Ray, here's a youtube video of a woman using the Nordic Track machine I'm referring to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrjoW--Qyw  There are tension adjustments for both the arms and legs and this thing will give you a full body workout that'll definitely get your attention when it's adjusted properly.  As you can see, it's designed to mimic cross country skiing and works quite well.

And yeah, my foot's feeling better.  I went for a 3 mile run on the railtrail today to see if I'm up to running a 5K on Thanksgiving day.  It's a race I've run every year since it's inception and I'd really like to run it Thursday if I can.  My foot complained a little, but I iced it after the run and will wait 'til tomorrow before making a final judgement.  If I run Thursday, it'll be with the goal to finish and not be last, but that'll be it.  Today's splits were 10:39, 9:43 and 9:40.

I wonder what's going on with your shin.  It's odd you would be experiencing shin pain with the kind of base you've built.  I doubt it's shin splints, but I wonder if a run on a soft surface would give you the same trouble.  Do you think it could be your shoes?

I think D.H. is running just 3 days a week now, so may miss a few posts, but I think he'll catch back up soon.