Running the Nutrabolt half marathon in 4 and a half weeks. I have been back to running since the spring but have really started to ramp up the distances this past month. I have started developing shin splints this week. Just the start of it, not any real pain. It's an off and on ache when I'm not running and kind of an annoyance off and on when I'm running. I'm nervous to keep running because I had them very bad about two years ago. The only thing I could do was stop running all together. I am going to get fitted for new shoes this week before attempting to run again. The ones I have are years old and bought at academy.

My main question is from anyone's experience do I take a couple weeks off from running and just run/walk the half marathon. Or with new shoes, shorter run step and taking calcium supplements do I attempt to keep running but risk getting worse and not being able to do it at all. Will two weeks off do any good or is a full 6 weeks needed to heal minor shin splints? I have pretty high pain tolerance so as long as the pain does not get severe I'm not too worried about it. More worried about long term damage and stress fractures.

Any advice would be appreciated. I have been running off and on for about 10 years mostly shorter 3-5 mile distances.

The off and on running and ramping up the distance quickly is probably only making your shin splints worse.

Shin splints are a common overuse injury. Slow gradual increases in mileage would help prevent shin splints.

I fully agree with you Pilot. After getting them for the first time two years ago I was worried that I was pushing to hard and going to far this time around. And turns out I am. I had purchased the running shoes about 2 months before I got shin splints last time. That time around I was not going long distances but was trying to push on getting my time down in shorter distances. They are Nikes and are very comfortable but maybe not the best for my running. I had never had splints before with the new balance shoes that I have had in the past. That is why attribute it too the shoes as well. I'm a 37 year old 6 foot male. I weigh about 200. Not sure if getting older can make me more prone to them as well. Just curious any advice on the best way to get through the half marathon.

For me, whenever I started getting pain in my shins, I would check the mileage on my shoes and it would be at about 300 to 400 miles.

I would get new shoes and it the pain would go away, but I always caught it early pain-wise.

seek treatment. If is just started this week you may be able to run with soft tissue work and kinesiotaping. The important thing is making sure to get the right diagnosis

i know this is completely anecdotal. but, for years i would get shin splints. about 5 years ago, i picked up some Vibram 5 finger shoes. slowly transitioned into running in them. i haven't had shin splint pain since.

Born to Run Injured is my favorite book.

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The ones I have are years old and bought at academy.

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this is almost certainly the source of your problems.

I had suffered shin splints for a long time, eventually resulting in stress fractures which ended in my early dismissal from Marine OCS (went back the next year). learned about different strides and footstrikes and how it relates to shoes, got in the right shoes, and my lower leg problems went away almost instantly. that was 2006, and I haven't had a single problem since.

I have an appointment with my Dr for next Wednesday. I'll see for sure if it's shin splints and what he recommends. Till then I'm going to use the elliptical machine at the gym to keep the cardio up and keep me from eating everything I can. Working out actually helps me eat less. I don't want to ruin what I am working for.

This won't help you now, but I've always found sticking you toes in the ground and then rolling your ankle in a circle helps prevent shin splints. 10 clockwise/ 10 counterclockwise.

If you're still in the shin splint phase, you might try to emphasize maintenance, especially ankles and calves. If you're in stress fracture territory, your only option is rest. I've suffered through pretty awful stress fractures and ankle injuries in the past. I recently started running again, and I make time to properly stretch after longer runs and use a lacrosse ball on my calves and bottom of my feet before and after runs. I also add some ankle exercises with exercise bands, rotations, and toe taps throughout the day. I have aches and pain, but nothing constant or close to what I suffered before. It sounds time consuming, but running is much more enjoyable with a healthy body than a constantly broken one!

You can try calf sleeves as well.

I know this is too late but I got over mine two ways:

1) New shoes that were meant for my foot, I'm flat footed by a large degree.

2) I started to mix in a lot of short distance sprinting to help build those muscle up.

Ever since then I haven't had any issues. Could probably search for my old thread on it.

Thanks for all the advice. I purchased new running shoes at the Brazos Running Company. The gentlemen that helped me did an excellent job fitting me and talked me through some things to help with the splints as well. I did not get to see the Dr. I had a schedule conflict and had to cancel. I ran for the first time in a week yesterday and did not have any aches or any discomfort so I am going to start back up the training and see how it goes. It felt great to run yesterday, have not been a fan of the elliptical machines I was using this week.