could be shin splints- I read a handy dandy article on WebMD in an attempt to self-diagnose. But I am in denial about that one. My current theory is that I'm just not recovering correctly.

Runner's World had an interesting article on the subject:

Your Best Rest

Essentially, stretching, eating right, icing, resting- all of the basics are explained in the article, as well as when to do each, and how long. Pretty interesting stuff.

It fit in pretty well with what my training plan has laid out- don't take a recovery day after a long run day. Oopsy! I did that two weeks in a row- maybe that explains the cramps?

The recovery day can come before a long run though- something I was curious about. However, some kind of physical activity was encouraged, even on a recovery day, even if that activity didn't involve running. Enter, cross-training!