Shin pain?!

[MrsBurt]

Hi all. I did c25k about 18 months ago, but stopped because of childcare. Now one of my kids has started school I've started up again. I'm only on week 2 run 2, and it's been going really well. I was tempted to skip a few runs to progress, but changed my mind and decided it would be better to build my fitness up a bit first. But after my last two runs I've ended up with a pretty constant pain running down my shins. Today it was almost unbearable towards the end of my run. Now as I've only done 5 runs with not much actual running I find it hard to believe it's shin splints, but that's exactly what it feels like. I was wondering if anyone had any insights? Could it be my shoes, as I have a new pair of trainers which don't seem to be suiting me (they give me numb feet and rub on one of my toes)? I'm tempted to try my next run with my old trainers on, but don't want to exacerbate the problem. Thanks in advance x

[SueKen Graduate]

Might be the shoes, or possibly you are going a tad fast too?

[MarkyD Graduate]

Maybe you are 'over-striding'? Take shorter steps when you are walking and running. That's hard to do, so think about running quietly, don't bang your feet on the ground, but run 'stealthily'. Fast, short, nimble steps. Pretend to be an assassin running up quietly behind your victim. A higher cadence (steps per minute) with a shorter stride (quiet steps) will fix your shin splints.

For the technical-minded, running with a shorter stride means that your body-weight is vertically above your hip/knee when your foot lands, and your joints compress under the load. 'Over-striding' puts your foot in front of your body-weight when you land, causing compressive forces in the front of your leg aka shin.