Shin splints

Edie30

Hi... I can feel a little bit of pain in my right shin! Pffftttt !
I've finished the couch to 5 k and have had no problems at all and am now doing 8 k training with some intervals. I don't feel like I have shin splints yet and it's a very light pain but I don't wanna get them!
Anyone got any good resources for stretching after running I can look at? I think I probaly don't stretch enough after a run. I used to get shin splints when I was much heavier and tried to. Run but was delighted as this time much lighter I have had no problems at all so want to avoid it if possible. Thank you :-)

Edie30

Anyone? :-)

heybales

It's usually not stretching that's needed, it's a change of running form.

If you are a heel striker, and you flex your foot up before landing so you don't catch your toes, you are engaging that muscle on the shin, the tibialis anterior.

So while engaging this muscle, your heel is slamming in to the ground forcing your foot flat lengthening this muscle, you have just created a huge eccentric force, and that is a hard workout for muscles, foot landing after landing.

In this case, too much, not helping to get stronger, but possibly slight pulling loose of the bone. Your form may be different between sides too, hence only on one side now.

You should indeed do warm-up walk to get muscles ready to go, after that may do a very slight stretch, but not much, before running.
After a cool-down walk is indeed when you want to do better stretches.
Best order so you are not shortening unstretched muscles first, which can lead to cramps.
Calves - gastrocnemius and soleus both.
Hamstrings
Glutes
Quads
IT band
Inner thigh

Pick a muscle here, last section of each muscle is stretch options.
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtFemale.html

Edie30

Thank you so much. I shall have a look. I think I am a heel striker! I shall investigate running forms. I've also noticed I tend to get more problems on the right of my body too. Thanks again :-)

Edie30

In the meantime... What do people think of compression calf sleeves?

heybales

I have bad feet blood flow, actually achilles too, so no go for me. I actually need ankle warmers, but don't want to look like Jane Fonda and others with '80's aerobic classes.

Edie30

But the Jane Fonda look is super cute!!!! :-)

alecno

Reassess how you land on your feet while you run. Consider how you run barefoot - you land on the ball on your feet, which is the natural and safe way to go about running long distances. When you add shoes, we tend to try to land on our heel, leading to shin splits. Try running barefoot for a bit to feel the difference, then try to force yourself to do it with shoes. After a few runs, it will feel normal to run properly, on the ball of your foot. Check out some youtube videos on proper running form.

xsmilexforxmex

How are your shoes? Rather I get shin splints or not really is entirely dependent upon the type of shoes I have and how worn they are. It can also make a difference if you've started running on different surfaces. Just something to think about.

Edie30

Thanks you two THATS great advice. Yes I'm a heel striker!!! So I'm going to check out those videos. And yes I am going to get fitted for shoes... I do have a nice expensive pair but they weren't fitted with gait analysis so I am defiantly going to do that because I have become a runner!!!! Omg how did that happen! I am such a dag... I subscribed to a running magazine this week... I have a few friends who are runners and have been super encouraging and think it's all too funny as I was like ' me? Runner? No way! ' lol

Edie30

Oh also xsmile I run on a treadmill at the moment but I'm going to try and start doing some park runs 5 k as they run some in my area on a Sunday. I'm wondering how different it's going to be running outdoors. I've also found a shoe shop nearby that does gait analysis so I'm going to go and splash my dollars!!

Edie30

Also... While I'm asking... Is it ok to run with shin splints? Like I say I only have a slight pain in my right shin at the moment. I did weights today and didn't run because I ran yesterday and will be at work tommorrow so will run the day after in the morning. I work shifts so tend to get to the gym on my days off which means I often run a few days in a row. I wondered if that was the problem too. Like not enough rest days...

Edie30

You tube is so great right!! So I found this little running drill to help me with learning to land on my mid foot rather than heel strike! Thanks guys for all your help... I learn something every day on this forum

xsmilexforxmex

I run if they aren't too bad but take it as a sign to scale back a bit to not make them worse. Also can help to ice the area after stretching post run. I've been told to make sure not to increase distance more than 10% a week to help ensure your body can heal properly/reduce risk of injury.

Edie30

Yes I'm not increasing to much at the moment but I did speed up and I think that might be the culprit!

trivard676

You probably shouldn't run with shin splints. A minor pain now may turn into a major pain tomorrow. I was suggested a compression sleeve for my leg due to a nasty shin splint in a rather unusual place on the leg. I've always had to rest it though.

