Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post — I did not realize how many of us really confront the issue of having friends and family who do not understand or support our participation in running or triathlon. There was some really good insight.
I did get in my four miler last night. I remembered that I have cable hooked up to the TV in my Pain Cave so I got to watch some college basketball. Of course the game I selected was a blowout and the fundamentals for both teams just weren’t there and the remote wasn’t working right. That meant four miles of pure bliss for me. But I digress. Here are the details from the ride this morning:
Distance: 21.3 miles
Time: 1:00:36
Average Watts: 170 watts
Normative Power: 172 watts
Average Heart Rate: 140 bpm
Total Work: 614 kJ
Average Speed: 21.1 mph
It isn’t as impressive as it seems — the distance is dependent on the cadence on the CycleOp’s Pro PT300, so you should be paying attention to the Average Watts and Total Work. What you see there is a recovery ride level of effort. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I want to ride outside this afternoon. I have to save something.
And there were a ton of entries for the contest. As you remember, the entries are now closed. I am hopeful that I will get the winner sorted out this afternoon and posted Friday morning. It is cool to find there are so many people who feel the same as I do — monitoring body composition is the more accurate way to determine how healthy you are. I think the Tanita BC-1000 is one of the coolest tools out there to calculate body fat and monitor body composition.
Shin Splints — Man Do I Hate Them
I am not a waif. If I were in a bar you would never think I was underfed. There are times in the season when I get serious that I look skinny, but my body likes to hang out between 185 and 195 lbs. If I never ran I swear my body weight would hover right between those two weights.
By my bone structure is smaller than most. I got my bones from my Mom, which means when my legs are shaved they look fantastic. For a woman’s. Most girls I know get jealous during the summer when my legs are tanned up, cut from hours on the bike, and shaved.
What that means is I am prone to shin splints. In the past when I would take the winter off and I would start running say in March, I would get shin splints. I think I would get them because I would start off the season heavier than when I finished it and the muscles at the front of my lower leg would not get worked very much duck hunting and skiing through the winter. I would just muscle through the pain and it would eventually go away.
People new to triathlon, new runners, and even walkers get shin splints. From what I have studied, there are two types of shin splints — one is muscular and the other is bone. The muscular shin splints come from your calves being stronger than the muscles in the front of your leg. Shin splints based in your bone can lead to a stress fracture but are due to the way your foot strikes the ground. When you get shin splints that are severe enough, you should have them checked out by a doctor.
The good news is there is a way to help prevent both. For the past two years I have only taken a month off of running. Now I have rolled my mileage back, but I am still putting in at least 20 miles per week. Since I work at a desk, I have the chance to do all kinds of exercises as I work. To help with shin splints, I will lift my toes towards my shins. Three times a day I will flex and hold anywhere from 20 to 40 times.
At home I will even do some isometric exercises. I will put my feet under my dresser in my bedroom and try and lift it with just my toes. I can’t lift it, of course, but the resistance is fantastic. I do know people who have had a ton of success using CEP compression socks after a long run to alleviate the pain that will come from shin splints. I haven’t tried compression socks during a run, but I keep swearing that I will. Pedaling in circles on the bike will also strengthen the muscles in the front of your legs as you pull up on the pedals.
Here is a good stretch that may help too…tuck those feet under and feel the stretch in the front of your legs.
With shin splints that are based in your bones, you need to get motion control shoes and/or orthotics. I don’t use either, but I would suggest if you are having this problem, go to your running store your podiatrist recommends and have a fitting.
This is the best video I have seen on the topic in a while. While it validates most of what I said, there are some additional tidbits you can pull out of it if you have shin splints.
No doubt about it — I hate shin splints. There is little that can end a good run quicker than the familiar pain in the front of your leg. The good news is a good PT can help you with exercises and stretches to prevent muscular shin splints. All you need is a good podiatrist who is a runner who can help you with the right type of orthics and you can prevent the bone based shin splints. Just one more thing to spend money on, right?
I have been participating in running and triathlons for 10 years and love the feeling that training provides. You may not agree with me, but you know you just can't look away...
I have quite a bit of problem with shin splints and it is worse on my left leg. The curl your toe seems to work for me and I tend to do it when I sit at my desk, driving (left leg) and before bed. 2 weeks ago I added wearing compression sleeve to bed and also an added layer of knee high socks (soccer socks) seems to help keep them warm and are cheaper than a compression socks which I am not really sure I need.
