I have recently contracted the most debilitating shin splints imaginable. They are ridiculously painful. Here are the symptoms: They never bother me when I play basketball, lift weights, or do wind sprints, all of which I do regularly. They only bother me at about the .5 mile point in my long runs. I have only recently started doing 2.5's again and I cannot understand how they never ever start to hurt when I play two hours of ball or do 10 100 yard sprints, but the slow steady pace feels like someone is taking a sledge to my shins. They also get these grissly bumps on my shins. Anybody know anything about these?
Are you normally running on concrete? How old (and good) are your running shoes? I used to get them quite often when running on the concrete streets/sidewalks of Houston. I have never had them when I do most of my running on 'black-topped' streets or sidewalks. I never had bumps and mine seemed to behave the opposite of yours. I would start off running in discomfort, but it would go away. They did bother me when I would have to sprint in other sports (e.g. running after balls or running the bases in softball).
Strange... cause mine get worse as I go on. And I stretch well before running. My shoes are brand new Nike Zoom's. I am running mainly on concrete. They ache for like an hour after I run, and they are not getting better each day, they are getting worse. I thought it might be an injury, but I have it in both legs in exactly the same place.
Ahhhhhh, there's your problem. Seriously, see if you can find another route that is not predominantly concrete - a park or a school track would be a good starting point.
LeGrouper- Do you have really large calves? Back in my freshman year in college I had what I thought was shin splints. I was assured with some rest after they would be fine. They didn't get better. Before my sophmore year I went to a specialist who diagnosed me with compartment syndrome (they basically had me run some stairs and then stuck liek a pressure guage in my leg). This means when my calves got pumped that I couldn't get real good circulation down there. I had to go in for some surgery take take some tissue out of there. My symptoms were pretty similar, I could run for awhile but then I would feel severe pain in both legs (like shin splints but like you said it stayed around for awhile and was more intense than I had experienced with shin splints) Again it's pretty rare but the symptons seem strangely like mine.
Yeah I was researching on the net and the symptoms seem like those. That sucks. So you say you get surgeory for that? I have a 1.5 mile run for a state trooper exam this saturday but I think I will just run it in sprints. I timed myself with this method and it worked. It only has to be in under 15 minutes. I didn't use to have this problem, it only came about it seems after alot of heavy lower body lifting. It could be that my muscles are pulling disproportionately because my quads, and hamstrings are very developed and my calves pretty developed. I am only 5'9'' but my legs are pretty thick, especially in the quads. I used to play loads of soccer, never a problem, and basketball, never a problem. I still play alot of ball and never have a problem. Also not a glitch when I do sprints. But right at about the half mile mark it feels like little balls of fire that gradually grow and grow until you simply can't take it anymore and have to walk, then they still hurt, just not as much. Thanks for the help by the way.
Running on concrete is your main problem. Are there no dirt trails in your area? I would never, ever go back to pavement.
LeGrouper- Yeah I had surgery. They went in there and basically cut some tissue out which allowed for better circulation. It's not a life or death thing but the Dr. basically told me if I wanted to be active I needed the surgery. Really sucked because tehy could only do 1 leg at a time and oth times I was on crutches for almost 3 weeks. If you need any other information or have any questions just let me know. Maybe yours isn't as severe as mine was and they can treat it differently, or hopefully it may just be shin splints which could just take some rest to heal.
Sweet, I might need surgery. If I can get by this run sprinting then I am going to just try to grin and bear it.
