Marathon Training with Shin Splints

[EricaB3]

I'm training for my second marathon - and I've come down with the worst shin splints I've ever had. I'm running using the same program I did last year, and I've taken extra care to warm up and cool down for my runs. I'm very flat-footed and now I've been to the foot and ankle clinic and have better shoes to try. 

My splints prevent me from running correctly; the pain is so intense and I'm finding myself gimping and limping without the ability to just "push through it". I've been off for almost two weeks and tried a run today - now it's worse than ever.

Are there any fitness routines anyone does that wouldn't aggrevate my symptoms? Biking and the elliptical are driving me nuts, even when I'm changing things up and trying to do something different every day. I want to be out and running more than anything, but right now it's not possible and I need some alternatives. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[Heybales]

Biking for the aerobic capacity and some muscle use.

One of those ellipiticals that gets real steep for more muscle use.

Glad you aren't pushing through it to longer injury to really take you out. Pain isn't gain, pain is a sign I sure hope you heard loud and clear.

Doing any toe lift exercises to use those muscles on front of shin? That can help after you are recovered.

Were / are you a big heel striker, despite being flat footed?

If so, might adopt a barefoot running style wearing shoes, meaning you land flat footed. Perhaps that's what you meant, in which case I'm surprised you managed injury like this.

But really, if you did the bike for the aerobic capacity aspect, getting longer and longer, you can actually do some weights for the muscle training.

Deadlifts use the whole back chain of muscles just like running does. Even one coach Tim Ferris that trained mainly on deadlifts and his guys would run marathons with barely any running mileage as training.

Get a heavy enough weight that 20 reps with good form is barely manageable - that's the endurance range of lifting.

Do 3 sets, 3 x weekly.

Throw in some seating and standing calf raises too, which will aid in barefoot running style, same sets x reps.

Any bike done after these days should be easy to allow for recovery. If you want an intense ride, do it right after lifting when you won't harm the repair process, or tire muscles needed the next day.

That would be one way to work those running muscles so they are ready for when you are really healed completly.

[Jazzj]

One thing that really helped me when I tore my calf muscle (just before a half marathon, I was so cross!!) was 'running' at the pool, using floats to keep me afloat.

Good luck

[EricaB3]

Thank you so much for your reply, I think I'm going to find it very useful! I am going to try biking right after lifting to see how that feels, I've always done the reverse.

Yes, toe lifts/exercises definitely, and I will have to try deadlifts; I've never done those before.

Yes, I am very flat-footed, but no, I strike midsole (every now and then I catch myself running too much on my toes!), after discovering that heel-striking was really painful and really inefficient when I first started running 4 years ago!

[EricaB3]

Excellent idea! I thought about that a couple weeks ago but it slipped my mind. I will definitely have to try that, thank you!

[Jazzj]

Good luck, keep us posted 🙂

[Heybales]

This just in (my inbox anyway).

4 Ways to Cure Shin Splints
If you treat shin splints with a shin-strengthening exercise, you're using an outdated method. The newest course of treatment eases the pain and improves your running mechanics. 

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-Runners-Get-Shin-Splint-Treatment-Wrong-and-4-Ways-to-Get...

As mentioned, the exercise is of limited use, mainly for after you've made it back, but some other good ideas.

Of course those exercises in there are pretty lame with body weight, for marathoner should easily be accomplished. The deadlifts hit those same muscles, but really getting stronger. And with time off, why not now.

[Spartan]

Thanks for posting this.I'm going to add this into my routine. I too get them now and then.(knock on wood)I am also flat footed and have learned to go out and buy two pair of expensive running shoes the cheap ones don't do it for us flat footed girls. Also, I wasn't warming up and stretching my calf and shins as much as thought I was. I had no idea how much it was going to help me. Now granted I only run about 2.5 to 3 miles at a time. Also I was told by my doctor to stretch them afterwards. Very important. So far by doing this I've avoided hurting myself. My last injury was my large calf muscle and OMG it took forever to heal. My doctor said I was lucky it could have needed surgery. I've learned my lesson the hard way.

[Jazzj]

I've been there with the calf muscle too, really painful and took couple of years to really heal. Best tip is to build up your mileage gradually, don't get over confident and stretch yourself too far too soon. Yoga or Pilates is a good complement for the muscles

[EricaB3]

I follow active.com pretty regularly, but I've never seen this article before! I haven't done many donkey kicks or clams - something I'll add onto my regiment! Thanks!

[Heybales]

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@EricaB3 wrote:

I follow active.com pretty regularly, but I've never seen this article before! I haven't done many donkey kicks or clams - something I'll add onto my regiment! Thanks!

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And that's why deadlifts are recommended for anyone that actually has any strength.

Body weight for donkey kicks is about worthless unless starting out and weak. Or you have to do so many reps you might as well run.

Deadlifts work the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and lower back.

[photojunk]

Hve you thought about visiting a podiatrist and maybe getting some insoles to help, you may have some muscle inbalances in your feet that are causing the shin splints. I got insoles for my shoes 8 years ago after suffering with shin splints for 2 years. Best thing i ever did.

[EricaB3]

I have gone to see one, and he recommended shoes for me, which I then acquired. They have a rigid midsole and I have insoles in them now. They feel really different, as I've never had insoles/inserts before!

