I’ve had 3 sessions so far of physical therapy for my persistent shin splits at Foothills Sports Medicine. They offer a lot of attention there (this is my first experience ever, so have nothing to compare it too). Andy, the physical therapist, identifies definite classic shin splits as well as possible bursitis just below the knee cap. He’s been working the muscles by some hard massage, teaching me to do more with The Stick, hitting the muscles with ultra sound and electrical stimulus (whatever that little box is), and doing a bunch of stretches, and leg muscle work to build up the muscle.
He is very confident my troubles have been a combination of perhaps shoes that did not fit well enough, ossible too much running in one direction (where the slant of the street strained one leg), and the typical issue of going from my usual work mode (sitting in a chair for hours) to getting hard exercise. Andy’s rather firm that there is not much sense in pushing oneself to do a full marathon, that most people have those crashes at 18 miles and just damage their bodies pushing to 26, and is convincing me to be sane and just run better at half marathon distance.
On Saturday, I gave it the first decent workout in a while as Travis and I did a tough hike, maybe 9 miles total up and back on the Barnhardt trail, more than 2000 feet elevation change each way. We were both worn out after that, but it felt really good to get outside and get some darn physical activity.
name: Alan Levine
i was actually wondering this, if your persistant injury was the result of a ‘perfect storm’ of problems or indicative of a single, more serious ailment. it’s good to see the answer was probably the lesser of the two evils.
the half-marathon is a great race. and you certainly have had success running it. making it your specialty sounds like a pretty ideal result of all this.
I’m sorry to contradict Andy, but of course people get hurt more often doing marathons than half marathons. They get hurt more often doing half marathons than 5Ks. Following that logic, you end up riding around in a motorized chair.
Here’s another theory, Alan.
Shin splints are sometimes a muscle imbalance problem. You were pretty fit from bike riding, but bike riding built up your calves without building up the opposing muscles on the front of your leg. You were prone to shin injury when you started running.
I’m not trying to talk you into anything, but I hope you won’t let Andy talk you out of running a marathon if it’s something you want to do.
I’m glad you’re recovering, and that sounds like a great hike you did last Saturday. I hope things are continuing to get better.
Thanks Jerry for the counterpoints, and I am not ready to order the scooter chair yet.