Foot landing funky while running causing pain?

Question

Today while jogging I got shin splints in my left leg. This caused me to watch my foot placement on the pavement as I move...I noticed the left side of my left foot strikes the ground before the right side. My right foot rolls flat and feels fine (I run heel to toe). I was slightly pigeon-footed when I was younger. Below is a little about me and my routine:

I am fairly new to running and am doing so for many reasons (build stamina, lose weight, general overall health). I'm 21, male, 5'7", 180 lbs. I have a very broad and muscular upper body and am slightly overweight, with short bulky legs. The past 2 weeks I've gone out for 20-30 minutes once or twice/day, 6 days/week. I start by running hard until I tire, then jogging until I feel I need to walk. I walk shortly (<30 seconds) then run/jog, walking shortly when needed. I run on pavement, 1/3 downhill, 1/3 flat, 1/3 uphill. Today I ran hard for about 4-5 minutes before these shin splints kicked in and I had to hobble my way home. Help?

Answer 1

Do you stretch before and after your run maybe if you did your shin splints would go away.

Answer 2

make sure you have good shoes, and they&#039;re new. Shoes only last about 3 months in my opinion. I&#039;d rest the shin splints or only run on grass till they go away.

Answer 3

A couple of thoughts...

You might check out a running shoe store.  Bring your shoes, and have them watch you run.  If you are pronating, you may benefit from a different type of shoe, and they can look at putting you in a shoe with stability control if that&#039;s an issue.  Shoes really make a big difference.  A good store can glean a lot of information from the wear on your shoes.

Get off the pavement and concrete it you can.  Try to spend as much of your time running on grass or dirt.  Parks, trails, fire roads, whatever you can find.  Asphalt is better than concrete sidewalk.

I would run 5 days a week initially.  Give your body two full days of rest.

The key to building endurance is LSD - Long Slow Distance.  You should be running for time, at a pace that is not more than 70% of your max heart rate.  usually that&#039;s at a pace that you can still talk without gasping.

Don&#039;t run hills every day.  Hill workouts and speed workouts are their own animals.  Use LSD for time, and build on it week to week.  Increase the time you spending running no more than 10% each week.  

The miles will come, be patient and listen to your body.

Answer 4

I hope that you are stretching.....

Before and after

Try running starting with the other foot than you usally do

Answer 5

rest for a few days

Answer 6

I would recommend taking 7-10 days off. Once you start running after the break and you still are hurting, I would recommend seeing a specialist, i.e. an orthopedic.

Answer 7

Shin splints occur on the lateral side of your shin (the outside)... if the pain is in your midshaft tibia (shin bone), and on the inside (medial), it could be from a weak or strained soleus.

Assuming it&#039;s shin splints, stretch your calves and do &quot;furniture lifts&quot;... put your toes under a couch and lift them up.  Shin splints occur from a muscle imbalance between the muscle in the front of your shin and your calves.  You need to strengthen the muscle that opposes your calf muscles (your tibialis anterior).  Do these exercises twice daily and DEFINITELY before you run.  You should notice a difference.