Let me preface this post with the following public confession: I am not an athlete, not by any conceivable stretch of the imagination. Phew! Glad we are all clear on that. Yet here I found myself, contemplating a half marathon and a shin splint. One the result of spousal finagling and the other the result of a blatant disregard for the performance of new running shoes. Mental note, new running shoes should not cause random, never had before blisters. It’s not a “new shoe” thing.
So there I was, a week out from my first half marathon, having scrapped my training for pool workouts. What’s a girl to do? Look to the internet for a miracle cure, and that is what I did. Enter KT Tape at stage right. www.kttape.com
KT Tape is the black stuff you saw on the shoulder of Cary Walsh. The reviews I read were inspiring. I bought the tape at a local sporting goods store with no small amount of skepticism. Their website is very informative. They have instructions for taping all sorts of injuries. The night before the half, I watched the shin splint video a bunch of times and then taped up my right shin.
My first try was a total dud. I wasn’t sure of much about this product, but I was pretty certain it wasn’t supposed to cause additional discomfort. So off went my first try. I was kinder and gentler on my second try and that seemed to do the trick. Which means the tape was no longer pulled so tight that it hurt, but what benefits I was receiving were still fuzzy.
Fast forward to race day. My plan was to run until I could see a rest stop and walk to and through the rest stop, run again and repeat. Well, I felt pretty good, so good that while I did slow down at most of the rest stops, I probaly only walked about 3 miles as opposed to the 6 or so miles I figured I would. A lot of body parts hurt by the end of that race, and I certainly didn’t set any land speed records, but here is the weird thing. My shin didn’t hurt much at all.
So either this stuff works or I’m completely mental. These two things may not be mutually exclusive.
