Trail Monster Running

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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Shin Splints

Damn it!

Ever since Stone Cat in early November I haven't been doing much running. Until last week. I didn't really appreciate how little I had been doing until I made a conscious decision to move back into training mode, and even though I didn't run a lot last week - 36 miles - I now find myself with an "overuse injury". WTF?!

Things didn't feel great running home from work last night, minor achilles tightness, minor shin splints. Tonight I ran from work and did just one lap of Back Cove but I was really feeling the shin splints. I tried not to let it slow me down, and my pace was pretty good considering the fairly icy conditions, but by the time I finished my shins were screaming.


I wonder if this has more to do with the road miles I'm doing these days, not enough trail in my life right now. Maybe a snowy trail 50k this weekend will get me sorted out?

time: 28:59
distance: 3.85 miles
pace: 7:32

weather: low 30's, clear sky

conditions: hard packed snow and ice

gear: Roclite 315 with screws, Smart Wool socks, tights, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, mittens, buff

8 comments:

Yak Hunter said...

It depends what you mean by "sorted out". Good luck though. I plan to sort myself out with a nice long run this weekend too - then we'll find out who's in charge - me or the cold bugs. Show those shins who the boss is! Or not. Somewhere warm and sunny sounds good but I don't think there's any planes flying out of Britain anymore. If you watched the news you would think the ice age has come.

Jamie Anderson said...

Good thought with the pavement being the culprit, especially if you ran it in shoes with a lot of miles on them. But anytime the mileage increases, one is susceptible to splints.

Jeff will probably agree with me on this, but if you crank up a big hill several miles long, it will make them go away. Something about long, continuous uphills helps. Of course, someone will now post and try to tell me I'm wrong...

middle.professor said...

sweet sound of soft steps on uphills solve shin splints

middle.professor said...

I meant slopes

Scout said...

I find I have to do at least two road runs/wk or risk getting shin splints when I do run roads. I'm actually anticipating them when Sam starts back at USM. I have just been on trails since Xmas break.

mindy said...

Oh Noooo. Be careful Ian - don't want those shin splints to turn into stress fractures. I like Jamie's idea - hit some hills - Mt. Washington (or another mt) seems to cure what ails everyone. I'm sure a nice snowy trail run will cure what ails you too!

sn0m8n said...

I was battling the dreaded splints a bit in November when I up the "intensity" and roadness of my runs. But, since I'm so hardcore, I just willed them away. (Oh, and I got new shoes, too.)

Erik Boucher said...

Your shoes are the devil's spawn! Try your Vibram Five Fingers with Ice Spikes.