I was due to complete week 2 tonight but pain in my lower legs forced me to just walk. Has anyone else suffered with this or have any tips?

[Jenster]

[HardleyHare Graduate]

Where was the pain and what sort of pain was it? Was it in your calves or shins?

[Jenster Graduate in reply to HardleyHare]

Hi. The pain was in my shins. I managed the first two 90 second runs but had to stop during the third. Prior to this I'd been progressing nicely in weeks 1 & 2 despite being a complete couch potato! Thanks for any help.

[HardleyHare Graduate]

Pain in your shins is known as shin splints. I suffer from them too from time to time. At the moment I'm resting as I think I increased my weekly mileage too much and have put some strain on my shins. I also over-pronate slightly (look it up - it means your feet roll in) and this may contribute to it.

So it could be that you also over-pronate - this can be helped by getting your gait analysed and getting the right running shoes, or it could be that your legs just aren't used to the strain you're putting them under.

I'm not a health professional so you should seek better advice. Do some online research on shin splits. What are your running shoes like? Are they very old and not providing any support? You could go and get your gait analysed and think about treating yourself to some new running shoes. You don't have to spend a fortune - just get the right type of shoes for your feet.

In my experience, the only way to recover from shin splints is to rest them until they've stopped hurting and then start again, building up slowly.

Don't give up altogether though. This is only a minor set back and you'll be better and stronger next time.

Good luck!

[Jane-M]

Hi I used to get shin splints loads when I ran many years ago, cripplingly so and gave up running when I developed a stress fracture as a result. Sorry that sounds alarming, but it did happen. The reason was running for too long and too fast on hard unyielding surfaces.

I support all of HardleyHare's advice, but mainly go slow and when they hurt WALK it off and rest.

[greenlegs Graduate]

Do read up about it, but also consider whether you might just be going too fast and taking too-long steps, for what your legs are ready for now. After reading around, I decided to just go very slowly, and make sure I landed with my foot below my body weight (not reaching out ahead, which means you land on your heels - Laura does recommend this, but in one of the podcasts, but the website is more up-to-date and says don't land on your heels).

Going slowly might not be so satisfying at first, but it's a good way to train up your legs and joints - and your heart and lungs too.

[greenlegs Graduate]

Sorry, an extra 'but' crept in. What I meant was - don't land on your heels.

[greenlegs Graduate]

While I was looking for something else, I just came across this Chi running video from Danny Dreyer. I'm not so sure that chi running is the only way to do it (maybe it's just a good name for sensible running?), but he does explain why heel striking can cause shin splints in this.

youtube.com/watch?v=rkUqkdP...(Not working as expected?)

[T100C in reply to greenlegs]

I'm totally new to running, so I apologize for my ignorance, but this video doesn't make sense? If I lean forward, my centre of gravity moves forward, therefore I have to counter that by stepping further forward don't I? It would seem to me that in order to keep my foot strike area no further forward than my hip, I would actually have to lean backwards with my upper body, so as to move my centre of gravity back.

[Smitty in reply to T100C]

As I understand it by leaning forwards a little you can bring your foot further forward without it going beyond your centre of mass. You DO need to step further forward as you say (when looking at your foot in relation to your hip if you were still upright) but the slight lean means you can do that without going beyond your COM. If you were totally horizontal face down your foot could travel the whole length of your leg before going beyond COM. If you were horizontal face up your foot would always be beyond your COM. All forms of running and walking are essentially controlled falling.

[Jenster Graduate]

Thanks to you all for your advice. Will be taking a couple of days rest & do a bit more reading around things. As things were going so well I think I may have got a bit carried away and run before I could walk so to speak. It's certainly not going to put me off & hopefully I'll be out there again very soon.

[Smitty in reply to Jenster]

I also suffer from shin splints so I can sympathise. What I'm doing is repeating each week at least twice. I'm on week 3 but it's taken me 5 weeks to reach it. This way the intensity curve is quite shallow and allows my legs to adjust over time. I'm sure if I did each week one after the other as proscribed my shins would flair up. Don't be afraid to repeat weeks if you feel the next step up is too much. Even with that I'm still getting some shin pain (especially the left) but it's manageable.

Also get your gait analysed and buy some appropriate trainers. I went to an "Up and running" shop and the service and advice was first class. I tend to heel strike (like in the vid above) and over-pronate. At least with my new trainers I'm pretty sure that if my shins hurt it's because I've upped the intensity (duration, speed or distance) without being ready or have let my running form deteriorate.

Also look at your form. There's various ideas and advice but as far as I can work out the best way to run if you get shin spints is with a slight forward lean and landing on the mid or forefoot rather than the heel. This puts more pressure on your achilles and calf so be prepared for sore calves rather than sore shins. But it takes pressure off the front of the leg. Just make sure you are building intensity slowly so that your calves or achiles don't get injured instead.

Lastly try running on fairly natural or uneven tracks or trails rather than tarmac or pavement. Even a football pitch or park will do. With uneven terrain the feet land differently each time and so the stresses are less localised in one place or direction. On tarmac each foot fall is much like all the others so it's more likely to be repeating the stress that's causing the pain.

[Tiger79 Graduate]

I suffered from shin splints to start with. This is what helped;

Ice shins after a run and an ibuprofen to help reduce inflammation

Gait analysis and trainers for my over pronation plus scholl ortho running insoles - helped a lot

And then exercises like these...

m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=66r...

[jennstron]

I watched a really helpful programme by the bbc which was how to deal with pain and sports injuries. I too suffered terrible with shin splints, what i did is every night elevated by legs and put frozen veg/ice packs on my legs for about 30 minutes, this worked like a treat. Reduces the pain and speeds up healing