I managed to walk and hike nearly ten miles a day when we were in Ireland with nary a problem other than exhaustion. On the penultimate hike I decided to cut out early after I noticed my right ankle flexing sort of weirdly in a pre-twist way. I came to the conclusion that taking a taxi to Kenmare was easier than proving my I don't know what by twisting my ankle on a remote path.

Once in Kenmare I cleaned up, took an Advil knock-off, and did the reverse 5-7km hike (back up the path into the hills between Kenmare and Killarney.

Again, no serious problems.

On the last day of the hike, the easiest hike, the you can do this hike with street shoes hike, I twisted my right foot. I was being careful, I even saw exactly where I twisted it, I planted my foot on what looked like grass, and was grass, but was over a 4 inch wide hole.

The rest of the day I took it mostly easy (made easy by taking a bus and train to get back to Dublin). Did minimal walking in Dublin. On our last full day in Dublin we did walk around a bit and my foot didn't bother me so I sort of let it fade from memory.

We got back to Brooklyn on Sunday the 11^th. On Monday I set out midday to retrieve Frisket from Monstermutt. I wasn't intentionally walking fast, but I got there in twenty minutes (it's almost exactly a mile from the house, so a whopping 3 mph there).

My legs felt a little funny. No real pain, just sort of letting me know they were there, they were not pleased to be walking this much this soon after the trip, and they'd get back to me.

Fast forward to today...keep in mind, I walk Frisket three or four times a day, ranging from a half mile to a mile or more each time.

We set out...she is not really into this walking thing (it's hot and humid out). So it takes us awhile to get to Monstermutt. I'm guessing 30-40 minutes, so not my normal 3mph pace.

My right shin is KILLING ME by the time we get to Monstermutt. It's speaking volumes, in a language known only as pain about this walk. And I have to walk back home (I could cheat and take the subway but nooooo. Not me.).

I manage to get to the Cadman Plaza P.O. where I need to check my P.O. Box for a week's worth of credit card offers. A break on the park benches near the PO doesn't really help, so I head home, if only to google my symptoms.

Am now sitting at home, resting my leg (the Advil seems to have taken effect) and am reading up on Shin Splints or Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome. Either...my legs (mainly my right leg) acclimated to the hiking, then de-acclimated and got peeved at my walking, or I've broken something. I'm choosing to believe that it's just normal shin splints and not a sign of a stress fracture (for now). I will feel goofy using the car to pick up Frisket later today but that seems to be better than risking some more severe an injury (apparently shin splints and twisting ankles are intrinsically tied together).