I’m worried about shin splints. As mentioned in my last post I’ve been having problems with my lower legs. It’s not really serious but of course I told my coworkers about it. One of them … yes of course it was the guy who is significantly more overweight than I am and hasn’t actually done any physical exercise for the last 15 years since he graduated from high school … told me that shin splints are so horrible and I won’t be able to train once they really set in like during those days when he was a pro soccer star.

Hmpf.

He’s not exactly the most reliable source though so I figured I should read up on it. Here’s the shin splints text from wikipedia:

The purpose of the muscles of the anterior shin (tibialis anterior) is to dorsiflex the foot (raise the toe). It may not be obvious why a muscle which raises the toe can be stressed or injured by running, given that it is not responsible for propulsion. The reason is that unskilled runners overstride, and land heavily on the heel with each footstrike. When this happens, the forefoot rapidly slaps down to the ground. Effectively, the foot, which is dorsiflexed prior to making contact with the ground, is forcefully extended. This forceful extension of the toe causes a corresponding rapid stretch in the attached muscles. A reflex in the muscles responds, causing a powerful contraction. It is this eccentric contraction which leads to muscle soreness and possible injury to the muscle, tendon or connective tissue.

In a similar way, improper pronation of the foot during the footstrike can also cause pain in the muscles which oppose pronation, on the inside or outside of the shin. In proper pronation the foot strikes the ground on the outside of the heel and then rolls toward the inside of the foot approximately 5%. The ideal degree of pronation varies slightly with the individual. It is determined by factors such as the height of the arch (a higher arch has more clearance for pronation than a low arch) and the flexibility of the arch. In over pronation, the foot rolls in too far. The result is that the foot pushes off almost entirely from the big toe, causing excessive strain on the big toe and the outside of the shin. In contrast, under pronation occurs when the foot does not roll enough. This causes the entire weight of the foot strike to concentrate on too small an area on the outside of the foot, which places a corresponding strain on the shin.

It is also commonly believed that a contributing cause of shin muscle pain in some cases is the relative weakness of the muscles on the anterior of the lower leg compared to those in the calf. In this case, exercises that preferentially strengthen the anterior muscles may help alleviate or avoid shin splints. The shin pain is attributed to a forced extension of the muscle, in this case by the opposing calf muscles which “overpower” the shin.

Huh? Ok so it’s basically repetitive stress / overuse of the toe-raisin’-muscle. How do I tell if I have it though? From my Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer book:

• The pain is most commonly present in the lower 2/3 of the inside of the lower leg.
• The pain is usually present at the beginning of a run, but may disappear after 5-10 minutes.
• The pain usually reappears an hour after the workout.
• The pain is commonly present in the morning after getting out of bed.

Yesterday I started my run and did 8 minutes before my shins got tired. I slowed to a walk and then ran another 10 minutes after walking for a bit with no problem. Today I ran 10 minutes without significant shin tiredness, then walked 10 (oops, I was reading and forgot to watch the clock for the 5 minute mark), then ran another 10. I haven’t had sharp pain at any point. I haven’t had pain an hour after running or in the morning after getting out of bed. I think my shins just aren’t ready for the awesomeness that is me running.

I asked the gym lady at work how best to stretch that muscle and she worried about shin splints too, but after explaining my symptoms she didn’t think I had them either. I explained what my training plan was (slow build up to 30 minutes continuous running) according to the schedule in the book and she agreed that would be the best way to approach my goal.

Bottom line, I need to make sure I stretch after running. Weird, but according to my training book that’s the best time to stretch if you’re working on long distance running. Also, I should probably start taking an anti-inflammatory (Advil) after my runs. I’ll have to check that with my Dr.

In other news… I geeked out and bought a Garmin Forerunner 305. I got the bike cadence sensor with it so I can use it when I bike. It’s charging right now and I won’t use it until Friday so I’ll have to report in on how well it works. From the suggestions I had received from others though it’ll help a lot, especially with the heart rate monitoring. I need to watch the heart rate because I’m a big fat guy but also because because my training should be based on my heart rate and not speed or subjective intensity (which I always seem to underestimate).

It’s hard to say no to sweet sweet graphics like these.

Too bad the watch itself is so klunky.