Running Injury No. 2: Shin Splints

Running Injury No. 1 was hamstring tendinitis (read about it in my multiply acct), a knee injury which was caused by a sudden spike in physical activity after around 3 years of dormancy, plus the tendons have been weakened by 8 years of taekwondo varsity training previous to that. In short, overuse and misuse.

After that I became careful: warm up and stretch first, cutting short the distance when there's some unusual pain, etc. Last week I felt pain brewing again, this time in the shin (See related entry). Didn't ignore it this time around so I did the RICE method and even bought Zensah leg sleeves from Second Wind, J.Vargas Ave. This morning I went to see our family orthopedic surgeon (haha) and confirmed that it was shin splints indeed, but to rule out stress fractures, I should rest for one week first. What a drag....:(

But on the bright side, I could still cross train but constrained to activities which are not stressful to the shin muscles (bike for example). I guess I can use the elliptical at the gym, or take out the bike (at night?). Anyway, the goal is to keep the endurance up until this subsides. Good luck. Doctor says, in the future, don't run so much hills (guilty) and stretch more before and after a work out (guilty). Happy resting!