Shin splints is a generic term for shin pain and it can have one of a number of causes. The most common is tightness in the muscles around the calf which can place stress on the attachments to the shin bone. This in turn is caused by a number of things – flexibility, muscle weakness, the mechanics of how your foot strikes the ground and too much training too soon.
The one that you are most in control of is training. And there’s a sense in which an injury is caused only by training, with all these other factors increasing the likelihood, not actually causing the injury. Therefore, the solution, which is most difficult to implement, is to reduce training volume. If you’re running 6km five times a week, then cutting to 4km three times a week is a start, after which you can very gradually begin to build up the distance again. Usually a reduction in training by about 50% helps to alleviate the pain, and then as you build up, your body adapts and you can reach the same levels as before, without the pain. The key is adaptation. You can help reduce the risk of injury by strengthening the calves as well – doing calf-raises helps.
Also, choose softer surfaces to run on when you can – concrete is the hardest surface, followed by tarred road, and then gravel and grass. If you can, do some running on the softer surfaces. All of this is dependent on the training volume though, which has to be low enough to allow your body to become stronger as a result of training.
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