Ouch25k

How heavy are you?

Never, ever work through pain again. Recovery is a bear.

My daughter suffers from shin splints and she kept trying different pacing, stretches, foot inserts, etc. until she found her sweet spot. I think your shin splints are at least partly because of poor form. You need to be religious about your stretches before and after to prevent further injury.

http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/4-exercises-to-prevent-shin-splints

Slow and steady wins the (c25k) race. Also, how are your shoes? Good running shoes can make all the difference. Go to a running store and have them analyze you, then they can recommend a shoe that's right for you.

Also, there's no shame in repeating weeks as much as you want. If you have to keep doing week 1 a few more times, do it!

Edit: You can do other forms of cardio (walking, elliptical, etc.) while you're recovering from shin splints. I did, and it worked out fine.

I'm not usually one to jump of the footwear bandwagon but.......do your shoes fit really well and give you good support? How old are your running shoes? (Worst shin splints I ever had in my life were during basic training where we had atrocious running shoes.....)


It's not unusual for new runners to experience mild shin splints early on but, as previously said working through pain is not a good thing.

Another thing I would look into is possibly changing your gait, not by a lot because personally I think it's important to run how your body wants to run but shifting the strike of your foot may help. I had a really hard time with swollen/tight muscles that would come on suddenly and be incapacitating, leading me to have to stop running/walking and do a different form of cardio. One day I was really determined to finish and I decided to take off my shoes and run barefoot on the treadmill and I got through the workout (I did some research and believe this was because my gait was completely different when I ran barefoot and didn't put as much stress on the particular muscle). I still experience this after a little while of running but I'm progressing. I hope that helped a little!

I'm going to take the unpopular side.
I suffered from shin splints when I started running. My doctor's advice was to rest. I'd rest. Run again. Get shin splints. Repeat.
I needed to run for a program I was in and still hadn't "learned to run" before getting there. At this point, I had no choice, I ran through them. Eventually they went away.
While I don't recommend straight out running through them because it can lead to bigger problems, I would recommend (as others have) checking out different shoes.
I'd also try running on softer ground if possible. If you are running on pavement, see if you can find a track or dirt road.
Also shin splints can be caused by doing too much too soon. Even though you can move on to week 2, maybe repeat week one, or even less. So keep running, but at a lower volume.

Of course, if the pain is extreme, stop. I've had different levels of shin splints.

How active were you before? The couch to 5K program is great, but going from very little exercise to suddenly working out 3-4 days a week will make the body go WHOA!!! If you have never jogged before, I would hold off on the jogging and just walk, but rest off the leg until the pain goes away.

I have sffered with shin splints off and on for 30 years. What finally has helped is brooks ghost running shoes and good calf stretches before and after runs. Seemed weird at first that a good toe up on the wall, heal on the ground tow stretch would help my shins but it really has.

bscmcse wrote: »

All good info. Thanks. I went from 45min intervals on the elliptical 4x per week to c25k. I understand that I over did it in some manner with the c25k, but honestly I started just to switch up my cardio. I now want to just go back to the elliptical so I can continue to burn and lose weight (down 35lbs so far and motivated). I am not looking to dissect what went wrong with the c25k, just really want some educated opinions from you fitness gurus if going back to the elliptical will aggravate the shin splints. After some light stretching and Advil last night, I already have some relief today.

IMEO, it's impossible to tell because we don't know what caused the shin splints in the first place. If I were you, and felt I needed to use the elliptical and the shin splints were pretty minor, I'd try the elliptical fully prepared to get off the moment I felt it aggravated the shin splints at all.

If it were me, I'd just use my gym's rowing machines or seated bike.

There is research out there that correlates calf strength with reduction in shin splints. Personally I can tell you that I went a whole year where any running (playing Ultimate) lead to shin splints. That following January I started SL5x5 and after 4 months of strength training in the winter/spring I no longer had shin splints without losing any weight at all (in fact, I gained 10lb more and weighed 220lb). I also did no cardio training at all during the Ultimate off season, so it wasn't taking the running slowly that solved the problem either.

I can't guarantee that resistance training will solve your problem, but doing full body resistance training is good for you regardless.

As for the elliptical, use it if you want. If your shins start to hurt then stop. Taking a week off of cardio has no baring on weight loss (all you have to do is eat less to accommodate for the lower energy expenditure), and will meaningless in the long run in terms of cardiovascular health and running ability.

Thanks for checking back. You are paying attention, which is huge when it comes to prevention.

I used to get them too. My problem came from the wrong shoes and running on pavement. I've found that I do not get them on a treadmill. I think the impact is slightly less.

I second the strength training advice. And yes, try to lose more weight first.

1. Go to the doctor and see what they say.
2. My fiancé was told to rest up and ease back in with new running shoes. If it costs to go to the doc (UK here so nhs) then try that and see
3. In the mean time try non-weight-bearing cardiovascular such as swimming or cycling
4. Do not push through pain!
5. There is no evidence that stretching before exercise prevents injury. Indeed, some studies have shown that stretching cold muscles can give you microtears and reduce performance, so be careful. Check out nhs fitness studio for some good videos.