Runner's Advice

Have you been fitted for shoes?

If not, go to a specialty running store and have a proper fitting. Buy the shoes they recommend. It should help with your pain.

You answered it yourself - you stride long so you heel-strike. Take quick, short steps. You should land on your feet while they are under your body. Doing this should pretty naturally switch you to a mid-foot strike and stop your shin splints. And yes, you will feel like an idiot taking these quick steps until you get used to it. :-)

This is contrary to most advice/training but stretching before running. If I don't do that, I get shin splints bad because of my calf muscles.

Also, for me it's a sign I've run on my shoes too long and need new ones.

And I agree, maybe you ned to walk a little bit before running. If I don't walk at least 5 minutes before I will get shin splints.

Can someone give me some running pointers? It seems no matter how long a rest to recover my legs, 10 minutes into my run my shins/muscle on front of lower leg are really hurting. I know I am a heel-striker when I run because my gait is so long, but I am not sure how to fix that. Any help?

I'm a heel-striker, too. Make sure you have REALLY good shoes and try to shorten your stride.

on a slightly seperate topic, what are some good music tracks for running?

I listen to all kinds of weird things when I run my favourites are

"Don't Stop Me Now" -- Queen
"After Today" -- The Goofy Movie
"Umbrella" -- The Baseballs
"Larger than Life" -- The Backstreet Boys (yeah, yeah. I know.)
"Pandemonium" -- The Pet Shop Boys
"I'm Just A Singer in a Rock and Roll Band" -- The Moody Blues
"International Love" -- Pitbull (and unfortunately Chis Brown)
"Stereo Hearts" -- Gym Class Heroes
All kinds of stuff by Erasure

Do you have The Stick or Tiger Tail or something similar? Even a rolling pin would work. Once or twice a day, use it to roll out your calf muscles (both in the back and along the front inside/outside of the shin).

You can adjust your gait. I used to be a heel striker and a PT told me to simply start landing mid foot. It feels a little goofy at first because you feel like you are leaning forward more. Let your foot strike under your hips. I don't think being tall means you have to be a heel striker, my husband is 6'4 and has a mid foot strike (the only time he has a hard time with this is running on a treadmill).

Also, get a resistance band and wrap it around your foot and have someone sit in front of you and hold the band. With your leg extended straight out in front of you, flex your foot back towards you. Do this with your foot straight, your foot slightly turned in, your foot slightly turned out, 10 times each. This will help strengthen the muscles.

Hope this helps, those exercises really helped me when I developed shin splints.

My songs are pretty eclectic:
Queen-Fat Bottomed Girls, Bohemian Rhapsody
Kanye- Stronger, Gold Digger
Nickelback- Burn it to the Ground, Something in your mouth, animals
Flogging Mollies- Salty Dog
Drop Kick Murphy- Hang Em High
AC/Dc- Back in Black, Highway to Hell
Beck-Loser
Green Day- a lot (oooh 1990s I miss you)
Jet- Are you Going to Be my Girl, COld Hearted Beezy
Clutch- Mob Goes Wild, The Regulator
Korn-Nacissistic Kannibal
Flo-Rida- back in Time
Shinedown- Boom song
My Darkest Days- Porn Star Dancing
Billy Joel- Only the Good Die Young
Evanescence- Bring Me to Life
joan jett-
My CHemical Romance- Sing
Tom Petty- You dont know how it feels
Drowning Pool- Bodies
Some Kid Rock
System of a Down- Psycho

What am I supposed to be looking for in a shoe?

YOU aren't supposed to be looking for anything. Go to a specialty running store and let them fit you. They will analyze your gait and make appropriate recommendations for the right kind of shoe for the way you run, your height weight, etc.

on a slightly seperate topic, what are some good music tracks for running?

I found a website called "JogFM.com" You can search by song, artist, or running pace. I am a newbie runner. I put a search for 10 min mile pace and a list of songs came up for that pace. I then went into my Itunes and made running playlists. You can also search by beats per minute. A 10 min mile is approx 150 BPM, {if memory serves me right}. You can also download songs from that site. I have no idea how much it costs.

Im really tall and all legs as well - 37" inseam, my gait is 3.5-4 ft - I had to stop wearing cushioned soles because they were making ti worse, I switched to a half inch or thinner sole and dont have the shin splints anymore and the balance is worlds better. All that stabilizing on the cushioned sole was wreaking havoc on my legs.

I'm tall too and I find that thinner soled shoes work for me as well- personally I run in Vibrams but they aren't for everyone- they are definitely something you have to work into if you are not used to going barefoot a lot. A runner who has a lot of experience in your typical running shoes has strengthened their muscles in that way- I often see long-term runners switch to Vibrams and have immediate injury in their arches and ankles because they are not used to being unsupported by their shoe. They are, however, the only shoes that don't give me splints when I run. Yoovie and I are the same height, same inseam- the fact that thinner soled shoes work for her as well is something I find interesting and may be worth looking into.

Another tip I have for you that will help with your stride is to think about falling forward when you run. It helps a lot in keeping your stride where you want to be. Start out standing and slowly tip forward until you feel like you're going to fall. The step you take to catch yourself is the first step in your run. It's why track runners start out at an angle to the ground instead of standing up.

Im really tall and all legs as well - 37" inseam, my gait is 3.5-4 ft - I had to stop wearing cushioned soles because they were making ti worse, I switched to a half inch or thinner sole and dont have the shin splints anymore and the balance is worlds better. All that stabilizing on the cushioned sole was wreaking havoc on my legs.

You think this is why I get shin splints? I'm 5'8" with a 33" inseam. I got stabilizing running shoes the first time I bought any because I overpronate when I walk/run. Not terribly, but enough to need the extra support. I get shin splints like whoa and HAAAATE sidelining myself, so I always end up making it worse.
:grumble:

So I made a look over lunch for a specialty shoe/running store, but I don't see anything that fits that bill around here. Can anyone give me some examples of stores so I can look for specific places.

http://www.fleastcoastrunners.com/Store.html