Shin splints HURT. Also, something about that yoga DVD made me mess up my ankle. And it HURTS too. So Saturday's rest was probably a good idea.
Today I went right back in to 30 Day Shred. I added a bonus ankle-dealie the doctor gave me from the LAST time I freaked my ankle out.
Did I tell you that story?
I was at Vacation Bible School, running something from one group of kids to another group. I was running in these adorable slip-on shoes. They had no backs. One kid saw me and thought, "Gee, I know what would be funny! I will stomp on her foot while she runs!" And so he did.
He missed my toe, though. Instead, he got the bottom of my shoe. This meant my foot was in one spot while the rest of my body was still moving. And obviously, I fell.
The next day, I could put no weight on my foot, so there was a doctor's visit. I had torn something or other, so I wore this brace thing until it "healed." I say "healed" because my ankle bones still grind together in a freaky way. Like broken marbles.
That's healthy.
So I wore that ankle dealie today, just in case.
And before I worked out, I went to Fort Wayne and stopped at the sporting goods store in the vain hope of getting advice for shin-splint relief from someone who could answer questions.
After spending 20 minutes scouring the store for the little sleevey things, I realized that if I wanted help, I would have to start removing my clothing one article at a time while singing the national anthem. So I looked at some of the shoes I'd seen online (still no offer of help), and by then, I'd been in the store SO LONG without any employee so much as looking at me, I gave up.
Can I just say, this store had at least 50 varieties of support for male athletes, but not a single shin-splint sleevey thing.
So I went to Target and then went home to work out, having wasted over two hours of my life driving back and forth to Fort Wayne.
Now, of course, after having Googled "running stores in Fort Wayne," and I discovered a running store in Fort Wayne that is SPECIFICALLY for running (not all sports in general), that happened to be open while I was in town. That's nice. Next time I will search before I leave the house.
The good news is that this store, Three Rivers Running Company, will check the way I walk, the way I run, measure my feet, look at my old shoes, and find out the best possible new running shoes for me. So I wrote down all their info, next time I'm in town, I'll visit and see what they can do for me.
In the meantime, if this pain doesn't start to improve over the next week, I am so totally going to the doctor. But I'd rather not pay for x-rays (again) unless I absolutely have to. Hence the waiting. How many times do I have to be diagnosed with shin splints before someone tells me how I can change my walk to make them go away?
So. Hooray, day 17!
On to the next.
I left a big, long comment on the last post about shin splints, so I'll just leave that one to you.
ReplyDeleteIf/when you visit that special running store, be very very honest if a shoe doesn't feel right on your foot. In high school track, our local special shoe running store came to do that eval for us every year and it honestly messed up my feet more than it helped (but that's due to a chronic injury I have and not due to their evaluations). Those stores can be incredibly helpful, but because they're doing these things based on your walk & run, it's going to put your foot in a very odd place (essentially, they give you a shoe that adjusts your stride to "perfect" and that can be really, really uncomfortable and take getting used to).
As for shin splints -- just find an insert that fits your arch (low, high, normal) and that has a decent cushion but not too much (Docs have rec'd to me thin inserts that just absorb impact) and ice / heat your shins, and stretch before and after every workout (the stretching is what really, really helps because once those muscles become looser & stronger behind your shin, they'll stop yanking on your shin bone and thus stop hurting).
I have done those stretches every day for YEARS. Since I started college and learned that my shin pain had a name. I actually think my problem is caused by the way I walk and made WORSE by the way I run. But the running store guys will help me. I have faith in the running store guys saving me.
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