Forums >Health and Nutrition>Shin Splints, and over training?
Good Morning,
I am an ultra runner and my weekly average is around 50-60 mpw. Three weeks ago I ran a 50K. I tapered well and felt great during and after the race. I took a few days off and since I have come back, it has been a bit of a struggle. I have a shin splint in my left leg that gets better and worst. I hit 50 miles last week, but felt comepletly beat afterwards. This week I have only run 20 miles and it was a bigger struggle than usual.
Being an ultra runner, it is hard for me to stop running, but my training partner has convinced me to take a few days off.
Does anyone have any thoughts?
ANy advice for shim splints?
You ran a 50K on 50-60 miles per week. You are beat up because you ran a 50K on relatively low mileage then probably tried to get back to it too soon--though it depends somewhat on how long you've been averaging 50-60 miles a week (a whole year? two? more?).
I've been running about that much recently (with weeks up to 90 in the past), and I ran a half this weekend. I sort of felt like hell for three days. I'm still not 100% and don't expect to be for at least a few more days, if not a week.
My last ultra (50 miler) messed me up for a whole month.
Connective tissue takes time to heal. Give it time. Run easy, easy, easy. Cross train. Rest. Go for walks. Walking helps my recovery a lot, and my dog loves it.
(By the way, I'm running a 50K at the end of this month, on relatively similar average mileage--I'm expecting to hurt like hell for a while. That's the game. I should have ran more this winter :-P)
"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." Emil Zatopek
Some general advice from someone who suffered from chronic shin splints for 10+ years, but have managed to keep them at bay for the last three years.... you need to train easy, if you feel like you are running slow enough you probably should slow down more to the point where you KNOW you are going slow enough. For me that meant slowing from a 7:00 min training pace to 10:00+. That was hard to accept, but as long as you are getting consistent mileage, regardless of pace, you won't lose fitness as your body recovers.
Walk-Jogger
I started getting shin splints a couple of years ago when my weekly mileage got up to more than 40-45 miles per week. Especially in the mornings and with cold legs. I've been able to totally solve my shin splints by getting orthotic supports for my all-day work shoes and using Sole inserts in my running shoes for the majority of my running. Turns out I just needed some arch support at this mileage level. I don't need to race with them or wear them all the time, just for the majority of my training miles. I haven't found any need at all to slow down any of my training.
Retired & Loving It