Why must my body do this to me?!?!

Or, maybe it's the other way around...why must i do this to my body? Kind of by accident, kind of due to holiday parties, i took off from running the entire last weekend. I prefer not to go more than 1 day without running, so 3 days off was just unacceptable for me. And that's probably why my body replied with such evilness and revenge. I hopped back on the treadmill Monday night, and it felt really great. Shins did great, pace was great, and I ran 4.25 miles in 35:00 (which seems to be my new favorite thing). Everything was going great until i stepped off. OUCH, ouch, OUCH! My left shin, whom i have named Luci (short for Lucifer) was practically screaming at me to cut off my own lower leg. So began my 3 day limp. In retrospect, i did this to my body by taking 3 days off and then hitting it hard. Luci was not a big fan of my new training schedule and he let me know that. It hurt to walk, so i resorted to spending some quality time with the elliptical machine on tuesday, which i don't mind but i feel like i'm not getting as good of a workout on that thing. So Thursday i knew i needed to work out but Luci was still upset at me so i let him play on the elliptical machine for half hour. I spotted an open treadmill and hopped on it, knowing of the impending doom, but choosing to ignore it. I told myself i would try to run 10 minutes and see how the shins felt. Started off at a 9:30 pace and there was definite pain, but i kept on jogging. 10 minutes passed and i told myself i'd run 10 more at 9:00 pace. By the time i hit 15 minutes, the pain was gone and i was running on at 8:30. I ended up doing 3.75 miles in 35:00 and i stepped off the treadmill and lo, and behold....no pain!! It was like Christmas had arrived early. I guess sometimes i just need to have a 'down and dirty' fight with Luci and show him who's the boss. That's right, ME....I'm the boss.