Jogging is one of those activities that you either love or you hate. If you love it then you’ll be pretty motivated most of the time, will look forward to your runs and to be honest you’ll probably get the most from your time and effort.

If jogging is something that you don’t really enjoy and you’re simply doing it to get a little fitter or to lose some weight, then you’ll more often than not find excuses and reasons why you can’t go jogging that day.

No matter what you think about jogging, it’s still very important to your overall progress that you’re consistent and continually trying to improve. Without doing it regularly you won’t achieve either of these outcomes.

Sometimes however you might not feel like going jogging for a very good reason such as you’re a little tired or not feeling very well.

On these occasions you need to make an honest judgement about why you don’t feel like jogging that day. Is it because you just can’t be bothered or is there another reason. Here’s a list of situations where you’d be better off simply getting on with things and going out for your jog.

• Heavy legs or aching muscles. If the aching or tiredness is only slight then just grin and bear it
• Headache’s shouldn’t necessarily stop you from going jogging unless you intend to have a particularly tough session
• A common cold is no reason not to jog, but again don’t push yourself to your limits
• Feeling tired is something we all go through especially in the fast paced lives most of us lead

Here are some of the times when you really do need to take a day off…

• If you feel any sharp shooting pains around any of your joints
  
• If you have any inflammation around any joints
• If you have a virus
  
• Any pain in your chest
• If you’re suffering from sickness or diarrhoea
  
• Immediately after an illness which has left you feeling tired and drained

Many times you may not have serious symptoms of any of the above but you still might not feel 100%. Unfortunately that is life for many of us. You won’t always feel on top of the world and will have to do your jogging slightly under par.

It’s very important that unless you really aren’t capable of jogging on a scheduled day, you do some form of exercise. Something as simple as a leisurely stroll would be enough as it keeps you focussed on your goals and stops you from feeling that you’ve failed in your mission.

One of the most common problems that beginner runners face is the problem of sore shins. Even with the most organised of approaches it is still a potential problem that many newbie’s have to work around.

The main problem is that the muscle in question, the Tibialis Anterior is a very small muscle and not used to having to work so hard so quickly. The main role of this muscle in to dorsi flex the ankle (pull it upwards) but in the majority of people it’s a very weak and under used muscle which is often very fast to fatigue or worse still go in to cramp.

When this happens you’ll notice the area almost feels swollen as it fills with blood in an attempt to clear away waste lactic acid and start repairing the damaged fibres.

This can also sometimes happen to the back of the shins/calf muscles for the exact same reasons.

If you’re suffering from either of these problems, there is good and bad news. The good news is that it’s fixable, the bad news is that you’ll need to change your approach slightly.

IF this is a problem that you’re faced with, you need to do 3 things…

Firstly rest for a few days up to a week. You really need to wait until the feeling of tightness has gone completely. If you try to start running again too soon, you won’t need to go far at all before you start getting the same tightness and soreness as before. So Firstly you need to rest.

Secondly after the swelling/pain has gone away, you need to start strengthening the area and you can easily do this by doing this simple exercise.

The pictures here show the exercise being done using a fit tube or exercise band, tied around the leg of a desk. It’s best if this is done whilst seated as you can better concentrate on the movement without worrying about balancing.

Keeping your heel on the floor, simply pull your toes up towards you as high as you can, until you feel an ache down the top of the foot. Pause for a moment at the top and squeeze, then lower slowly and repeat.

I suggest you do 3 sets of 15 repetitions to begin with and build up from there up to 25 repetitions or increase the resistance on the tube or buy a thicker one instead.

I would also suggest doing some stretches to re-lengthen the tightened muscle. This can also be done during a run if you notice the shins getting tight again.

Finally you need to reduce the amount of work that these muscles have  to do when you run, until they have become much stronger. And you should do this by building up very gradually.

I recommend that you try using intervals of 2 minutes of very slow walking followed by 30 seconds of slow jogging. Try not to pull up your toes too high as you stride forwards as this is the movement that aggravates the situation much more.

This may seem a little daunting, going back to such a low level of effort, especially if you’ve managed to build up a good level of fitness. But it’s only a temporary step. Once you’ve recovered and strengthened up the Tibialis Anterior, you’ll be ready to move forwards again with your training.