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Rhys Jenkins

Running, Shuffling, Crawling on Shin Splints

published on January 16th, 2012

So I thought I could share one of the most painful and frustrating couple of weeks of my life, the 2 weeks I picked up every runners nightmare the dreaded shin splint. Due to the nature of what i was undertaking (a 2000 mile run) there was no time for the all important R.I.C.E approach and for 2 weeks solid I had to coIe up with new ways to put my shins back together whilst completing at least 35 miles a day.

It all started just outside of Tennessee on along stretch of road leading into the city. My shins had been aching for a few days, but I had been switching my stride patterns and over compensating by using the leg (shin) that hurt the least. As I made my way into the 6th mile of the day it all went 'pear' shaped, my shin just felt like it had been stabbed by a knife and I keeled over on the side of the road. I looked around but there was no one insight, I did not dare to carry on running until I had at least had the support crew take a look at it, saying this though they were still couple miles ahead and i had no choice but to hobble my way to the check point.

Once I had made it to meet the support team, they knew exactly what it was as soon as they laid eyes on me. It was a horrible and worrying feeling as I knew this would jeopardise me making it the whole 2000 miles. With a pocket full of ibuprofen, a sock tightly tied around my shin (worst idea - never try this) and pain relief gel covering my shin I stubbornly carried on at a snails pace.

When shin splints set in its hard to describe but your shin just feels like its tight, almost like its waiting to warm up and no matter how much you stretch its still going to hurt. The worst is the first few miles you, its like a thousand knifes jabbing into your shin every time you hit the floor. So your worst nightmare would be having to stop and start every time you reached a check point, on this day in particular and for most of the two weeks that followed I through the checkpoints out of the window. I realised that if I were to keep this going then I would have to complete the set distance a day with as few stops as possible.

Some how I made it through the first day as we past through Tennessee staying at a snails pace, varying my stride patterns and trying to get the one that hurt the least. Though I made I through the day, this was no achievement, I wasn't happy because I knew I would have to do it all again tomorrow and the probability would be that it would even more. That night i took advice from one of the team and barely moved an inch, i used the technique of Resting, Icing, Compressing and Elevating the shin so the fluid could drain away from the problem area. It was a welcomed relief and gave me hope that with this approach I could maybe hold it together until the shin started heal.

That being said the next few days were hellish, the roads were as straight and as long as they could possibly be. I could see where I was going and I could see where i had come from. I had no idea of distance and the days were just a huge painful blur, i refused to stop in the days and barely spoke in the nights. I stuck to the R.I.C.E approach though and it soon made completing 35 miles a day a little less painful. I would rise before everybody else and just make my way to where we finished the day before and carry on, I was going so slow that it meant if I didn't then the team would be waiting hours after the other two had finished if I didn't set off hours before whilst they were all still sleeping.

The biggest help for running/shuffling/crawling with shin splints were these medicated compression shin and calf tights, I discovered about a week into having the splints. They kept the fluid moving away from the problem area and stopped my shin swelling up to the size of my calf. After a week or so I just got used to the set up, what I had to do every day in order to keep moving and completing the miles each day. I know the shins were not properly healing but I think I was adapting to it and my mental determination helped bloke the worst of the pain. Anyway long story short I managed to overcome to the shin splints whilst carrying on with the 2000 mile run and it defiantly made me a stronger runner for going through that sort of pain and experience. Saying that I wouldn't wish shin splints on my worse enemy, god damn they hurt!

Rhys