Forums > Health and Nutrition > Getting Rid of Shin Pain During Races
Anybody have any suggestions? It seems that every race I have I get some seriously bad shin pain (usually in both) for the first few miles. I'm not sure what shin splints feel like, and this is pain in the muscles themselves...feels like bad cramps. After 3 miles the pain usually disappears. I usually only experience this during races and hardly ever during my easy slow training runs. I'm sure it has something to do with the pounding from running at a faster pace, but what can I do to try and get rid of this. It sure makes the first few miles painful. I've been doing plenty of running for warm-up prior to my races along with rolling the shins out and stretching them but the pain has still been there. Ran a 5K two weeks ago and a 10K this morning with it.
Let me also add something regarding my 5K two weeks ago. The pain was horrendous in both shins for the entire race. The next morning went out for an easy run and the pain was pretty bad still for 3 miles and then magically disappeared. Ever since that race though, there is a pain in the middle of my shin (right off the side of the bone) that hurts when pressing on it. Not sure if I just bruised the hell out of it during the 5K or not. Can you even bruise that area just from running? Anyway, looking for any suggestions for this pain.
Anybody have any suggestions? It seems that every race I have I get some seriously bad shin pain (usually in both) for the first few miles. I'm not sure what shin splints feel like, and this is pain in the muscles themselves...feels like bad cramps. After 3 miles the pain usually disappears. I usually only experience this during races and hardly ever during my easy slow training runs. I'm sure it has something to do with the pounding from running at a faster pace, but what can I do to try and get rid of this. It sure makes the first few miles painful. I've been doing plenty of running for warm-up prior to my races along with rolling the shins out and stretching them but the pain has still been there. Ran a 5K two weeks ago and a 10K this morning with it. Let me also add something regarding my 5K two weeks ago. The pain was horrendous in both shins for the entire race. The next morning went out for an easy run and the pain was pretty bad still for 3 miles and then magically disappeared. Ever since that race though, there is a pain in the middle of my shin (right off the side of the bone) that hurts when pressing on it. Not sure if I just bruised the hell out of it during the 5K or not. Can you even bruise that area just from running? Anyway, looking for any suggestions for this pain.
You could try running slower? :P
But let me just add a horror story to this. I had very similar symptoms. Including tenderness in the same region but on the inside of my leg. I did exactly what you're doing, and ran through it. I completed a nice 10k off-road mountain 10k, and had no pain. That was my last run for about 6 weeks due to a cracked tibia.
(However, I'm doing some short running intervals now, hoping it's sufficiently healed for me to start some light training)
I AM THE BRINGER OF DOOM AND GLOOM!
Never forget the man who mistook his wife for a hat!
Ποτέ δεν ξεχνά τον άνθρωπο που μπέρδεψε τη γυναίκα του για ένα καπέλο!
The shin pain is called "shin splints" and (I've found) the only way to get rid of them is to stop running. In this case, you can't win for losing - in other words, if you want to get rid of the pain, you stop running or stop running on hard surfaces (in other words, cement or on a hard floor). I don't know if Nautilus (spelling???) machines exist anymore but while you have stopped running, the Nautilus Machine will keep your muscles intact. The only problem is that if you were running long distances, your breathing (or lung capacity) will decrease. The only good thing about them is that your muscles will remain intact. You could trying swimming for your lung capacity - that will keep your muscles intact and your oxygen level up.
Imaginary Space Filler
If the pain eases up after a few miles, then it is just some painful inflammation that occurs. I think if you warm up well, start with a few blocks of walking, then easy slow jog for a while, you may reduce or even eliminate it. For a 5k race, I would even slow jog out over the course before the start.
I hesitate to say it here, but your shoes may be getting worn out too.
I've gotten a pain, cramping sensation, and/or feeling of extreme fatigue in the muscles along my shins. In my case, it was from excessive dorsiflexion somewhere between push-off and landing. Thinking about having relaxed lower legs -- floppy feet, if you will -- goes a long way to alleviating it for me.
Tomorrow never comes. Eventually never happens. Today. Now. Shut up and start.
Thanks for the replies. I'm actually more concerned about a possible stress fracture right now. Not really sure though and don't have many of the symptoms. Just a weird pain I'm dealing with when pressing on a certain area. Been in a private message discussion with a member of this board that had a stress fracture in the past. Got some good info from him.
I've had this issue off an on, but it is not specific to racing. Most often it is triggered after a certain threshold in training has been reached or distance in one session. For example, several weeks of peak mileage, or runs 30+ miles. Once it flares up it does not go away quickly and may set me back for days. My doc isolated it to the anterior tibial tendon last year, but after much reflection I've realized that sometimes the tendon pain comes on after muscle tightness and sometimes muscle tightness comes on as a result of prolonged tendon pain. I've had the "luxury" of noticing it develop slowly during a run, feeling where the pain starts until the final state ending in the entire shin throbbing.
For me it has been manageable, it has made some of my longer runs painful, but ultimately did not interfere with even my 50 mile race earlier this year. Earlier in the spring I endured a couple of weeks where every run felt like my entire lower leg from knee down was being run through a shredder but it got better even with training through it. Last year when I had the same issue on my right (left leg this year) I tried rest and cross training. After 2 months of no improvement I began gradually ramping up miles again. I hit a peak threshold in pain and then it went away in that leg.
My point here is not about learning to love pain, but that some issues will work themselves out better if you train through rather than rest. I don't advise running through extreme pain unless you are familiar with the injury and have a sense for whether the pain is muscular, tendon, or bone.
My last comment on this lengthy tirade is I have seen multiple articles now regarding tendon injury recovery indicating that continuing exercise has resulted in greater improvements in tendon injuries than traditional RICE methods. I have found this true for myself at least with this injury. I am sure the lack of quoted references, anecdotal evidence, and unscientific experiment of one with no control or reasonable sample population will drive many who read this to the brink of insanity. YMMV
2012 Goals: Run more trails.
© 2012 RunningAHEAD.com. All rights reserved. | Privacy