Monday, May 11, 2009

Calcium Cures Shinsplints

Last year my GI doctor told me to take 2x600 mg calcium with D twice a day because the acid reducers I'm on (permanently - thanks, 1997 surgery?) can reduce calcium uptake. I didn't have shinsplints when I ran years ago, and I probably pronated just as much then as I do now. In The Lore of Running, Tim Noakes suggests that shin pain can be caused by muscle tension on weak bones due to low blood calcium. Yes, it took some outdated running encyclopedia to save me from three years of pain. How's that for sad?

Running has been going so well, I hurt myself. Don't take that the wrong way - it had nothing to do with my shins. I strained a hip flexor (there are about six of them - take your pick) two weeks ago yesterday and took almost a week off. But yesterday I ran 14 miles!! The training chart above covers through today with the weekly and monthly totals, so I think we're covered for a mileage update. Below is the 14 mile route around Binghamton. Any local runners will know how hard the south side section is east of the University Plaza!


Technical question: Who can tell me how accurate Google Maps is when calculating mileages? I've done routes in ESRI ArcMap and they seem to be about 3.5% longer than GMaps. I'd trust ArcMap for geeky projection accuracy reasons, but I'd like to know for sure.

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