Changing subject, I listen to a podcast (Marathon Talk http://www.marathontalk.com/archive/2011/1/26/episode-55-ron-hill-part-one.html) that interview RH and was amazed on how little he needed to run and win a lot of races.
Thanks for the comment Elizabeth. I think shin splints come down tot his — find what works for prevention or treatment, and stick with it.
I am a believer of compression, I swear it works
It works for me too man. I think among my friends, it works for about half of the people who use it. I would love to wean myself from it, but that will be later in the season.
Here is what I do, I do not train in compression, I use it for recovery and I race in it (adds a nice bonus on race day), Since you want to ween from it, here is just an suggestion
Smart approach. I am going to start trying it. So for recovery, are we talking for a couple of hours after a run or do you sleep in them?
Depends how bad the legs feel after the run, if i feel good, then just a couple hours, if the run kicked my rear and my legs are in a bad state, then its the ice bath and compression all night
Going to a PT was the BEST thing I could have done for my shin splints. Also, I ice with a dixie cup icer the minute I get home from a run NO MATTER how good my legs feel. That has stopped most inflamation for me.
PT’s seem to know the most as long as they are trained in the treatment of sports related injuries. There are some PT’s who just don’t seem to get it. Glad you found a good one.
I have lingering shin splints since I picked up training for this 70.3 and also the intense running I did leading up to my first half mary. I bought compression socks from WalGreens the night before my last 15K b/c they had gotten so bad and the running store was closed. Do what you must…right?
I wear them now on long runs, for recovery and anytime I’m having a pain. They still rear their ugly head but the compression helps the pain
You know there is a scale compression is measured by and if I am remembering correctly some of the best socks are those made for diabetics. I think they may be more economical too. Good suggestion Allison.
Shin splints do SUCK!!! I suffered from horrific shin splint pain for about 6 months. My training partners still laugh at the time I stopped in the middle of a road bent over in such pain that I screamed out. I honestly couldn’t take another step (I was in the middle of the road). I finally took 2 steps only to bend back over screaming again. My training partner just laughed her butt off. Got a completely different type of shoe – immediately cured!!! They put me in Pearl Izumi Floats – cured! Maybe it’s not a training issue, as I found out, it can sometimes just be a shoe issue.
To told you about the Izumi’s Lisa? I might have to try and give them a go.
The expert runners at our local running store told me that Pearl Izumi Floats were the only shoe that “do what they do” and that people with shin splints have a lot of luck with them. Within a week of wearing them, my horrific shin splints went away and I have not had a problem since!!!!! I spoke with the Pearl Izumi vendor at the Women’s Half Marathon because the floats cured my shin splints, but caused my plantar fasciitis to hurt really badly. He agreed the floats were the best at fixing shin splints. Good luck!
I hate shin splints – I get them if I lay off the running too long. Not worth the break, is it?
Not worth the break at all. Between losing my fitness and shin splints, breaks suck.
thanks for this. i had TERRIBLE shin splints last spring (so bad i thought i had fractured my shins!) and going to PT and getting stim (my fav thing EVER) was amazing. and the massage my PT would do. gosh i almost want to get shin splints again so that i can have the treatment.
I got terrible shin splits when I first started running-well it was more like a lumbering, slow jog then-but luckily it passed rather quickly and I have not had issues since.
I have to have hubby run me a line so I can take my bike and trainer out of the living room!! LOL
I think it is important that new runners have a shoe fitting done at a running store to be sure that they are in the right shoe. This is one simple fix that will prevent problems down the road.
Lucky you with cable in your pain cave
I’m a football player and the pain in my shin while playing really sucks.I’m presently seein a doctor and stopped playin as he advised…will rest make my shin splint heal or it cannot be healed atall?i’m so worried pls someone has to help me.
It could be from several things, but most likely it is because you ramped up your training. I would suggest icing them down for about 30 minutes at night and then getting some compression sleeves for your calves/shins. Wear the compression sleeves to practice and the rest of the day. I would also wear them through the night, but that is just me. Talk to your doctor and ask if anti-inflammatories could be right for you too. Personally I don’t love pain killers of any type because I want to know what is going on with my body.
Good luck!