Shin splints day 3

Well, yet another day and the shinsplints are still a problem. In all the research I've been doing and all the friends I've been asking, one product keeps coming up and thats 'a blue gel in a big tub which is for horses' that one can buy at a vet shop LOL. Well I never, runners really will do anything hehehe

I eventually found out that the stuff is called Arnica Ice and my awesome little local chemist (Bothasig Pharmacy) actually had it so I've bought a tub to give it a try. Its ingredents are: Arnica oil 1%, menthol 1% (and boy can you smell it LOL), camphor 0.6% and witch hazel 0.6% so it sounds a lot more natural that some of the other stuff. At R56.95 for a 500g tub, its not bad value either. I also checked with my pharmacist about the anti-inflamatories and I'm glad I did. She told me that I could take Inza (which I generally use for headaches etc anyway) and that I should take 1 or 2, 200mg tabs three times a day, BUT, she said that if I was running on Saturday, which I intend to, that I should only take the Inza today and tomorrow, then stop, because apparently it has an impact on the kidneys and so does running, so to combine the two would not be a good thing to do.

So, I'm now doing the anti-inflamatories x 3 daily for two days, I'm using the compression socks in the morning and will use the arnica ice afternoon and evening. Hopefullly all of that and the days rest until Saturday (I'm still not running) will make me okay to run the race.

Last night I also went to our final club meeting before the race on Saturday, I still can't get over the amount of work that goes into hosting a race and by the way LOL, I've been roped into helping too, even though I will be running on the day. Sooooo, that means that I will probably have to get up at 4am on Saturday morning to get ready and be at the race venue at 5am, ready to set up and help out. Then at 7am, I'll be running my legs off for 10km.....

Hold thumbs for me that all goes well and I'll be A-Okay to run on Saturday....

25mins :(

Well, after the Spar 10km, I was very happy with myself but also very tired and very worried about waking up the next morning with stiff legs. When I did wake up the next day (yesterday), I was still happy, cause no stiffness, BUT, a little later in the morning I realized that I might have shin splints in my left leg. I was having some pain on either side of the shinbone when walking and sometimes even when just sitting. I did some reading on the web and that confirmed it. The symptoms of shin splints were exactly what I was experiencing. It was quite a blow....

Of course the main 'cure' is rest, but thats REALLY not what I want to be doing right now, especially with my next 10km on Saturday. I really want to do this 10km for two reasons: Firstly because its my club's run and secondly to get a more accurate assesment of how well I CAN actually do a 10km. I couldn't really tell that with the Spar race, cause there were just so many people that you couldn't run the way you want to.

In looking up and asking around about what one can do for shin splints, other than rest, I found a few ideas. Anti-inflamatories can help, a horse gel called Arnica Ice (I think) is apparently also recommended (runners LOL they'll do anything to get back on the road) and then there's taping ( http://www.runnersworld.co.za/injury-prevention/treatment-room/tape-yourself-shin-splints/) . I decided that using all three might be my best bet, so decided to go out and get some tape.

I went to Sportsmans Warehouse in Canal Walk, cause I knew that I had seen some of the tape there and its the closest and biggest sport shop to me. I was helped by a very nice dude called Calvin (if I'm remembering correctly). The tape is about R119 a roll and obviously when used, its used and gone. According to the video above about taping, it will last about 5 days on your leg. If this is likely to be a recurring or ongoing problem, that will end up costing me quite a bit. Calvin then introducted me to compression socks. At R299 a pair, these are much more expensive, but have the advantage of you being able to use them over and over again, so in the long run it seemed like the better deal. I tried them in the shop and walked a bit and the effect was great. The pain was almost non existant (in hindsight, I spoke a bit too soon here, but that comes later).

I got the compression socks (Thanks Calvin) and put them on when I got home. In walking around with them a bit, I discovered that while wearing flat shoes, I can still feel the pain, but its not nearly so bad but when wearing my stability running shoes, it was MUCH better. I was so pleased by all this, that I decided that I might do a short training run today (this all happened yesterday).

I woke up this morning, still all pumped up about the compression socks, only to find that the shin splints seemed a bit worse this morning. Hmmmm, "okay (I thought), I won't know untill I try"

With that thought in mind, with compression socks on, I went for a training session. I decided to try the next Shape Challenge session, which started off with a 5min walk, then a 20min jog. I thought that i would see how that went and decide from there what to do. Well.......the 5min walk went okay, although I could feel the pain of the shin splints with every step. The 20min jog however, ended up being an 8 min jog, I just couldn't do anymore than that. I walked a bit, jogged a bit, walked a bit, jogged a bit more and then I really just couldn't anymore. My session ended up being about 25mins, with most of that being walking.....

So, with reality having kicked me firmly in the shin *SIGH*, I have decided to make the rest of the week a rest week and then try my Pro Sano 10km on Saturday. I am unhappy and perturbed about it, but what can I do. Any further training is just likely to make the situation worse and as much as I hate being 'grounded' I SUPPOSE its the best thing to do right now *HUGER SIGH*

A very unhappy Carol sighing (deliberate misspelling) out.....