[Focus]

I was getting set to enter the Great East Anglia Run in Kings Lynn. In the final phase of training, on a treadmill, I had a twinge. I went out for a road run (5.7miles) two days later and suffered the same twinge that continued after, particularily on the heel strike. I tried a 10 minute treadmill run two days later, and although the pain appeared to go whilst running it continue after and most noticeable when using my feet to stabilise me during a decline dumbell press, i.e. the toes pulling upwards.

I have not run (trained) for a week and confined my aerobic workout to cycling and rowing. However, will I had to run a short distance at the weekend the pain was intense on the hell strike phase again.

I have been advised to do some calf stretch variations to stretch the shin area and hold them for 30 seconds rather than 10-15 as I was before. Unfortunately, my stretching programme only consisted of IT Band, Hamstring, Calf and Quad stretch prior to this after a run.

The trainers I use are Asics Landreth II from a running shop in Norwich but they don't have gait analysis but they are very experienced and had my old trainners to see the wear patterns. I have been using these trainers between two and four times a week since January.

What action is best advised for resolving the cause, stretching programmes and how long before starting up again?

Cheers,
Dave

PS. I've researched other threads but injuries seem to be quite personal with the symptons they display - hence the post.

 

[Steady Edwina]

Hi Dave,
I've suffered with sore shins because I overpronate. In my case it wasn't classic shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) but peristisis, which is an inflamation of the sheath and connection tissue around the shin bone. I've had an adjustment to my orthotics (custome made insoles) and for a while I had to reduce the intensity of my training and wear shin supports. I also ice my shins after every run.

There are lots of different shin conditions generally if you get some discomfort at the start of a run that disappears after your muscles have warmed up but comes back after the run then it could be MTSS. If you get a shin pain that comes on 10-20 mins during a run and gets worse (i.e. crescendo pain) then it could be a stress fracture or compartment syndrome.

There are some exercises you can do to strengthen the shins such as walking on your heels, dorsiflexing your ankles (pointing toes towards shins), ankle eversions and inversions (turning ankles outwards and inwards) but it might be worth visitng a sports injury specialist to get your gait checked out. Have you upped your mileage a lot recently? How old were your shoes - do you know how many miles you had run in them?

 

[Focus]

Thanks for your reply,

I have been doing the following programme for about 6 weeks now:

Monday - 10minutes treadmill 13.5kmph 1.5% gradient plus 2km row and resistance training (chest)
Tuesday - 30minutes treadmill 13.5kmph 1.5% gradient and resistance training (arms)
Wednesday - 10minutes treadmill 13.5kmph 1.5% gradient plus 2km row and resistance training (back & shoulders)
Thursday - 30minutes treadmill 13.5kmph 1.5% gradient and resistance training (legs)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 9km road run in about 42minutes
Sunday - Rest

I was running 20mins mon-thurs for a month prior to this and have probably done 10-15km a week prior to that, supplemented with resistance training.

Hope this can help,
Dave

 

[Steady Edwina]

Does the pain in your shins actually effect your running performance - mine didn't so I was advised to cut back by 25%. You seem to do all your running around the same pace maybe you should include a slower run intoyour training programme.

Depending on how bad the pain is you might not need to stop running but just reduce the intensity a little - try a slower run or a shorter run the build up gradually again. Icing really helps and you may find shin supports help as well.

Most gyms have a physio or sports therapist attached to them so you could get a professional opinion. Make sure you stretch both calf muscles as well - the gastronemus and soleus. I usually use a step to stretch mine out - bend your knee then drop the heel or your other foot over the step until you feel a stretch in the calf, reapt on the other side and then drop both your heels at the same time over the step and hold for 30 seconds.

 

[Focus]

Once again thanks for your reply.

The pain didn't affect my running that much in terms of performance as it was more comfortable at 13.5kmph rather than 12kmph.

I have already made some change to the programme to change the 10minutes runs on monday and wednesday to a 15minutes cycle followed by a 2km row in order to reduce the running days. I will probably drop to a comfortable 12kmph on the 30minutes run to build up again.

Not really sure how long to leave it before running again!

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Steady Edwina]

Go for a slow gentle run and see how you get on and as I said maybe see a professional they may give you some ultrasound or soft tissue work and they will definately be able to advise on training intensity - checking your stretches etc.

The problem sometimes with resting if that if you don't know what caused the problem in the first place and therefore don't address it - the problem never really goes away.

If after your run you still experience pain maybe try a 2 week rest but there are no hard and fast rules about resting as we are all different.