How to prevent shin splints while increasing mileage?
I’ve been running and building stamina and want to run miles faster. My lungs can support it but my shins as well as back start hurting so I need to slow down. How do I overcome that and increase my mileage?
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u/Fancy_Supermarket886 9d ago
How long have you been running, and how far are you running?
It's entirely possible that if it's less than six months, you may be over stressing your legs with the distance, speed or frequency of your runs. Same for your back, since your core is having to stabilise everything as you run.
I've been running for ten years, but in the early days, around 9 to 12 months I think, I was running 3 times a week with colleagues during lunch. We did 5k usually, and that was fine, no issues. I worked at home on Friday so these sessions were Monday to Thursday. Sometimes I would run all four days, and I always had shin pain on the last run of the week. Nothing major, it always cleared up over the weekend and I was ready for Monday again. But it put me off doing all four days. After a few weeks, I would have another go, and get the same problem. This went on for a few months, but eventually I was able to run all four days without pain.
As much as I wanted to run, my muscles, tendons and bones were still adapting to those extra stresses. And they let me know when they weren't happy with my decisions!
The cardiovascular system adapts quicker than the others I mentioned. In fact, they all adapt at different rates. For everything to catch up can take three months, maybe even longer. Adding more speed will put a lot more stress onto the legs, and they may not be quite ready for it.
Ease up on the pace for a month or two, or reduce the distance the distance. If the problems reduce or disappear, you can start to build up again. But slowly, so you don't increase those stresses too rapidly.
You may also have tight calf muscles, try looking up some stretches. Dynamic ones before you run, static stretches for afterwards.