SHIN SPLINTS!! Ahhhhh

Not a pro or even close but what about increasing your calcium on top of what you are currently doing? Good luck!

I agree! Speed walking is super hard, and it stretches and strengthens your shins like crazy. I did it for 2 months to get my shins in better shape.....I was previously getting shin splints all the time, and now I don't. I'm guessing it really helped, and it's not just a coincidence? HAHA. Good luck.

I started a walking program earlier this year just recently started trying to jog some and asked my company's wellness coordinator about shin splints. She recommended icing them soon after walking / running to decrease the pressure on the shins that causes the pain.

Make sure you ice for 20 mins off for 20 and repeat like twice. I hate having shin splints and I get them a lot (especially during track season). There are a certain type of compression almost leg warmers that you can buy and they are really effective. If you don't feel like running on grass, try running around a soccer field. I'm pretty sure (depending on the size) that 6 times is a mile. It gets boring but it really does feel better running on that then running on hard pavement. Make sure you ice before and after your run! If it really gets bad, go to your doctor because you could get a stress fracture from them. Hope this helps!!

I play semi-pro Australian Rules Football and rugby year round. I have always had extremely tight calf muscles, and as a result, also shin splints -- all season, every season.

Pop two Advil 20 minutes before you run, then stretch post-run paying extra attention to your calves, hamstrings and quads. You can also work on ankle mobility, as shin splints often have to do with limited mobility in the ankle joint due to prior injury, scar tissue or poor running form. Then, once you've cooled down, ice your shins. 10 mins on, 10 mins off for an hour. Someone else mentioned the frozen Dixie cups thing... that works extremely well.

To avoid them in the future, practice a midfoot strike when you run, keep your calf muscles loose, invest in a foam roller and do it consistently, and keep hydrating and stretching. Stretch the whole leg!

Best of luck!

One thing you can do is to find a wall, curb, step, etc and put your foot against the raised surface to get a good stretch. You could also have someone massage your lower legs. Take the heel of the hand in long, slow motion from the bottom of the leg to just before the knee joint using a high-ish pressure. This will hurt. Your shin splints might not be gone afterwords but your legs will feel better after the massive pain. I think you can also get a rolling pin looking device at some running stores that does the same thing.

Hey! Congrats on your 3 mile achievement! That is huge. Running is incredibly hard on our bodies. I was training for a half marathon that is in October. I started my training at the end of February and did a gradual increase training calendar as it sounds you are doing yourself. I am now in a boot and have not been able to run or do any real cardio for 12 weeks. So here is my advice - when your shins hurt. Stop running. Take a day or 2 off. Not a long break. Shin splints are caused by the muscle getting fatigued. And it is the same muscle that is connected to the ball of your foot. If you continue to run while this muscle is getting fatigued, it will eventually stop cushioning your foot and you will get either a stress fracture or a fracture in the ball of your foot. It doesn't hurt and you may not notice it right away but it is NOT FUN. So my only advice with shin splints is listen to your body. If they hurt, then stop. If you feel like you can push through them, then do it. But just be sure to listen to your body. Also, don't do any "long" runs on back to back days. Be sure to give a days rest from running and do some cross training, weight training or just rest on your off days. Marathon runners can run long runs back to back, but newbies (you and I) cannot. So that is my word of advice and I wish you the best of luck!! You can add me if you'd like, I plan on continuing my running journey as soon as I get out of this poor boot! (hopefully only 3 more weeks!)

I run 5 miles at a time, 4-5 times a week and I've never had them...but I chalk that up to staying properly hydrated EVERYDAY, a daily potassium supplement EVERYDAY and a proper warm up and cool down EVERYDAY.

I hope it gets better for you... :drinker:

I used to have problems with shin splints
I took advil bit before run, got myself a pair of compression socks (they have alot of cute/different colors available now)
made certain I walked (cool down) & stretched (off curbs feel great) really good after run, used a roller & finally iced if needed. Oh & make sure you are properly hydrated before & after your run. I hope you get to feeling better soon!!

Be careful with shin splints, stop if the pain continues. I thought I had shin splints from running but I woke up and couldn't walk I was in so much pain, I had 3 stress fracture in one shin and 1 in the other shin. I had to wear a boot for 8 weeks and 2 years later I still have issues with it. So if you feel pain then don't push through it stretch, walk, ice, compression and advil for a few days, stick to strength training and not high impact until pain goes away.

great job on 3 miles. I ran my first 5K last fall after a year of recovery. You will do great.

See you can run on school track, those are easier on the shins.

Be careful with shin splints, stop if the pain continues. I thought I had shin splints from running but I woke up and couldn't walk I was in so much pain, I had 3 stress fracture in one shin and 1 in the other shin. I had to wear a boot for 8 weeks and 2 years later I still have issues with it. So if you feel pain then don't push through it stretch, walk, ice, compression and advil for a few days, stick to strength training and not high impact until pain goes away.

great job on 3 miles. I ran my first 5K last fall after a year of recovery. You will do great.

Yes! Thanks for sharing! Shin splints can lead to stress fractures so it is important to take of them and not just push through.

sarafil has some really good points.

First, I assume by shin splints you mean pain and tightness in the muscle on the outer front side of the bone, and not a painful spot directly on the bone. If so...

The name shin "splints" is for a reason. Usually something is causing that muscle to work harder stabilizing something in your stride - just as a splint would do. Which is why sarafil's form comments were excellent. You've been running long enough at a specific level that simple newness to running shouldn't be the issue anymore. There are several things that could be happening.

You could be overstriding. if so, pull your landing back under your center of gravity and work to get cadence to 180

You could be hitting the ground too hard with your foot. How much noise do you hear when your foot hits? Really should be only a soft sound. If this might be the issue, work on landing more lightly (related to the next point as well) and making sure you are landing under your center of gravity.

You could be pointing your toes to the sky on every step. This will definitely work the shin too hard. Whenever I (rarely) get shin splits, it's inevitably because I got sloppy in this area. Focus on keeping your foot and shin relaxed as you swing the foot forward. Relax should almost be a mantra.

And of course, as others have pointed out, it could be calf tightness. Work on that in general.

You likely heel strike, and that is OK, but if so it should be a subtle strike over much of the heel and not one where your heel is driving into the ground with your toes clearly pointing skyward. A proper heel strike looks very close to a mid-foot landing. And, you'll note the pointers above would lead to that as well.