LeGrouper, Do you run more on your toes? Some sprinters do that by mistake when they try to run long distances. imo, a sprinter style is different. You might have a problem with your running style....which is probably your best case problem to have, and you should eliminate that as cause first....because nothing will fix it (like changing shoes, pavement, regimen, and, god forbid, surgery, etc.). You might be overstriding, which is something that probably works in sprinting, as you move your momentum forward and can strike your foot ahead of your knee. I was a distance runner, and had a soft running style....with no real injuries, but I didn't learn how to properly sprint until later in life. The thought of running on your toes was just something I never considered, as naive as that may sound. So if you run the same, in both distances, that might be your problem. Distance running is about relaxing, and using your body's natural, skeleton pendulum swing--economy of motion, economy of muscle use, and least exertion is key. There is not the exertion and same use of muscles as a sprinter uses. Do distance runners even have big calves?? imo, they don't really even use their calve that much, and don't create a forward angle from knee to striking point--striking point is under the knee. Pounding is absorbed by thighs and they get bugles right above the knee. You might have your center of gravity more in a sprinter's position, which is more in front, over your toes. imo, slower speeds in this style make you strike pavement strangely. I'd also suggest not doing wind sprints on the same days you do distance. Alternate them. You might want to stop the windsprints for the time being, as well.
How about orhotics? do you have sort of flat feet. My son has the same problem and has flat feet. Orthotics have helped.
I will consciously adjust my running style HP, thanks for the tip. I think I am running on my toes. I do have a problem with my feet because I have soft bones in my feet, called turner's syndrome. Not too serious but I had jumped off of a house about three months ago and bruised the bottom of my feet. But they healed. And like I say, I can run sprints all day long. I mean I would have no problem running 20 100 yard sprints one after the other with 30 seconds of walking in between. And no problems with the shins or feet. I will go in on leg day and pyramid 20 sets of squats and the shins don't give a peep, the quads do, but not the shins. Also I hit the calves pretty hard and never feel the shins. Then, when I use the slow steady stride of a distance runner - bam! Lasers in the tibias. My shins still slightly ache from this morning.
Ice those bad boys down at night. Apply ice for 10-15 minutes, 2-3 times that night. There is also one particular stretching exercise I do that helps.... I use my dumbbells for this, take one foot and place the upper portion of your foot on the gripe portion of the bell. Use pressure and lower the back portion of your foot as much as you can. Don't try to run for another two weeks. Rest, and perform those exercises along with iceing the shins for two weeks. When you start back up, take it easy and don't rush back into your schedule. Do maybe 1 mile jog for the first week. Oh yeah, if you can get ahold of some Vioxx, that will help with the pain.
From personal experience, the only way to recover from shin splints is to give your legs a long break (about a month), and then start back up extremely slowly to build your leg muscles up. The first two times I tried this it didn't work, but they've been fine since the last break I took. As far as why it doesn't hurt for wind sprints or basketball, in addition to what HP mentioned, my guess is you're leg muscles couldn't handle running nonstop for a long distance but they could handle the short sprints followed by a rest and the stop and go style of playing basketball. From everything I've read shin splints are the result of a combination of the surface you're running on and whether your leg muscles can compensate for the abuse they're going to take. Also, bodyweight plays a part. It sounds like you work out your leg muscles pretty good, but maybe the only way to develop muscles for long distance running is to actually run. Nike Zoom's...are those considered cushioned running shoes? You may want to consider getting some heal pads. Unfortunately, it's most likely not going to go away unless you take a break.
Thanks slim and trim and DC, those are both good pieces of advice. Here is my plan from what I have gathered so far: I am going to have to run 1.5 this saturday. But it is only in 15 min or under, very easy, so I know I can make it even if I just sprint a minute and walk a minute. I am just going to get by for that. But I am going to stop running now and start icing and stretching as per slim and trim. I will take a break and then slowly work back into it using a less on the toes running style. I think I will mostly have to run on concrete around here, but my shoes are very padded. I think I will take two weeks off but continue stretching and icing. Then when I start again I will run only .5 miles every other day for two weeks, then up to one mile for two weeks, then 1.5 every other day. I will continue a resistance plan throughout. Thanks for all of the good, well thought out advice.
I get them too. Have had them for 5 years, but only during long distance running. I have bad ankles, so I think that may have something to do with it. I guess that's why I like the eliptical machine.
