1

Shin Splints PLEASE HELP!! (Read 154 times)

jakema916


    I am a fairly new runner (about 12min/mile) and have been getting shin splints the second I start running. I am 21 years old 5'11 and weigh 239 (So I am definitely heavier than I should be.

     

    I got fitted for a Asics Kayanos and the first run was pain free, then the next day without thinking a ran a block in regular shoes and I got the pain. Ever since then (About 3 weeks) I have been getting the pain during and after a run.

     

    I have been stretching, wearing compression socks, and taking aleve on top of not running for a week now and they don't seem to be going away. I want to begin training for a half marathon thats in march, Is there anything else I should be doing?


    an amazing likeness

      There's a pretty sizable number of discussions on shin splints here in Running 101.  Here's one from a few weeks ago which might get you started with some ideas.

      Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

        Hello, and welcome to running!  As the original author of the thread that milktruck quoted, I felt obligated to reply.

         

        Are you saying that after one run, you developed shin splints?  I know that this can happen, as it is what happened to me.  After months of running, I did one run on the treadmill that was way too fast for my level of fitness (I did 7 miles in 50 minutes.  I normally run 9-10min/mile), and bam!  Shin splints.  The lesson here is that shin splints are generally the result of too much, too soon.  I'm not sure what you did on that run, but clearly, it was too much.  Reign it in- have you looked at the Couch to 5k program?  It is a run/walk program that brings you up to 5k over a 9 week period.  Personally, under the circumstances, I would reconsider doing a HM in four months.  It took me 8 months to ramp up to a HM.  And I ran it with partially recovered shin splints.  NOT fun.

         

        What is helping me more than anything is rest.  I finished the HM, and took a week off.  Then I did one 5k recovery run, and then I got the flu.  Probably the best thing that ever could have happened to me- my shins are feeling great!  Slowing my pace down helped, as did shortening my stride, and increasing my leg turnover to about 180-200 steps per minute.  But rest has been the big key.

         

        I did find the compression socks somewhat helpful, as was KT tape (google it- there are videos on the website showing the proper application for a variety of sports injuries).  For future prevention, I plan to continue with gentle stretching, massage, foam rolling, and strengthening all the muscles in my lower leg and feet.  Sounds like a ton of work, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

         

        Good luck!  Shin splints suck, but they aren't insurmountable.

        Back in the saddle, after three years off...

        Goals- To stay healthy and uninjured...

        jakema916


          Thank  you for the helpful information! Yes, I can pinpoint it to a specific run, I wouldn’t even call it a “run” because it was only for a block. I have been doing the Couch to 5K program and it has been great, I am supposed to my first 5K this Saturday. The compression sleeves are great but I find they are more helpful with recovery than with the actual run. I plan on waiting until Thursday (which will be 8 days) and trying a run. I am just getting frustrated because I invested in all this great gear, and am really getting into running and then this happens!


          Latent Runner

            This may not be what you want to hear, but the first thing I would do is plan on running that half marathon either in 2015, or running a different half next fall.

             

            With the above said, my advice would be to stop for a few weeks or even a month or so, and when you start running again, slow things way-way down and dial back your frequency.  It is an odds on bet you're suffering from a syndrome I call TFFFS*.  Were I your coach, I would recommend you search the web for a C25K (Couch to 5K) program and plan on running a few 5Ks next spring in lieu of the half marathon you're planning.  Once you're feeling comfortable racing 5Ks, move on to 10Ks, and when those become somewhat routine, then (and in my opinion only then) will you be ready for a half marathon.

             

            * The thing about folks who suffer from TFFFS (Too Fast, too Far, too Frequently, too Soon), something I suffered from back when I was young(er) and out of shape, is that they want to build Rome in a day, and for the vast majority of us, it just cannot be done.  Why?  Because while your musclular and cardiovascular systems develop fairly rapidly, your bones, tendons, legiments, and joints do not.  It is very common for someone to start running, feel pretty good, push the pace, or frequency, or distance too soon, and BANG, they get injure.  Guess what one of the most common injuries is for folks pushing too hard; shin splints.

             

            Once again, I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, so sorry for that.

             

            Edit:

            I see Catwoman73 also responded and gave you some similar advice.

            Fat old man PRs:

            • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
            • 2-mile: 13:49
            • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
            • 5-Mile: 37:24
            • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
            • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
            • Half Marathon: 1:42:13


            #artbydmcbride

              I have different advice.  I experienced lots of shin pain when I first started running, and whenever I take time off, I get it when I start back up again.  But I find that if I warm up and start slow, after 3 miles the pain fades away.  And the more I run, the less often it is there when I start running.  You just need to get your shins to adapt to this new running thing you are doing.  Unfortunately it just takes time, there is no shortcut cure.

               

              Runners run


              jfa

                I agree with Ilene. I had them bad when I first started running, especially at the beginning of my runs. I would stop and do a set of pushups, then get up and run again. After a while (a couple of months at least) they went away completely.

                That was my experience.

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                exponentiate


                  I had shin splints pretty bad when I started running about 6 months ago. The things that helped me most were icing when I felt pain, stretching the crap out of my calves after every single run and slowing way down. I still run at >13 min/mile if we're being honest. Very easy, very gentle, very conversational. My experience has been that if I take it very very easy at the beginning of a run, the pain usually goes away as I warm up. Sometimes it doesn't, which is usually a sign that I've done something to anger my shins. If it hurts a lot/more than usual and doesn't abate as I warm up, I'll slow down or even walk back (SO frustrating to know you could run further if not for your stupid idiot jerk shins) and take a few easy days with lots of icing and stretching.

                   

                  I would not plan on running a half marathon in March. For one thing, they tend to be, like, really expensive (I'm 22, so I'm guessing we're on similar pages in that regard) and while putting money into something can be a good motivator, I think it's just going to be miserable to be trying to fight shin splints while also increasing your mileage up to a half marathon. If the race you're looking at has a 5k or 10k option, maybe you could sign up for the half and then drop down to a shorter distance if you need to, depending on how your training goes.

                  jakema916


                    thanks everyone for the advice. I definitely will be resting and when I start I'm gonna try running on grass. Just so frustrating!

                    helderar


                      After one year of running I got shin splints, first I rested. When I felt no pain I returned to running slow and gentle but it hurted again. I stopped for a longer time and found a physiotherapist and went for some treatments while running adviced by him. One month after these treatments shin splints once again. Into physiotherapy once again. Then I found this http://running.about.com/b/2013/07/09/injury-prevention-toe-raises-to-prevent-shin-splints.htm and has been working wonders for me. The worst part for me is I forget to do them, as well as I forget to do core workouts, and I only remember when I start feeling pain again (not while running but afterwards a sort of burning feeling) a few intensive treatments and it goes away.

                      I do the toe raises standing on the floor and raising them 60 times as fast as I can. Sometimes I repeat other times I repeat them later on.

                      Hope you get well fast and go back to running.

                      jakema916


                        Thank you everyone for the advice! I definitely will plan on resting for another week or so. I definitely am feeling an improvement.

                          ...just saw this post..........

                           

                          ...I used to tell my Newbies it was a Case of the Too's

                           

                          .....too far

                          ............too fast

                          or

                          ................too hard of a surface

                           

                          .......dial it back a notch,

                          and you should be better with easier runs.

                           

                          ..................Good Running to Ya......

                          ..nothing takes the place of persistence.....