So What's Up?

So, what's been going on?  Yes, it's been a long time.  For 2012 I had several marathons on my calendar after completing Comrades.  Chicago in October, and New York in November.  I was training hard to hopefully go for a P R in Chicago.  While in Las Vegas for a family reunion in late July, I was doing my 3rd run in a row.  I had run 12, 15, and was running 11 this day.  Around mile 9 my shin began to hurt.  I walked for a few minutes and there was no pain.  So I started running again, and immediate pain.  Fortunately I was near my hotel, so I just walked there and figured I'd take a couple of days off.  Back in Oklahoma after a few days I tried to run again.  pain within 1/2 mile.  I knew something was wrong, and thought I had a stress fracture.  Doctor did MRI and the diagnosis was "shin splints."  However, shin splints is a generic term for several different injuries.  More specifically mine was "medial tibial stress syndrome."  Chicago, out, New York, out.  To be fair, I was told I could run these, but not well, and that I might set my running back a few more months.  Not what I wanted, so I bit the bullet and pulled out of both marathons. I took physical therapy for 2 months and cross trained by riding a bike. I ran 3 miles in August, about 80 in September, and bit by bit built back up to over 200 in January.  My first race back was a small 5k in which I ran in the 24's.  I was ok with that because it was very windy and the course was hilly.  I ran a Turkey Trot 5k and pulled it down to a high 22.  I ran a 1/2 marathon in December under 1:45 and figured I was ready for a marathon.  That will come February 24 in New Orleans.
Much more has been going on, but this is hopefully a first step in starting back to write in my blog.
Stay Tuned !