Edie30

Ah thanks trivard, I shall rest it for a couple of days and see. I certainly don't want to make it worse for sure :-)

heybales

Ya, it's usually tears that's causing the pain. Let them recover, or they just get worse until something really bad happens, then you'll have a long forced rest. At the best it's just sore muscles with micro tears from all the eccentric use, at worst it's pulling loose from the bone.

Either way, recovery is the only way to repair to allow it to get stronger. Sadly in a diet recovery takes longer. And the latter really longer.

Ditto's to imitate barefoot run in shoes. Too many stores I've seen look at how you walk, say your are a _________ (pronator perhaps), and then get shoes. No comment on improvements to the form to allow these other better shoes perhaps.
But landing on the balls of the feet isn't really complete description either.
Usually called mid-food landing. Balls of feet may hit fraction of second first, but it's followed by the heal coming down with the calves and quads absorbing the impact, instead of the bones from a heel landing.
If done right, it actually should feel like landing flat footed.

I thought this had a bunch of video examples to see what mid-foot landing means, and applied to 2 different techniques.
http://youtu.be/tJWPwVF30yo

dbmata

heybales wrote: »

Ditto's to imitate barefoot run in shoes.

Five Fingers took care of my shin splints.

heybales

dbmata wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

Ditto's to imitate barefoot run in shoes.

Five Fingers took care of my shin splints.

Those gave me blisters at 6 miles, but Merrill's Trail Gloves felt the same except for not having each toe being in own shell, and no blisters. They made the plantar strong enough after recovering from plantar fasciitis never a problem again.
Except for overdoing it and getting plantar sprain in other foot.

dbmata

heybales wrote: »

dbmata wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

Ditto's to imitate barefoot run in shoes.

Five Fingers took care of my shin splints.

Those gave me blisters at 6 miles, but Merrill's Trail Gloves felt the same except for not having each toe being in own shell, and no blisters. They made the plantar strong enough after recovering from plantar fasciitis never a problem again.
Except for overdoing it and getting plantar sprain in other foot.

lol, ouch. The 5 fingers are good for a 5k run, longer then that I'll go with a no drop brooks, but yeah... those things are bananas for strengthening and correcting stride. Good tool.

Edie30

Ohhh... I need to look these things up! Thanks for the vids, I'm going to practice changing my form :-)

MeanderingMammal

Edie30 wrote: »

Ohhh... I need to look these things up! Thanks for the vids, I'm going to practice changing my form :-)

What I found most helpful was rather than trying to change how I was landing, but increasing my cadence and shortening my pace. That forced a midfoot landing in a way that was more natural for me. When I tried to concentrate on my landing, it was very awkward for me and I didn't make progress.

Edie30

Yea I can see that might happen, I'm going to get on the treadmill tommorrow and see how it all feels. Shortening my stride might help a lot. This running business is more complicated than I ever thought!! :-)

Edie30

I actually thought I had a moment of thinking I had it cracked!!! I'm sure I'm going to laugh at myself a lot on my running journey. Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it. I never thought I would be a runner!!

Edie30

Aha so my run this morning. I followed the advice to shorten my stride and run the whole run with a mid foot/ ball of foot landing. It felt totally natural once I shortened my stride and actually felt better than heel striking, kind of easier. So I am jolly pleased :-)

Edie30

Oh and also the shin pain has gone with a couple of days rest :-) happy days!

heybales

Congrats on recovery and improvement. Once you get that cadence down to 85-95, which requires that shorter stride until strong enough to go longer, it's like a foundation to future progress.
Just like learning proper lifting form. May start out light doing it right, but it means you can progress faster once you have it.
Once you get the cadence and landing right, distance will change as needed, going up a hill, down, getting more fit, ect.

RosieWest8

Another thing to start doing is strengthening those muscles on your shins by doing toe raises or simply 'writing' the ABCs with your toe. This will help to prevent shin splints in the future.

Sam_I_Am77

Good chance you're running flat footed. If the flexibility tips don't help then do some strength training for your hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

myjourney16

I used to get shin splints horribly!

First things first, you MUST let them heal. This means not running on them for 'x' amount of time. For me, it took 2-3 weeks of not using them to heal them up. If you try to run through the pain you are at risk of actually getting tiny fractures on your shin bone (which you obviously don't want).

After they are healed you have to be preventative. Since you have had them once you will be more prone to them. I had to buy compression calf sleeves for both of my legs and new and more supportive runners and soccer cleats.

After that, they are good to go. If I stop using my compression sleeves I can still actually feel my shins. Take care of them!