Hey ladies,

I am new here and so glad to join. What a great forum this is. Here is what I was wondering. Thank you in advance for your insight.

I am 33 years old and used to be a cross country runner in my teenage years. Many years have gone by and I am restarting my workout. I have a goal of reaching 3 miles by the end of August...in 25 minutes. So far I am running 1 mile without difficulty in terms of cardio. I feel great.

Holding me back however, are shin splints. I stretch them out before and after and all goes well...until I hit the mile mark. Exactly. I then stop, stretch, then walk.

I am prone to them. Always was. I have supportive sneakers and the stretching is so helpful. I just wondered if there are any other solutions.

Any stetches you have done that really nip it in the bud? I would LOVE to run a mini marathon some day and maybe a full one within the next few years. In fact, I have a race in March 2005. It's a five mile run with hills and my competition is fierce. (But not too fierce...heh! I am going for the best time and will enjoy every minute of it. Afterwards, I will probably be in pain but so worth the try...even if I lose, it will be worth the try. Why not, right?)

Again, thank you for advice.

Pickles.

Stretching won't help much. First of all, if you're really prone to them, you should consider seeing a podiatrist for orthotics. It might help. You also probably should cross train more. Only run 1-2 days per week. The other days, you increase your fitness level (and running ability) by biking, swimming, taking aerobics classes, etc.

Most people I've seen (including myself) that get shin splints, get them because they are overtraining, too much too soon. I always get them after I make a big increase in either speed or distance.

There is a device called a D.A.R.D. that can help (Dynamic Axial Resistance Device). It's about $60. I think you can get it at Perform better, or at Power Systems.

Here's a way to strengthen that muscle for free: Stand on the stairs, back to the stairs, heels on the stairs, toes hanging over the edge. Push your toes toward the floor. Now lift the toes as high as you can toward the ceiling. Repeat. When you are lifting your toes, you are strengthening the tibialis anterior, which will help.


---Clint
http://www.clintphillips.com/ask.html

A great runners resource: www.runnersworld.com

You can find all kinds of advice at the runners world web site.

In addition to the advice already given and going to the runners world web site I would do the following.

Your goal is 3 miles in 25 minutes so instead of trying to work your way up to running that far I would do run/walks.

Measure out a 3 mile course. At first just plan to walk to whole course then start to incorporate some running. Run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, run for 2 minutes and so on. Do this for a week or two and then increase your run time. Run for 4 minutes walk for 2 minutes, run for 4 minutes walk for 2..... Keep increasing your run time until you can run the whole thing and keep in mind THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH WALKING!

As a runner myself, I would like to see improvement everytime I run but it's just not realistic sometimes. Especially with an injury holding you back. Besides what is your real goal, to just be able to run an 8 minute mile for 3 miles at the end of August or to hopefully have a lifetime of running fitness ahead of you?

One last bit of advice, go to a specialty running store and make sure that you're wearing the proper shoes. Don't go to a mall store, make sure it's a specialty running store. They will get you in the proper shoes and will probably have more advice for you on your shin splints.

Sorry about the long post. Good Luck and give us some updates on your progress.

Wow. Thanks you guys. Very helpful. Very very.

Hey ladies,

I am new here and so glad to join. What a great forum this is. Here is what I was wondering. Thank you in advance for your insight.

I am 33 years old and used to be a cross country runner in my teenage years. Many years have gone by and I am restarting my workout. I have a goal of reaching 3 miles by the end of August...in 25 minutes. So far I am running 1 mile without difficulty in terms of cardio. I feel great.

Holding me back however, are shin splints. I stretch them out before and after and all goes well...until I hit the mile mark. Exactly. I then stop, stretch, then walk.

I am prone to them. Always was. I have supportive sneakers and the stretching is so helpful. I just wondered if there are any other solutions.

Any stetches you have done that really nip it in the bud? I would LOVE to run a mini marathon some day and maybe a full one within the next few years. In fact, I have a race in March 2005. It's a five mile run with hills and my competition is fierce. (But not too fierce...heh! I am going for the best time and will enjoy every minute of it. Afterwards, I will probably be in pain but so worth the try...even if I lose, it will be worth the try. Why not, right?)

Again, thank you for advice.

Pickles. cHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE FOR RUNNERS, ITS CALLED WWW.COOLRUNNING.COM. I STARTED RUNNING 2 MONTHS AGO AND LOVE IT, HAVE LOST GOOD WEIGHT DOING THIS, SOMETIMES AS MUCH AS A POUND A DAY. I RUN 3 MILES EVERY EVENING OR WALK CAUSE MY KNEES BEEN BOTHERING ME LATELY (ARTHRITIS) BUT ITS NOT GONNA TAKE CONTROL OF ME IF I CAN HELP IT. SEE YA

I am a true cardio freak. I think five miles is a short run. I also love to run distance, and there are a few stretches you can do for shin splints but as you already heard, if you are prone to get them, it is unlikely to help. Lean back on one leg and with the forward leg tap your toe about thirty times on the forward leg, then switch. Good luck with the speed thing. I just had a baby 15 weeks ago and I am back at 18 minutes for two miles, I can run four but after running the first two at 9 minutes, I usually run the next two kind of slow. I am hoping to get back my 13:30 two mile run time. Best of luck and just keep running.

I just started running at the beginning of this year. I am a reformed smoker and from not being able to do a flight of stairs, I can run three miles! I know it is not much for seasoned runners, but to a reformed smoker, this is a marathon. I am so glad I quit!

Any ways. I used to get shin splints from hell too, and shoes can be part of it. However, shin splints also are caused by dehydration. Are you drinking enough water to support your cardio?

I did find getting some shoes from the The running room helped, but water intake totally stopped the shin splints for good. I also take yoga and pilates classes and those have helped my running preformance a great deal too.

Running is my new passion! I have been running on the treadmill fairly consistently for the past 4 months and have now worked up to 3.5 miles in 30 minutes. I used to struggle if I went higher than 5.5 on the speed. I now go between 6.0 and reaching 7.0 for the last 2 min. It is an incredible high for me not to mention I'm sweating buckets! I have also gone down a pant size- I'm now a size 6! :claphigh: I started out a size 10/12. I also spin 2x/week- and I'm addicted to that class too! All the other cardio machines bore me!

Biking is also good for shin splints! I only did one year of track in HS (my senior year, I was late bloomer) and the coach would have people bike if their shins bothered them.

Also, I just got these insoles that are really comfy. They're called Superfeet - picked them up at a running store, but I think REI has them too.

Two years ago I was a running machine...and then hurt my knee. I did physical therapy & took ~1 year off. Been slowly getting back into it.

We've got really similar time/distance goals :) I'm going to go try to do 2 miles at around 8 min/mile pace now. We'll see how it goes.

Oh yeah...any other runners bummed that the sun sets so early again?

Have fun & be safe!
Kirby

bummer. it's 10:15pm. no run this evening. i was at work too late and we have a guest in town for the week. hopefully tomorrow at lunch...

kirby