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Oh.... my aching shins!! (Read 1165 times)

    Hey everybody! I'm a new poster on RA, but I've been lurking for awhile. Came over from CR where I was mostly a lurker, as well. I really enjoy this site, and appreciate all the info and support all of you provide-- even though I've been lurking, I feel like you're my virtual running buddies! Big grin A little about me... female, 32 years old, finished C25K in December '07 and have been running 5K distance for about 4 weeks or so. In the last week, my shins have been sore. At first I thought I was getting shin splints, but I've always heard people describe that pain as being so bad that you are sidelined and can hardly walk. My soreness goes away when I'm running, but the rest of the day I can definately feel it, but it's tolerable. Also, it can be some really bad pain if, for example, my 3 year old lays over my legs, or I run into the coffee table.(no pun intended) Help! Is this shin splints or something else? What do I do about it? Thanks in advance for any advise you can provide! --Anna Oh, and yes, I have good shoes. Smile


    Just Be

      Welcome! Smile You probably are just experiencing initial muscle soreness. Once your legs have finally adapted to the new distance/pace it'll get better, just be careful not to compromise your form while you're running because you're so tired... your muscles should absorb the brunt of the ground impact and not your bones. I've seen many new runners using their bones to minimize the strain on their muscles... it looks like an abrupt jarring motion through their whole upper body when they land, don't do that, it's bad for you! I started running again in September of 2007 and I had similar pain for about 2 months. There's a fine balance between dealing with that pain and going slightly to far, letting it become an overuse injury. Just be careful. Good luck! Smile Hopefully you won't lurk anymore! Smile


      Half Fanatic #846

        Welcome Patty! Sorry about your leg pain - the same sort of thing happened to me a few months ago Sad . If "it can be some really bad pain" as you describe, it sounds like more than the usual sore muscles to me IMHO. 1. Listen to your body and rest when you need to. 2. Don't "push it" 3. See a sports Doc if it dosen't go away Good Luck! Smile

        "I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk.         "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt".                  I ran half my last race on my left foot!                                  


        Gotta TRI

          hey, I'm a fairly new runner and used to get shin pain during / after runs. I followed the advice of one of the posters here or CR, that said to do toe raises. Doing that seemed to almost stop any pain immmediatly. I do them still when I think of it at work or wherever. In fact, I'm doing some right now Big grin. My .02 Andy
          2010 Dec. California International Marathon 2011 Jan. Disney Marathon
            Thanks for the responses guys! Andy- I had forgotten about the toe raises! I remember reading lontach's posts about that on CR. I hope they will help me out, too. In fact, I'm tappin' my toes right now. runner92- Thanks for the advice. I do try to keep my form the same, but for me, the first mile is the hardest to do that until I get warmed up really well. After that, my shins/ muscles seem to loosen up, and it really doesn't bother me until after my run. Havanarnr- I will take it easy and see how it goes. I'm going to have one more easy run before my first 5K on Saturday, and I'll see how I feel next week. BTW-- I'm only about an hour up the road from you in Tallahassee. As a matter of fact, I'm coming to Tallahassee tomorrow night to take the kids to the circus Smile. Good luck in Albeeeneey in March at your first half! ( for all of you who ain't from 'round here, that's how a lot of us say Albany Big grin )
            runningsharp


              I don't know if this will help, but I have found that I will start to feel tenderness in my shins when I need to get new shoes, I don't know why but often when I have had this problem my shoes have been completely worn down and have lost their support. Good Luck. Lisa
                You also need to get a gait analysis done at a specialty running shoe store if you haven't already. If you don't have the right shoe it can cause shin splints among other problems.
                  If it's just a sore shin muscle, you can stretch them by: kneeling on the ground placing the tops of your feet flat against the floor slowly sit back on your heels. You should feel that stretch in those muscles. You can also massage those muscles by just rubbing up and down on them with the heel of your hand or 'the stick' if you've got one. It doesn't sound like shin splints, just a sore tibialis anterior. Hope it gets better real soon.
                  Have you got a flag?
                    Dr. George Sheehan advocated sitting on table with a couple of pounds of weight hanging off the foot and doing toe-ups to strengthen the shins as well as stretching out the calves. (am I dating myself here with advice from George??)


                    Think Whirled Peas

                      I had a ton of shin pain in the beginning as well, and new shoes were a huge help. As previously mentioned by runningsharp, stretching them out helped a bunch too. I would typically just stand near a wall, place my foot behind me, toes down, and pull my leg forward slowly. I'd do this throughout the day. The other major thing I did was to put some ice on both shins right after running for about 15-20 minutes. Once you get used to icing down your legs, it really feels good and helped me recover much quicker. Other than that, I just kept putting miles under my belt and eventually I stopped getting the pain altogether. Good Luck!

                      Just because running is simple does not mean it is easy.

                       

                      Relentless. Forward. Motion. <repeat>

                        Thank you, thank you for all the advice! Especially the shin muscle stretches... I hadn't come up with a way to stretch those muscle effectively, but this should help. I really don't think my issue is shoe related, because I have been fitted for the right shoes, and since I just started running recently, I am lucky if I have 50 miles on them yet Big grin I should also say that I have been doing those toe taps for the last couple of days, and I felt an IMMEDIATE improvement in the soreness-- like within a few hours, it was almost non existant! Amazing!
                          I had the same thing happening to me when I first started running. I found the best way to stop them for me was to keep running the normal amount and "suck up" the pain, but as I ran, every 10 minutes or so stop and do some stretching for the shins. My favorite and most helpful was to rotate my feet around in circles 5 or so times each foot. Hope this helps!
                          keep running!
                            Dr. George Sheehan advocated sitting on table with a couple of pounds of weight hanging off the foot and doing toe-ups to strengthen the shins as well as stretching out the calves. (am I dating myself here with advice from George??)
                            I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! Cool
                            "Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." -Ernest Hemingway

                            -When Chuck Norris wants popcorn, he breathes on Nebraska.

                            -Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
                              I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! Cool
                              oh you are quite worthy...just not OLD enough.... Shy...just wait until I bring up a Jim Fixx fix....
                                I am also new to RA and switched from CR. I've had similar shin pain and I did a short series of heal and toe raises that seemed to do the trick. I usually do these right before I warm up but throughout the day works too. 2 reps (15 each) 15 toe raises with your toes pointing towards each other. /\ 15 heal raises with your toes pointing towards each other. /\ 15 toe raises with your heals pointing towards each other. \/ 15 heal raises with your heals pointing towards each other. \/ Hope it helps and good luck. ~Nina
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