Shin Splints

So I'm not a naturally gifted distance runner. I like sprints (Faster than my entire old high school soccer team in the 100m ) but distance to me, is like a fat guy at a salad bar.


When I paddled canoe (Actual high school sport in HI) we'd start off with a 2 mile hill course run, every day, 5 days a week and I would get horrendous shin splints. (Even walking hurt) but never found a way to get rid of them, all I could do is take some ibuprofen and run until my shins went numb


fast forward a few years and I'm going through ROTC in college, and running around 4-6 miles a day, every other day...and my shins are WTFPWNING me. After about 150 miles this semester it's getting hard to walk without pounding some ibuprofen and icy hot.



Anyone have similar shin-pwning experiences? OR...Some miracle way to avoid them?


I've tried different shoes and insoles, and am looking into the vibram fivefinger/minimalist type shoes now...

 

Ice your legs, and stretch your calves and hamstrings. One thing that helped me was to get orthotics. I used to run Cross Country in college. make sure you don't get a stress fracture cause then you're in serious trouble.

 

I stretch as oft as I can, just gotta find ice.

 

yeah just ice stretch and i found that if you go to a running store they normally have something to test which shoe will fit the shape of your foot alot better and that got rid of mine pretty quick. he also said some people get them by having one leg shorter than the other, even if its just something that cant be seen it still messing with your running form.

 

Hmm.. I should go to a running store

 

yeah thats a good place to try, they also are pretty knowledgeable on the subject of splints, and have more ideas than we can think of

 

If you have foam cups fill them part way up with water then put it in the freezer and use it to ice, it's an icing massage, it helps a lot

 

I ran hurdles in school and always had shin splints. Luckily my sister is a doctor in exercise phisiology and gave me two good tips... one (sounds crazy but wokrs) walk pigeon toed from time to time, maybe when no ones around lol. It builds the muscles around your shins so you get more support. The second is advice she gave me on how to ice them proper. Fill paper dixie cups about 3/4 full of water and put them in the freezer. After frozen, peel back the bottoms and use like a massager on your shins as you ice

I also used to manage a footwear department at sport chalet for years. Proper shoes go a long way man. Get fitted and your gate cycle (how you run) looked at. Bring in your old shoes when buying new ones and any knowledgeable sales person will tell you what you need just on how your tred is worn.

I always recomended to heavy runners cycle two different kinds of shoes. Different shoes work out and apply pressure to different places in your feet. Changing it up it good to prevent soreness. That being said, good running shoes are hard to find under $100. I prefer brooks or asics but go with what feels best to you. Try the brooks adrenaline shoe. $89.99 but is better than some $140 shoes I've had.

hope this helps brudda

 

for my fitness test the other day, I used some compression socks that I had picked up at a running store. they worked pretty well.

 

True too much ice can be bad... What 20 min max right?

 

Thanks guys, gonna try the ice massage tonight, and head to the running store this weekend. Anyone heard of minimalist stuff getting rid of shin splints too?

Got beach PT tomorrow too...they dont let us take off our shoes when we swim...gonna need new shoes anyways (But I just bought these New Balance's for $100 )

 

I use to get shin splints so bad that you could easily see them as cracks in the bone on xrays...only thing i could was to pound down some painkillers and stay off my legs as much as possible.

 

i dunno if anyone has ever heard/tried this...but a buddy of mine said that his brother used to get real bad shin splints like you do and he said that he used to shave his legs and they would go away...he was probably messin with me but hell who knows

 

Do you stretch your shin before running? I ran Cross Country in HS and got it bad in my legs. I would do my normal stretches then I would point my toe downward place it a foot or so behind me and while keeping my leg straight I would drag my toe across the ground towards the front until I felt it stretching and hold it and do it again until my leg felt stretched. This also helps you ankle and hips to an extent.

 

Also like has been said before, a good pair of shoes will make a world of difference. I've never met a pair of Asics I didn't like. Talk to a salesman about your running style and take in your old shoes so that they can give you a proper fitting shoe.

 

spend a good 20 mins stretching before every run. still kills me.

 

Stretching after is just as if not more important too. Try a light cool down jog post workout n stretch it out after

 

Short answer to the minimalist shoes helping with shinsplints is yes. But it's not because they're minimalist--it's because they have a zero heel-to-toe drop (or close to it).

There is almost no lift (measured in mm they're usually between 0 and 4, which is miniscule compared to your standard-offering Nikes or Reeboks). Most running shoes you find at Foot Locker (and the like) are going to have a huge heel by comparison. Unfortunately the result is a forced heel strike. Shoes with a very small heel-to-toe drop go the other way--it's the forefoot that hits first.

Look into something with a zero heel-to-toe drop. The options are ever-expanding. A good test of whether a store (or sales person) can help is by asking for what they offer in that category. If they can help, chances are most of what they have will be minimalist. Some options in that category you may not be familiar with:
Inov8
Newton
VivoBarefoot
Feelmax

Merrel makes one called the Glove (three versions available for terrain), and New Balance makes the Minimus. One advantage to any of this kind of shoe is that they won't get heavy after you've been in the water. Anyway, here's a link to some good info: http://zero-drop.com/?page_id=759 (I've got those Vivo Neos--got 'em off the Clymb for about 60 bucks)

I also own a pair of Inov8s. Both are extremely light and comfortable. That said, it takes time to convert from regular shoes to shoes like these. All those muscles and joints that haven't been doing their job have to catch up and that can be as painful as hitting the weights for the first time in years! I have read that the Nike Free is considered a good "transition shoe" and could be acquired relatively cheaply. I would only consider it a transition shoe because the heel is still a bit on the thick side.

There's my two cents on shoes!