Shin Splints – The Worst - Ashley Feldstein

Shin splints are THE WORST for anyone that loves running. They seem to come out of thin air, and sometimes they disappear with minimal rest and sometimes you feel like you’ll never be able to run again. Sometimes it’s as simple as you’re maxing your mileage on your shoes, overuse, or you’re not in the right type of shoe for you and you should get an analysis.

Shin splints can be insanely painful, or the pain can be minimal. The pain can be during your run/workout, or the shin splints can creep in after, even after stretching.

How do I know that? I just spent half of 2020 dealing with the splints, and I still do when I push paces too hard, but quickly dissipate.

Pre Shin Splints

Back in May 2019, I ran my second full marathon and had a really successful 18-week training cycle, and a somewhat successful race day – minus the last 10k. I did run the whole thing with no pain, so that’s my win for that race! I took my time recovering from the race and prepared to head on a trip to Italy. We ran in Venice, which was frustrating and so fun all at the same time.

Towards the end of our trip, we were in Rome, before heading to Positano. After a horrible experience with our pass for the colosseum, we did our own Rome express tour in a day. It was smokin’ hot, so I wore my running skirt, a tee-shirt, & my flats. We had to have walked 20 kilometres that day, and as we were trying to get so much in, hardly stopped for water. We met friends for dinner, got some rest and then we were off to the Amalfi Coast the following day.

Lots of sitting on trains & buses, and trying not to be sick on the windy roads up the coast towards Positano. We got off the bus in Positano, and basically did some walking and exploring, and just really soaking up the last bit of Italian culture before heading home.

But first, plantar fasciitis

After taking 2 days to fly home (another story for another day) catching up on some sleep, unpacking, and getting back to the office, the hubs and I headed out for a run after work. I had sharp shooting pain in my right foot and hobbled the rest of the 5km loop. I could hardly walk on it that night, and I put some ice on the foot, and then popped Advil and went to bed to let it rest while keeping my foot elevated. I woke up and couldn’t step on my foot AT ALL. I literally cried and had to crawl from the bed to the washroom and stand on one foot to wash my face, then crawl to the sofa with my laptop. I messaged my Physio right away and Christian immediately thought I landed myself with Plantar Fasciitis and got me in to see him as quickly as he could.

Don’t you love taking 3 weeks off for vacation, getting back to work and then calling in stating you literally cannot walk so you can’t get to the office? I can’t even drive because we drive a stick shift, so both feet get used! I was rolling my feet every hour for 10 minutes at a time, with a frozen water bottle and keeping my foot elevated.

Feeling confident? Hello, global pandemic.

Right after we got home from Mexico, COVID was making headlines. We all know how this goes, right?

Run club and everything shut down, physio and massage included. I would head out early in the morning to get a run in before it got busy and my workday started. Endless conversations with my dad telling me to stay home (I was almost 34 at the time lol) and not be out running, as we didn’t know much about the virus at the time.

I was starting to increase my pace, likely a little too quickly and too often and I started to get this pain in my right leg, but more inwards as opposed to the front of the shin.

Christian to the rescue …ish. A rough diagnosis of shin splints, and I was told to ease up on the running. There’s a global pandemic – ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR &#^*@* MIND?!

Enter Shin Splints

I didn’t initially listen to the advice to stop running; sometimes I wonder why Christian hasn’t fired me as a patient yet!

Not listening was a horrible idea, to say the least. The pain got so bad, I couldn’t walk without hobbling, which made any activity that much more difficult, including walking the dog. My shin splints are on the inside part of my leg, not in the front shin bone, and the pain appears after a run, not during.

I had to take a full-blown stop from running at least until the physio clinic could open back up and he could get in there and get some needling going on. Y’all; I was miserable. Dealing with my boss (at the time) who really didn’t want me working remotely long-term, the crazy-ass world we were now living in, and now I couldn’t run off my stress. Also, the condo gym was closed so I couldn’t even go get weights & work out that way. I was MISERABLE.

