You are reading a single comment by @Colm89 and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
Keep us posted always keen to hear other people’s war stories
To follow up on this, had a physio appointment yesterday and she suspects the pain/discomfort is just down to increasing volume maybe a little too quickly, although she wasn’t totally against how I had increased it. Had some dry needling/massage to loosen calf, and have some strengthening exercises to do every other day. Back in next Thursday for a follow up, will do an easy 5km Wednesday to see how it is.
She didn’t think trainers were the problem, but I’ll go ahead with the run assessment tomorrow so I can at least rule bad footwear out.
Colm89
IMO one of the biggest thing people neglect when starting to take running more seriously is calf strength, both the soleus and the gastroc play an equally important role.
You completely did the right thing to keep the majority of the runs slow but one of the most important muscle groups when going at those speeds is the calf complex. If they aren’t capable of handling things then bits up/downstream quickly take the slack and break. Completely anecdotal and based on no evidence but I think those transitioning from bike to run could be more susceptible because the calves don’t play anywhere near as active a role when riding as they do running. My calves were pathetic and I think a lot of the injury issues I’ve had over the years were stemming from this. The very approx benchmark should be 30 full range of motion straight legged heel raises per leg, though maybe don’t test this till your shin calms down.
As for whether it’s shin splints or not I would suggest going to the physio ASAP to get on top of it. Sounds like you’ve probably caught it fairly early but trying to second guess what’s going on will most likely cost you weeks of pissing around at best or worsening the injury and killing spring/summer training at worse.
Keep us posted always keen to hear other people’s war stories