I have shin splints… hurts like hell. I am doing everything I can think of - ice, advil, compression socks, a shin brace, massage… everything except rest. I am doing IM Arizona in a few weeks and can’t afford to bail on my training.
Any ideas on how best to continue to train? The bike doesn’t hurt, and in fact sometimes strangely makes it feel better. But the first foot strike running just kills me. I can push through the pain for a while but it will drop me to a walk after a few miles. and then is sore the rest of the day, etc.
My first IM. Age grouper that only wants (now) a sub 14 hour finish. Any ideas regarding the best way to train given this condition?
I went through the same before IMAZ. Two days per week of ART on the shin splints allowed me to train without too much pain and resolved the issue before the race.
I went through the same thing, and mine turned out to be stress fractures actually. I still dont regret pushing it in the training, finishing my ironman (much slower than I probably otherwise would have), and then after the race, letting it rest for 12-14 weeks to heal. Just know this might be an issue for you if you plan to go right into another race after this.
Anyway, the best way to get through them, IMO, is aleve and strengthening exercises. Let the muscles around your shin get stronger in order to absorb more of the impact and aleviate some of the stress on the bone. Right before I run, I would lay on my back, left foot on the ground, right foot on my left knee. Then I would push out on the inside of my shoe with my hand, while resisting it with my foot and using my front shin muscles to rotate my foot inward. I did this 16-20 times. Then I pulled my foot in by grabbing the outside of my shoe with my hand, and resisted it by rotating my foot outward (x16-20). Then I would push down on my toes while rotating my foot upward (x16-20). The muscles in front of my shin were burning at this point, but when I started running, they felt nice and warmed up, and my shin pain almost went away. It came back afterward, though, so I knew full well I was making it worse by not stopping, but I was way too invested in the race to just say ‘oh my shin hurts, let me drop out.’
Every night, I would also do some stretch cord exercises that were pretty much the same motion, but I didn’t find this to have as much of an effect as the stretching I did right before i started a run.
Shin splints are generally a symptom. Underlying stress fractures would be the most important cause to rule out. Overpronation can be a factor as can running downhill. Ice, rest and NSAIDS. If they don’t completely heal you are fighting a never ending battle. Been there done that.
Shin splints are generally a symptom. Underlying stress fractures would be the most important cause to rule out. Overpronation can be a factor as can running downhill. Ice, rest and NSAIDS. If they don’t completely heal you are fighting a never ending battle. Been there done that.
this x2
I “trained” for almost two months with it… I tried EVERYTHING: RICE, stretching, calf-sleeve, etc…
My doc said; u can do all u want but unless u stop running for at least 6 weeks u won’t be able to really fix it!
6 weeks after… I was running with no pain whatsoever.