Physio is back! Runners rejoice!

In June 2020, I was able to get myself in to see Christian and we came up with a plan and did several needling sessions. I was able to start running so slowly, and for short periods of time. Legitimately, no faster than a 7:00 minute kilometre, with walking intervals. I wasn’t allowed to run at all if I couldn’t hop on the sore leg without pain.

That delayed pain kept coming back and was driving me insane. With more rest in between, I was starting to be able to run a little bit more. Then my RMT was finally coming back so I got myself a few appointments booked and he worked on my legs a lot.

I had signed up for the BMO 1/2, which of course was cancelled. Run Van made it virtual and our run club put on a “race” in July (approved by the city) for us to be able to train on a shortened schedule and still get our races submitted before the due date of July 31st. However, that was feeling very out of reach.

Running Analysis

My sister suggested getting a run analysis at her clinic. He knew I was already working with another physio, so was totally willing to help out with this issue, especially as a lot of clinics were running at a reduced patient capacity, so I could bounce between. My stride was totally fine, and my shoes didn’t need to be changed – stable is definitely the type of shoe for me. Similar to what I was doing with Christian, we did a gradual back-to-run program.

I ran/walked the BMO virtual half and set myself back to square one. Because of course.

We started the run intervals again; walk 1 minute, run 1 minute x10 at a 7:30/KM pace. Then walk 1, run 2 x 10 and so on. I had to drop back if there was pain that lingered. No hill or speed work, & lots of strengthening exercises, that I could do in my condo. Only once I could run these slow paces without pain, was I able to increase the speed in small increments.

Running Mileage – Shin Splints Edition

March – 99.92 KM
April – 103.37 KM
May – 59.34 KM
June – 22.86 KM
July – 56.67 KM
August – 97.61 KM
September – 83.96 KM
October – 97.92 KM (ran another half cause I have a problem)
November – 105.29 KM – the month where I felt like I was making legit progress
December – 147.37 KM – hello consistency!

Shin Splints Comeback

Y’all, I didn’t start to hit a groove until the end of November 2020 and I’d still get pain the following day, but the pain would dissipate quicker, and I’d rarely be hobbling when walking the dog. Until the end of 2020, I was running 6:30-6:45/KM and I tended not to go above 11KM at one time. I set myself a goal of running every other day, to allow a full day of rest in between runs, starting in 2021.

I have hit that goal and even thrown in a couple of times where I have run two days in a row while increasing mileage slowly. I just completed my first virtual race of 2021, which was 8KM and I came in sub 46 minutes. So that put me in around 5:45/KM and I only took one walking break, mainly cause my nose was drippin’. That is my fastest race time since Spring 2019.

What has helped?

Rolling every damn day, whether I have run or not.
Yoga but I have semi-failed at being consistent with this into 2021.
Getting enough sleep.
Reducing stress. And let me tell you, being laid off has actually helped reduce that stress ten-fold. A blessing in disguise!
Eating properly. Something else I learned in 2020; I wasn’t eating enough for my activity level. That’s a whole other post.
Walking before and after a run. At least 1/2 of a KM but typically closer to a KM.
Walking every day even when not running. This is where having a dog comes in super handy!
Strength training. Improving my lower body strength has been key, and I have no intention of neglecting that again. Feels pretty difficult with reduced gym capacity these days, but sometimes bodyweight just has to do!
Consistent massages. I try and get into the RMT once a month and he helps release the muscles around the shin bone.
Slowing down my pace, and letting my legs dictate their pace. A lot easier in the winter when your jacket is covering your watch 😉
Using a calf compression sleeve nightly.
Taking an extra rest day when needed. Sometimes the body just needs a little extra time to recover.
Magnesium supplement every single night.
Shin splint ice packs. If I go for a hard run, I’ll put these on after stretching and showering. The ones I purchased are currently unavailable, but these are in stock and are similar.