So, after a hiatus of a couple of years, in which I’ve gotten most of my cardio from the ellipticals and recumbent bikes at the gym, finding myself desirous of enjoying the summer evenings, I’ve taken up running again. I’ve started jogging/speed-walking again, 2 miles every time, about 4 times a week. And to increase the intensity of the cardio workout, I’ve started wearing one those 20-lb. weight vests.
But running always gives me problems. When I was in the Army, running was my absolute worst event on the PT test. I don’t think I ever went faster than 12:45 on the two-mile. I’ve often wondered if I don’t have exercise-induced asthma, or maybe just really small lungs (I’m generally a small guy, anyway). And a few years back, running too hard gave me patellar chondromalacia in both legs.
I’ve been doing pretty well this time around, but my shins and the muscles around them DO. NOT. LIKE. the combined high impact of running, and that weight vest. I now have very tender spots on the front edge of my shin bones, right in the middle of the of the bone, on each leg. From what I’ve read online, this seems like it’s just shin splints, but I’m dreading that I might have caused some hairline stress factures. (It’s happened before, notably in the military.)
So I’m gonna take a couple days off, and go back to the elliptical two or three times. Then back to running. I refuse to believe that I’m too old or too weak to jog regularly.*
Wish me luck. Thanks.
*I’m actually in pretty good shape, and I’m trying to slim down even more and get in better overall shape. Hopefully I can get my body fat low enough that my abs show again, like they did at age 19. Hence the increased cardio. Currently I’m 5’10", 158 lbs, with a waist of 36.5" (at the very fattest, right about navel-level). I can do better, though. I hope.
Is the pain in a vertical line along the bone or a horizontal line across? If horizontal and very tender to tapping, it’s likely a stress fracture. See a sports doctor, a couple of days off won’t help.
For shin splints:
Walk 10-20 yards at a time on your toes feet straight ahead, toes out, toes in, repeat 3 -5 times
Do rapid toe taps, (heels stay on the ground) 15 sec alternate feet, 3-5 times.
Get styrofoam cups, fill with water and freeze. Peel down to expose the ice and massage the shins 10-15 min 3-5 times a day if you can.
Check your running form, you should be landing on your heel but not overstriding. The footplant should be under you, not out in front. Do not try to “run on your toes”. Unless your sprinting, that can also lead to shin splints.
A 12:45 two mile for a non-competitive runner is very good.
My feet have become flat, and I get shin splints horribly from running. I tried to stick with it, hoping it would get better, but my doctor said it would never get better. I could probably manage okay with good orthotics, but of course they can be hundreds of dollars, so I haven’t tried that yet.
You do not want to keep running with a stress fracture. Ask me how I know. Ask me how long I was in that stupid boot thing. (6 months. SIX!!)
How long ago did you start running? The fact that it is on both sides maked me think shin splints over stress fracture. Do you have the right shoes for your running type?
Definitely get checked out at a real running shoe store that can take a look at how you run and get you the best shoes.
I’ve struggled with shin splints, and my flight surgeon told me that if I was intent on not taking time off of the running thing, the only thing that would make the splints heal were a reduction in swelling and not pushing too hard. That meant icing the crap out of them as much as I possibly could as well as naproxen twice a day. It also meant either reducing my running duration or not pushing for more duration than I already had (what he really wanted me to do was go back to what I was doing right before I got them, but I wasn’t willing to do that).
His major worry was the progression from splints to fractures, but I reasoned with him that as long as I did what he suggested, and with my current level of pain (which was painful but not too bad), then it shouldn’t progress, and if it did get any worse, I’d stop.
You sound like your pain is pretty bad, so I’d seriously consider taking a break, then starting again very slowly, icing and doing the aleve thing whether you feel pain or not (starting now and continuing after you start up again). You’ll know your splints are gone when you can probe your tender spots and not feel any pain.
More advice from another graduate of the school of hard knocks:
If it hurts, stop. “Working through the pain” is often a great way to give yourself some nasty long-term problems or make a minor injury much worse and it’s really not worth it.
Go see your doctor and a sports therapist if necessary. Follow their advice. Make sure that your running shoes are in good condition (for example, they aren’t six years old with 2000 miles on them).
Once you’ve got the all-clear to start up again, ease back in. If you want to increase the aerobic workout, you can increase distance, try mixing in some speedwork, hills, etc. rather than wearing a weight vest.
If I ever get my courage up to try running again, I may look into these. I’m still too scared to try again, considering the amount of pain I went through before, but maybe one day.
I know exactly what you’re talking about as I used to get some nasty shin splints and pain. I purposefully avoided the treadmill at the gym and would stick to the elliptical. I’ve got a friend who’s a runner and she got me a sweet deal on a pair of New Balance with motion control. While they haven’t eleviated the pain, I can go a lot further than I used to be able to with regular shoes before the pain starts.
I would add that even though it sounds like you are in good shape and capable of running long distances due to your elliptical and bike work, you still have to ease into the running. Running is very high impact, and your body needs time to adjust to this. You more than likely did too much too soon. After taking a bit of time off to heal your shin splints, try taking it a lot shorter distances at first. I know this is frustrating because it doesn’t feel like you are getting a workout, but otherwise you are going to continue to have problems.
There are several spots, right on the very front edge of the tibia, that are rather tender to tapping. Feel very much like bruises. This makes me worry that they’re stress fractures.
But…
It’s on both tibias (tibiae? tibiorum? tibiaes?), not just one.
Not horizontal at all: vertical, running the lower length of the tibia, where the bone meets with the muscle that’s on the outer front of the lower leg. The broad, oblique side of the tibia (ie., the inner lower leg, in the front) has no pain at all, anywhere.
There is no pain while I’m at rest.
I can hop on one foot with almost no pain at all, quite a few times.
So my money’s on shin splints. I still may go see a doctor, though.
