I would say it's the shoes unless she has been increasing her miles lately.  Always look at the shoes first.

Agreed.

(((((((lilac_jive)))))) what's the heel-to-toe drop of the Lunarglides? That of the 1260s is 8mm. That of the Kinvaras is 4mm. When I began wearing low- (now zero-) drop shoes, my calves were sore and tight.

Have you tried the shin splint routine that Venomized posted on RWOL many moons ago?  It helped me, and seems to have helped a ton of other people, too.

Here:

For those that did not see the thread, I went to the doc for shin pain. Shin pain that I had from over use ranging back to April and not giving myself proper healing time. The doc rules out a stress fracture and gave me a script for an exercise program with PT.

Here is the prescribed routine:

1. Calf Step Stretch; 15-20 seconds for 5 sets. Begin this calf stretch standing with your heels over the edge of a step and hold onto a rail for balance as demonstrated (figure 4). Keeping your knees straight slowly let your heels drop down below the step until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf or knee (figure 4). Hold for 15 seconds






2. Walk on toes up and down my living room, then walk on heels up and down my living room. I start in my rec room and go to my bedroom on the toes and return on my heels. Roughly 60 feet each way.

3. Sitting toe raises as fast as you can for 1 minute.

Sit down in a chair and raise your toes up off the ground leaving your heals in contact with the ground

4. Standing heel raises 1 leg at a time for 20 sets each See picture.





Now you need a rubber band strap.

5. Resisted Dorsil flexion. With the rubber band strap secured away from you pull your foot towards you while pivoting at the ankle. Do this 20 times with each foot.

6. Resisted Plantar Flexion. Like above but pull the elastic band towards you and push off with the foot pivoting at the ankle. Prop your foot up on a pillow for help with this. 20 times each foot

7. Resisted Eversion. Put both feet side by side slightly apart. Put the band around a foot and the route the band around your other foot as an anchor point. Twist the "lassoed" foot outward slowly but do not rotate the knee. 20 times each foot.

8. Resisted Inversion. Feet straight out and crossed. Lasso 1 foot and then route the band around the other as an anchor and then slowly turn the foot away but don't rotate the knee. 20 times each foot.

Here is a hyperlink to a pdf showing these 4 stretches.

Now the reps quantity is whatT my PT had prescribed to me. As my legs have gotten stronger I have moved up in the reps. Stay at these or move up if you want.

Do all of this daily. Ice as needed. Advil as needed, and of course rest.

For the icing part she recommended to take some Styrofoam cups and fill them half way and freeze them. Peel the cup half way to expose the ice and apply directly to the aggravated area.

Thanks Di, I will do these!

Thanks on the massage. I will do that. I have a very good therapist who can make me cry. Last time I saw her in Feb she told me to use a steam shower to get out the lactic acid, and I did that this week to no avail. I can't argue with getting a massage though.

 

i'm mostly worried about my shins for this weekend. the calves should clear up in the run fairly quickly, but shin splints is new territory for me.

Then you should get a new therapist because she doesn't know what the hell she is talking about.  Lactic acid is removed from your muscles within a very short period of time after exercise.  People used to blame delayed onset muscle soreness on lactic acid but that is completely wrong.

I can give you my massage therapist's info if you want. She's amazing and very smart when it comes to injuries/recovery methods etc.

LTH, interesting. I made an appointment with a different therapist for today. I also stopped by the LRS, filled them in. He was rather confused but thinks super feet may help, so I snagged a pair. Hopefully it will.

LTH, interesting. I made an appointment with a different therapist for today. I also stopped by the LRS, filled them in. He was rather confused but thinks super feet may help, so I snagged a pair. Hopefully it will.

Jess, I was going to suggest orthotics, as I actually wear orthotics in addition to stability shoes.  It took me a LONG time to find the right type of shoes that worked for me because I was that clueless.  I actually found the perfect brand/model shoes from doing a wear-test for RW (Asics Kayanos).  Ever since then, I try buy those as much as possible.

And I am so sorry you're going through this!  Believe me, I've been there.  Yes, shoes definitely could be a good portion of it (and it probably is) but the fact that you're also doing the half distance on just barely 20 over mpw really stands out to me.  Essentially, your longest distance ran (13.1 miles) is 65% of your weekly mileage (based on 20 mpw), and that's WAY too high, and a recipe for disaster.  What could be starting out as shin splints could eventually turn into a stress fracture, and believe me, that sucks!!!

I know you're bound and determined to do the half on Sunday, so I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, BUT after Sunday, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, and then focus on the shorter stuff for the time being once you're better.