Shin pain stopping me from running

brookland1975

Hi all,

I’m 23 and started running in about September after uni friends got me out doing 5km runs with them. I probably run 2/3 times a month, normally between 5 and 8km on a mixture of surfaces. Now I want to move towards both improving my times and doing 10km events.

However... probably from around December time every time I run I get shin pain (shin splints, inside of my leg right next to the bone). Normally hurts at the start of a run and then goes but comes back at it’s worst the hours and days (sometimes about a week) after the run. I’ve tried resting for weeks and icing my legs but it still comes back. Started foam rolling and strengthening my calf muscles and bought proper running shoes but doesn’t really make any difference.

How am I supposed to improve time and distance when I can’t even do a couple of kilometres without getting shin splints, maybe running isn’t for me?