Shins 17, This guy 1?

Mon: 40 mins aquajogging
Tue: Day off
Wed: 8 miles, 55:48
Thu: 2 mile w/u, 12.3 mile tempo. 1.7 mile c/d

Despite the shins feeling pretty decent on Sunday's long run, I was sufficiently concerned by a sore point on the shin when icing afterwards to get back in the pool for Monday's effort. And might actually maintain this routine for a couple of weeks at least as I got a better aerobic effort than running 7:45's for a recovery run and zero pounding.
Moved the day off to Tuesday from Wednesday a) because of the shins and b) I was getting a bone marrow aspiration that morning and didn't feel like attempting to run afterwards.
Wednesday was a test to see how training would progress over the next couple of weeks. A positive result from the shins would mean getting back in the saddle while any pain would mean at least a week of no running and no 10 miler next week. Thankfully the shins were fine; a couple of niggles and barks out of them occasionally during the run but nothing to worry about. Felt pretty happy about this and feel comfortable enough to continue training.
This morning I headed out to the park for a 2-lap tempo. Forgot to steal borrow the HR monitor from the lab on my way out last night but knew the pace I was looking for. Last year did this run in 73:47 which was bang on 6 minute pace, but had a bit of a struggle with it late on (mainly due to pints the night before as Churchill was in Ireland that week). Starting out today I could tell the legs felt good. Felt very relaxed in my running and was clicking off the miles nice and steadily. Passed through the 1st lap in 36:15 (5:55 pace) and felt very good. Probably pushed the 1st two miles of the 2nd lap a bit too hard up the hill as it was the only stage I really had any tiredness in the legs. Picked up 5 seconds on the 1st 2 miles compared to the first lap, another 5 seconds from 2-4 but then lost about 5 on the 5th mile. Finished nice and strong though with a ~5:40 last mile for a 35:58 2nd lap and 72:13 overall. Very pleased with how this felt as it was as relaxed as marathon pace should be, and the shins were fine throughout. They tightened up a bit during the cool down, but since finishing the run and ice-cupping they're feeling fine. Might this be the first time I get it right? Not getting ahead of myself but feeling confident. Going to aquajog again tomorrow just to be safe, but feeling content right now.

In other slightly-running related news, while at the hospital on Tuesday I decided it might be a good idea to get my cholesterol checked along with the other tests I was getting done. Last time I did was 2 years ago just after I got back from Abu Dhabi with a huge beer gut and zero fitness. Then it was on the high side at 5.2, but figured since the diet has improved and I'm back running it should have come down. Uh uh. 5.4. Shitballs, need to revamp the diet as this is pretty shocking (normal range is 3-5). Breakfast fries at the weekend are the first to go, and will be trimming the fat (literally) from the diet over the next few days.