Cross country pain, help, tips please!?

Question

ok so here is the deal. I have been running cross country sence 5th grade. I have NEVER had any pain in my legs or anything. I am now a freshman and this summer I hit the miles hard. got a good 180 miles. During the last 50 or so I felt the worst pain in my life. my legs hurt so bad. they feel like 50 pound weights. My knees hurt. my calfs and shins hurt. its a sharp pain and my legs feel heavy alot now. I always make sure to stretch but it isnt helping. what do I do? Do I go to the cirapractor? Does this sound like shin splints? I hope it isnt. I dont know what it is and how to treat it. please help me.

Answer 1

Take a week off (It shouldn't decrease your fitness level by too much). Try to stay off your legs as much as possible. For about 2 hours each day rotate between legs wrapped in ice for 20 minutes and a heating pad for 20 minutes. Make sure you get at least 8-9 hours of sleep each night and drink lots of water. If you don't feel like taking the advice of some random dude off the internet, go see a local doctor.

Answer 2

I am no doctor, but it really does sound like shin splints to me. A bunch of my cross country friends got them and what they said to do was to right after you finish running, go home and wrap your legs in ice. Then rotate it to hot water. I am not sure how long for each, but you could probably google it...

Answer 3

I am a runner with the exact same experience with you and it definatelly helps to go to a running store so they can find a shoe for you. (male or female) they are great and mostly just helpful when buying a new shoe and where your shoes around the house or if you don't feel uncomfortable to school as well. It is very important to break them in so your feet do not burn while running.

Answer 4

I'm on cross country as well. It's actually pretty normal for this to happen. You need to take a few days off, you've overworked yourself. Give your muscle tissue some time to build up and heal. Also, due to the rapid muscle development, you may be lacking protein. Make sure your body is supplemented with the nutrients it needs.