"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? ... So use every part of your body to give glory back to God..." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Shin Splints..Oh How we Hate you!


"Shin Splints" is a catch all, general phrase used to describe pain in the anterior (front) or medial / posterior (inside facing the other leg) area of the lower leg between the knee and the ankle. Shin splints are a very common running injury that particularly afflicts new runners." According to Runners World

I have had a lot of injuries but never shin splints. This week I have had a few people contact me regarding the dreading Shin Splints!

Shin Splints are best acknowledged by doing TOO much TOO soon. Not only new runners are plagued by this pain but also runners who come off a break and even other athletes that are doing a lot of pounding on their legs.

Or like my niece "Sarah" who contacted me this week, she has been doing "Insanity" with a girlfriend and she is suffering. I began "Sleuthing" for answers to some questions trying to figure out what her pain might be from.
Here were some of the red flags:

  • Working out WITHOUT shoes! -Poor shoes can lead to shin Splints!! It cost more to recover than to invest in good shoes!! Your body needs good support, stability and cushioning.
  • Not hardly working out to diving into a workout like "INSANITY" which consists of a lot of jumping.
  • Poor Calf Muscles
It didnt take long before I was seeing direction into INJURY. 
Summer is right around the corner and a lot of us girls are wanting to have the bathing suit body ready! Or we are now just realizing that second piece of dessert really DID HURT! 

Race season is right around the corner also. Many runners suffer from Shin Splints around this time. They are jumping into running  too MUCH too SOON. 
I had another phone call this week from "ASHLEY".  "ASHLEY" is training for TOUGH MUDDER this week. She too is in the "Pain Locker". Her concern was the race was in a few days...
I explained to her WHATEVER training she had put into her race from this point is the best she is going to get. With the TOUGH MUDDER being the weekend coming up she should be tapering anyhow. 5 or six more days of cramming in training is not going to make your race ANY BETTER. It actually can hurt more than anything.
 This was a race Andy and I wanted to run together. We made a last minute decision not to. "ASHLEY" wanted to know if I had ever done it before. 
MY ScareDCat Response!


 Cost was another factor. Racing for one person can get expensive but Andy and I BOTH enjoy racing. It can get really costly. You find yourself giving race entries for everything...Valentines day, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Ground Hogs day ect! 

Rabbit Trail..Back to SHIN Splints! How to Recover from them: 
R-I-C-E
  1. REST
  2. ICE
  3. COMPRESSION
  4. ELEVATION
For greater detail on remedies for SHIN SPLINTS CHECK out LIVESTRONG.

Running Ramblings:
I was quite sore today with "Katie" out there at Indian Springs this morning. I have 45 miles in this week which included yesterdays 7 miles of hills. My bootie and quads were burning. Funny you feel sore and strong, These feelings are misdiagnosed as "FIRM" -like you could be a underwear model or something...Thats only How YOU FEEL though...the visual aid is SOO different from the Physical Reality that you are a 38 year old mom of two the only "modeling" you are doing is in the dark!
KATIE!!

ANITA 6WEEKS!!!


6 MORE WEEKS!!! Pre-Race JITTERS are surfacing. How do you know what PRE RACE JITTERS are? It is somewhere in between the feeling of Pooping  your Pants and wanting to THROW UP all while your heart is convulsing out of your chest....Thats my experience with the Jitters...that are coming more frequently now with 6 weeks left!



HAPPY RUNNING!!! IF you have any experience with SHIN SPLINTS PLLEEAASE SHARE!!

Anita~~

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7 comments:

  1. Nina MartinApril 12, 2012 at 7:22 PM

    Quite possibly the most discouraging injury to a newbie runner. It's enough to make some hang up their shoes without a second thought. When I was heavy and learning to run, it was a non-stop issue. It just goes to prove you MUST take baby steps when you're first starting out and BUILD GRADUALLY...not an all out "run or die trying" mentality. I don't get them now, thank you Jesus! But I remember the pain of them all too well...and I never want to revisit that again.

    Also, faster runners (like my husband) can experience shin splints from SLOWING down. When he takes his 7:30min/mi legs and slows them to my 10:30 min/mi pace he ALWAYS has painful shin problems...the man better get it together because we have a Marathon to run TOGETHER in October none of which will be run at HIS pace!! :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnitaApril 13, 2012 at 6:14 AM

      Funny Nina, You are so right. Before I ever knew I was going to be a runner I only KNEW I needed to get outside and do something. I had postpartum so bad that I would just need to do anything. I would run then walk, go a little, go a lot. I had no idea I was doing "IT" right. I was doing it to fight the demons. Running from THEM led me running to RUN!!A little here and a little there!
      I posted your blog on my sister in laws wall!! I think she is going to love you!

      Delete
  2. michelleApril 13, 2012 at 6:00 AM

    I've always taken significant time off between marathons (like, a year lol) so I restart with the "couch potato to 5K program." It's ridiculously easy but a nice transition from casual exercise to focused running.
    My spring marathon is tomorrow and I'm def feeling the pre-race jitters, not even about the running, but about the darn weather! I run TERRIBLY when it's cloudy and the forecast is 98% cloud cover :(

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    Replies
    1. AnitaApril 13, 2012 at 6:20 AM

      Michelle,
      I love that you do that. We want to enjoy running INJURY free!! It takes a lot of discipline and sometimes burying our pride to start at the beginning. But I believe you are on to something good..Sometimes we should go back a little farther to move forward a lot better!!1
      I am soo sorry about your marathon tomorrow...We are supposed to get thunderstorms and I have a 10k on Sunday...I am still praying...I will be praying for you too! DO not CLAIM a terrible run for yourself...YOU stay firm on YOUR TRAINING..and not the weather. You have trained to hard to let "Mother Nature" steal your Victory!!!
      ANita

      Delete
  3. UnknownJune 18, 2014 at 7:53 PM

    You should really look into a golf ball muscle roller it really helped to reduced the pain and swelling that i could never get rid of in my legs http://zzathletics.com/Golf-Ball-Muscle-Roller-Massager-GBMR1.htm

    ReplyDelete
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