Shin splint injury - 7 weeks til Austin

I've encountered a minor obstacle on my mission to run sub-3 in Austin.

Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the 70-mile week as planned. I was right on track through yesterday afternoon. My valiant quest to 70 for the week ended in defeat as I was forced to cut yesterday's 22-miler short.

Rarely do I fail to complete a long run as scheduled, but yesterday was one of those days. I ran at the Morton Aboretum, which was the safest place to run after all of the flooding and weather issues we've had here in Chicagoland.

I was slightly tired going into the run. However, I felt like I'd get through it. I hit my first 13 at around 7:35 pace average and felt OK. The winds were brisk and I made a couple of stops back at the car along the way.

When I hit 15, I really started to drag. I didn't really feel the pain in my shin all that much at this point. However, I was struggling to run faster than the 8:10-8:15 range. I felt zapped. That was a sign. I completed 16 and headed to my car.

My plan was to drive home and hop on the treadmill to finish an easy six. However, when I was changing, I felt some pain in my lower right shin area.

I decided to go on the treadmill anyway. Right away, my form was disrupted by the pain and I couldn't run much faster than 8:25 pace without struggling. I called it quits right there after one mile.

Chalk up 65 for the week and a new challenge. I need to decide how to address this shin split condition in my right leg.

Here is this past week's recap:

Tue - 10 recovery miles total - avg pace: 8:40. AM: 5 miles recovery. PM: 5 miles recov.
Wed - 6 miles recovery
Thu - 12 miles total all on treadmill. 7 completed at 6:25 avg pace.
Fri - 15 miles total. 11 on treadmill - 4 outside. Rough avg pace 7:40.
Sat - 5 miles recovery
Sun - 17 total. 16 at Morton Aboretum - avg pace 7:41. Felt dead legs and slowed paced to 8:10 on final mile. Drove home. Tried treadmill but felt pain and quit after 1.

Weekly total: 65 miles

What has caused my shin pain? It could have been too much mileage on the treadmill and then rapidly moving back to pavement. It could have been also suddenly working on hills yesterday. Or it could have been the intensity of my LT workout coupled with high mileage. My schedule change that put the 12-miler and 15-miler back-to-back didn't help either. Most likely, it is all of the above.

I don't think it's serious. I had a planned rest day today. I plan to rest it tomorrow as well - maybe even Wednesday. Not sure yet.

I need to figure out how I can get to Austin healthy on race day and in the best condition possible.