My unofficial diagnosis is shin splits (or shin split, since it’s only in one leg), probably from a combination of running down hills hard and wearing shoes with too many miles on them. A specific source of pain is very hard to pinpoint. After my attempt to run yesterday I rubbed my leg down and couldn’t find any source. I feel fine walking around on the flats and uphill, but just walking downhill is painful.
The good news is that my company has an elliptical machine that I can use. I managed 40 minutes on it over lunch. The bad news is that we’re moving to a new building in a week and I won’t be able to use it any longer. Hopefully, I won’t need it in a week. I guess I’d better tune up my tri bike too. I knew there was a reason I kept that very expensive piece of seldom used equipment.
I know no one wants to see another runner injured and that “everyone” wants me to get well soon, so I’ll save you the trouble of leaving “get well” comments. I know about new shoes, RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), ibuprofen, staying on soft surfaces, avoiding downhill and cambers, etc. No need to mention any of that stuff either. I’ve got a solid base, I won’t lose it that quickly, I’ll bounce back rapidly, blah, blah, blah.
Like my friend Eric said recently, “Once I accepted that I was injured, the pressure was lifted.” I feel the same way. I’ve known something was “going on down there” for 2 weeks, but it wasn’t enough to make me stop running. Well, now it’s enough. I’ve accepted it and I’m okay with it. I will continue to cross train and stay as fit as possible.
Today’s quote of the day is from memory so it’s probably wrong. It’s from Running with the Buffaloes, where Mark Wetmore is talking about his runners getting injured.
“If you live on Fire Island, someone is going to get burned.” Mark Wetmore
Heh hee...okay, no get well soon comments or feel good sentiment then. I was just going to say, when I had the same thing last fall, I regretted not going ahead and getting an MRI, but if you've just started noticing it recently, I'm not sure anything would turn up yet on that anyway.
ReplyDeleteI gave it rest and came back slowly and yadda yadda yadda...but honestly, I still feel a sharp localized pain on the front of one shin. For the moment I'm just ignoring it, but I guess when it hurts just to walk on it, that's when you can't ignore it no more.
Hmm have fun on the elliptical while you've got it!
ReplyDeleteDo you mean shin splints? Since you don't want any get well stuff, let me just say that a man that can run the miles in the cold and do all the stuff you've done in your train-up, can weather injury. Shin splints are manageable; a torn meniscus isn't.
ReplyDeleteChelle, mine feels fine when I walk. I almost forget it's there.
ReplyDeleteLiz, 40 minutes at lunch on that thing was boring as hell. Hopefully I'll get into some sort of rhythm.
Duncan, yes I meant "splints." Apparantly the affect my typing too. I figure I'll give them a few days and see what happens. I may have to train through them after all. We'll see...
I feel your pain. I'm a shin splint (MTSS) veteran, ostensibly cured now. Hundreds of hours on elliptical over the past two years, sucks, but with a good attitude it can get better, you develop a rhythm. Helps me if I pretend I'm running, music helps too. Also, I had to try different elliptical brands before I found one I felter comfortable on, didn't like Precor, too tight, I prefer ArcTrainer. Sounds like you know the drill for remedies, but one thing I didn't know about until later in the game was the importance of strengthening the front shin muscles, there are decent exercises for that, but I could never get much traction with them. Finally came across a thing called a DARD (dynamic axial resistance device) which helped me really target my strength training there, fyi, fwiw - http://www.qfac.com/gear/dard.html .
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info and the link. I've never seen that devise before. I've been running for 26 years and this is the first time I've had problems with my shins, so I think I'll hold off on buying the DARD.
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ReplyDelete