Unexpected rest day: Shin splints, sore calves, and maybe I hurt my left heel too

Do you know the hardest part of being a beginner runner?

No, it's not the injuries, that's the second hardest part.

The hardest part is following the plan and being patient.

I'm dying to run.

I want to run everyday and get really good at it. I want to be outside and work.

But that's not how it works.

I have to run every other day to slowly and gently build my base to avoid injury. So that's what I did, I followed the plan.

Except I found another way to hurt myself: Experimented with shoes and stretches.

1. The shoes: I had perfectly fine running shoes (Brooks Ghost 14). But of course I had to get all fancy and get a barefoot zero drop shoe (Xero Speedforce). The result? Shin splints and angry calves.
2. The exercise: I saw people on YouTube doing that exercise where they go on a stepper with their forefoot while their heels hang so they can stretch their calves. I tried doing it — the dummy way of course, wearing my Crocs — until I felt this scary pain on my left heel.

Beginners be warned: Once you find your one good beginner shoe, you have no business experimenting with other ones until you've put in some good miles. It's tempting, but leave it alone. Barefoot, carbon, maximalist... they're all bad news if you don't know what you're doing regardless of how much you think you do coz you've read all the articles and watched all the vids. And since you're a beginner, you really don't know what you're doing.

Fearing that I may have hurt myself more, I stopped stretching or whatever it was that I was doing.

So instead of going for a run today, I'm leaving my legs and feet alone.

Which sucks because I want to run.

That said, I'll just take this time to rest and also to get used to it. Not to the injuries, but to the fact that setbacks should be expected.

And I'm glad I'm making these mistakes now instead of later (half cope, half truth).

Take care of yourself out there.