Made the decision...

weak calves=shin splint prone :(

Try strengthening the shins to balance things out. It may be an imbalance thats pissing off your calves.

I'm excited for your goal Fire! That'll be awesome!

I've used Dora gummies out of my kids' lunch supplies before ;) There is no magic with gu or other "special" athlete food

As for training. If you don't hook up with a group (although that really woudl be best. Company makes all the difference sometimes!) there are a lot of great plans online to follow.
 
sparrow said:
weak calves=shin splint prone :(

Try strengthening the shins to balance things out. It may be an imbalance thats pissing off your calves.

I'm excited for your goal Fire! That'll be awesome!

I've used Dora gummies out of my kids' lunch supplies before ;) There is no magic with gu or other "special" athlete food

As for training. If you don't hook up with a group (although that really woudl be best. Company makes all the difference sometimes!) there are a lot of great plans online to follow.
Click to expand...

Sparrow (or tsil), I thought some of the gel packs had electrolytes in them. Isn't that what you'd want in a marathon?
 
sparrow said:
weak calves=shin splint prone :(

Try strengthening the shins to balance things out. It may be an imbalance thats pissing off your calves.

I'm excited for your goal Fire! That'll be awesome!

I've used Dora gummies out of my kids' lunch supplies before ;) There is no magic with gu or other "special" athlete food

As for training. If you don't hook up with a group (although that really woudl be best. Company makes all the difference sometimes!) there are a lot of great plans online to follow.
Click to expand...

Tips for strengthening my shins? toe raises? i am going to make sure i stretch my calves a lot through out the day...and heat...oh how i need the heat.
 
So the problem you have is shin splints from running too much? Do your calves hurt on the lateral side of the tibia/fibula?

Try doing calf raises with your toes pointed inwards -- like you're pigeon-toed.
 
i_love_muscle said:
So the problem you have is shin splints from running too much? Do your calves hurt on the lateral side of the tibia/fibula?

Try doing calf raises with your toes pointed inwards -- like you're pigeon-toed.
Click to expand...

I have no shin pain at all. my calves will feel fine if i run a certain way, but as i get tired my ability to not put my foot into an awkward position diminishes. The pain is not in the calf muscle but in the area between, usually right at the base of the gastrocnemius where the achilles takes over.

this happens in both legs, but more so in the left.

i've also felt pain when stepping out of our engine on occasion (big step to the ground)
 
i_love_muscle said:
Sparrow (or tsil), I thought some of the gel packs had electrolytes in them. Isn't that what you'd want in a marathon?
Click to expand...

Well. So here's the deal. Gu contains potassium and sodium but does not contain protein. If you buy into the latest studies, you want a 4/1 carb/protein ratio. My granola bars contain carbs, protein, and sodium but no potassium.

I eat bars and take Endurolyte caps. Plus Gu and other gels really upset my stomache after taking a few of them. I'm good for about 2-3 max. That's about an hours worth for me so I don't get very far.
 
OK. It sounds like it might be a posteromedial shin splint.

This is from the Merck manual:

Posteromedial shin splints affect the muscles in the back (posterior) and inner (medial) parts of the shin, which are responsible for lifting the heel just before the toes push off. This type of shin splint often results from running on banked tracks or crowned roads and can be worsened by rolling onto the outside of the feet (pronation) excessively or by wearing running shoes that do not adequately prevent such rolling.

The pain produced by this type of shin splint usually starts along the inside of the lower leg, about 1 to 8 inches above the ankle, and worsens when a runner rises up on the toes or rolls the ankle in. If the person continues to run, the pain moves forward, affecting the inner aspect of the ankle, and may extend up the shin to within 2 to 4 inches of the knee. The severity of the pain increases as the shin splint progresses. At first, only the muscle tendons are inflamed and painful, but if the person keeps running, the muscles themselves can be affected. Eventually, tension on the inflamed tendon can actually pull it from its attachment to bone, causing bleeding and further inflammation.

The primary treatment is to stop running and do other types of exercise until running is no longer painful. Running shoes with a rigid heel counter (the back part of the shoe) and special arch supports can keep the foot from rolling onto the outside excessively. Avoiding running on banked surfaces can help prevent shin splints from recurring. Exercises to strengthen the injured muscles are useful.

An experimental treatment consists of calcitonin (a hormone that builds bone) (drug trade names: miacalcin and calcimar) injected daily or alendronate (that's fosamax; a drug that slows bone loss) given by mouth; this treatment has healed some shin splints that were unresponsive to other measures. Sometimes none of the available treatments are effective, and the runner must abandon running permanently.
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Does that sound like what you've got?
 
tsilcyc said:
Well. So here's the deal. Gu contains potassium and sodium but does not contain protein. If you buy into the latest studies, you want a 4/1 carb/protein ratio. My granola bars contain carbs, protein, and sodium but no potassium.

I eat bars and take Endurolyte caps. Plus Gu and other gels really upset my stomache after taking a few of them. I'm good for about 2-3 max. That's about an hours worth for me so I don't get very far.
Click to expand...

So in a triathlon, you eat granola or protein bars while you're biking/running?
 
Makes perfect sense to me. I'm not sure I could suck back those gel packs without getting a monstrous headache and a sour stomach.
 
firefreak said:
I have no shin pain at all. my calves will feel fine if i run a certain way, but as i get tired my ability to not put my foot into an awkward position diminishes. The pain is not in the calf muscle but in the area between, usually right at the base of the gastrocnemius where the achilles takes over.
this happens in both legs, but more so in the left.

i've also felt pain when stepping out of our engine on occasion (big step to the ground)
Click to expand...

Is it the medial head or the lateral head of the gastrocnemius? If it is the medial head, that's exactly where the posteromedial shin splint would be.

If you are only feeling the pain directly in the achilles tendon, then it's most likely the tendon giving you grief (tendonitis).
 

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i_love_muscle said:
Is it the medial head or the lateral head of the gastrocnemius? If it is the medial head, that's exactly where the posteromedial shin splint would be.

If you are only feeling the pain directly in the achilles tendon, then it's most likely the tendon giving you grief (tendonitis).
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see below
 

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Exactly where you explained it ;)

Sounds like your Achilles tendon isn't happy. But it sounds more like what's happening is your gastrocnemius is tightening up when you run, thereby pulling on the Achilles tendon and making it hurt. The problem may lie in your gastrocnemius.

But I can't feel what you're feeling. How long can you run before your legs start giving you grief? Maybe try running less than that for a couple of weeks and then start building your distance up again ...

Any runners out there who have ever had to deal with this issue?
 
well lets put it this way...

I ran a 5 mile race no problem last thursday and didn't have any pain until after the race when i stepped off a curb and had a slight pain, which then went away.

today i ran less than a mile before it started to kick in and bother me. I ran about 1.5 miles total in the end and the pain on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the worst was a 4. last thursday after the race it was a 3.

previous times its been in the 7-8 range.
 
Gee. You might want to ask a professional about that. It's not something I've ever experienced, probably because I've never run more than 800m flat out.

I can ask the BF for you, though.
 
firefreak said:
well lets put it this way...

I ran a 5 mile race no problem last thursday and didn't have any pain until after the race when i stepped off a curb and had a slight pain, which then went away.

today i ran less than a mile before it started to kick in and bother me. I ran about 1.5 miles total in the end and the pain on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the worst was a 4. last thursday after the race it was a 3.

previous times its been in the 7-8 range.
Click to expand...

hmm that is a strange pain. I've never had that one except to cramp up momentarily
 
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