Shin Splints Culprit

In February, I was crazy enough to sign up for a half marathon with a bunch of my friends.  I didn't sign up to get me started running.  I already run.  I love to run.  I have been a runner for years.  And maybe I will have to do a FBF or TBT to tell the story of how I started running after having kids.  But, that is for another day.

The reason I signed up for the half marathon is because it is something that I have always wanted to do, but haven't ever done it.  I have never upped my running workouts to that level, and I thought it would be awesome. Sadly, in the last month, I worried that I might not be able to accomplish it.  I started having shin splints.

The only other times I have had shin splints in my life was when I was terribly out of shape and my body was just working really hard to get back in shape.  I always just pushed right through them and recovered just fine.  The difference this time:  I was not out of shape.  I had been going for 8-mile runs and felt just fine.  I couldn't figure out what was the matter.  Luckily, I have a friend who is also an awesome podiatrist and he gave me some advice.

The first thing he asked me about was my shoes.  They were still pretty new so I quickly pushed that aside.  After that, I brought up my orthodics and we wondered if my 22+ year old orthodics could possibly be the culprit. But, the main thing he told me to do was rest my shins.  I HATE that advice.  I told him that I had pushed through it all the other times that I had experienced shin splints and I had always been just fine.  When I asked him what long-term damage could occur if I just ignored the shin splints, I was shocked to hear him respond, "Stress fractures."

What?!?

I had no idea.

So I resigned myself to an exercise bike for 2 weeks.  2 weeks.  It felt like forever, but I stayed disciplined.

Then, I laced up my running shoes...

...and went running.  I probably should have started out small, but we will just ignore that right now.  :)

I went for 6 miles.  

I felt good.  

I was praising my friend and his advice...until about 6:00 that night.  

Then the shin splints set in again.  

I was so frustrated.  

Another friend of mine had recommended compression socks and even let me borrow a pair from her.  They were heaven-sent.  They relieved me of almost all of the pain.  The problem was, after the first week, I felt like I had to wear them all the time.  I was afraid the compression socks were turning into a very large band-aid for a very large problem.  

I started thinking back on my podiatrist friend's advice again.  The FIRST thing he had mentioned was my shoes.  I wondered if that could be the problem.  The last 7-8 pair of running shoes I had bought were the same old thing, just a newer model.  Last time I went to buy a new pair of shoes, I couldn't find that kind anymore.  I wondered if it had finally been discontinued, so I tried something new, a stab in the dark.  That was my problem.  

I know I overpronate when I run, so I looked up the top shoes for overpronation.  The ones that I found were very similar to the last 7-8 pair I had owned.  I tried them on and bought them right away:

And the next day, I went out for a 7-mile run.  

It felt great.  

No compression socks.

No aches and pains

And NO SHIN SPLINTS!!!

Beautiful day!  I guess sometimes, shoes really do make the man, or woman, in my case.