[Miss_Primrose]

What kind of stride causes shinsplints? Is it the flat foot or landing on the heal? I went to the podiatrist when I had planter fascitis (heal pain). He said to quit running & jogging its too rough on the body. Bummer. It did'nt stop me. However, I'm healing from a left calf shin splint. My right foot tendonitis is gone (4wks) with new expensive sneakers from New balance. It is supposed to have motion control to them. I also added an arch insert. I try to put in 3miles nonstop jog 3 times weekly then walk on the off days to let healing occur. My calfs are large for a 5'2" female. Left 14", Right 14 5/8". I will check out that website you mentioned "active.com" & do more stretching. I signed up for October 10 mile race. I hope I can go....

[Heybales]

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@Miss_Primrose wrote:

What kind of stride causes shinsplints? Is it the flat foot or landing on the heal? I went to the podiatrist when I had planter fascitis (heal pain). He said to quit running & jogging its too rough on the body. Bummer. It did'nt stop me. However, I'm healing from a left calf shin splint. My right foot tendonitis is gone (4wks) with new expensive sneakers from New balance. It is supposed to have motion control to them. I also added an arch insert. I try to put in 3miles nonstop jog 3 times weekly then walk on the off days to let healing occur. My calfs are large for a 5'2" female. Left 14", Right 14 5/8". I will check out that website you mentioned "active.com" & do more stretching. I signed up for October 10 mile race. I hope I can go....

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Impact. So heel strike.

Landing mid-foot doesn't even need motion control, but you can do it in those shoes anyway.

Run in grass barefoot sometime, just short distance. Then imitate that as best you can in shoes. You absorb the shock using calfs and quads, not bone jarring.

Sounds like a lot of running to aid healing, unless you were doing marathon training prior.

You could heal up and get injured several times by October, so no problem. Of course, who'd want to...

[EricaB3]

Hello again!

In the worst news of my week, my podiatrist has stronly recommended that I drop from the marathon. My foot/shin is doing no better, in some ways it's worse, and I have done everything and more to recover in time. He was optimistic at my first meeting, but when I said I still couldn't run, skip, hop, jump, etc., he got that look on his face where I just knew it was spelling trouble. I am very lucky that the Fargo Marathon allows you to transfer or defer your race to the next year, and I spoke with the coordinator to extend my deadline; my appointment was one day after the postmark deadline for tranferring/deferring.

I was taking Celebrex, perscribed by him, and gave it a week and a half before I stopped because it wasn't doing anything except to maybe take the edge off; some days not. I had a night splint that I thought was him being excessive, but that has helped mornings a little bit. I was resting from running (I tried once after a week of rest and only using low-impact equipment and workouts; I made it less than 3/4 of a mile before I was limping so bad it impacted my running and the pain), icing 2-3x a day for 20minutes, wearing compression socks whenever I could manage to pull them on, elevating, using foot exercises and keeping my toes loose. I kept working out 5x a week using different methods to keep myself motivated and to keep things loose. I have a new pair of Brooks running shoes with inserts.

Now I'm getting orthodics, have an ankle brace, a day cast (which I'm finding some of this a bit excessive), and no other idea how to fix this problem. I've done 100 google searches with various names to find ways to ease the pain, or workouts to do in the meantime. My XRay on my first visit shoes no sign of a fracture; but I don't know what else to be considering. It's very acute pain, and it has gotten worse in some ways while remaining the same in others. Perhaps I just need more time?

I'm also conflicted about having it in a brace for all of the day. I would think I'd want to keep the muscles strong and build the muscles up?

Thank you all for all of your advice and help. I considered and will continue to consider everyone who leaves me a suggestion. 🙂 I plan on continuing to strengthen myself so I can come back twice as strong for my half in September, sprinkled with a few 5K's in between.

[Miss_Primrose]

I understand what you're going through. It is a bummer to cancel out of a race...  Is the pain only occuring during exercise?  Maybe it's compartment syndrome. The worst case scenerio is a fasciatomy (Mispell). They make an incision in anterior tibialias to release it.  I think if you continue to exercise with the pain you are making it worse. You mentioned a few 5k's coming up. Maybe you should seriously reconsider racing for awhile until the pain is gone completely. Give it time to heal while you do other things that focus on the core. Sorry, but it may only get worse if continued.

     Some people have calf pain at rest too.  This can be cause by blocked arteries that run down to the foot. Plagues build up and blood supply is compromised. The result is pain from the lack of oxygen containing blood.  You need to check the pulses in the foot. If they are palpable then it's probably ok. That's why compartment syndrome hurts. IT constricts the arteries & there you go lack of blood supply.

[Jazzj]

Oh I do sympathise with you, it's so frustrating to be told not to run, especially after all your hard work building up your fitness. Tempting though it is to be aiming at 5ks, I'd be really careful. I tried to do the same thing and ended up making it worse and needed almost two years before I could run properly again. Felt like a lifetime!!!! Keep your fitness up doing other things, but don't run too soon. Sounds harsh (and impossible!), but believe me it's the right thing to do if you don't want to aggravate the injury

[BartL]

Hi Erica, I just replied on a parallel thread on shin splint.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Get-Fit/Running-Style-weight-on-the-balls-of-your-feet/m-p/212988 

In short, I had shin splint for years until I altered my running style. No more pain since.

Cheers, Bart.

[EricaB3]

Well, unfortunately I already have been running like that ever since I got massively painful shin splints as a freshman in college because I was heel striking (didn't know any better at the time!). But I thank you for your comment nonetheless!