Hey Everyone

I have had shin splints and I'm in Victoria!  Firstly see a podiatrist - I got custom made orthotics and advice on which brand/style of shoe to wear.  I now wear nothing except Asics 2160's or Kayanos.  Definitely helps.

I cannot run constantly over 20km.  Anything above that I will get shin splints - however i love an endurance distance sooooo I got myself a copy of Jeff Galloway's Marathon You Can Do it - follwing this guy's run/walk strategy has resulted in two years of no shin splints.  And i did Melbourne in 5.06.  just read about a guy who did a 4.15 running one minute and walking one minute - gives your legs a much needed change in pace and muscle use.

Physio advice has also helped, he said I was putting incredible strain on the smaller calf muscle by running too slow.  yep that's right too slow.  He said I wasn't giving the larger calf muscle the opportunity to be engaged.  And I have now improved my pace soooo much - I used to run 6.30kms I can now do 5.30kms (short distance though)  He was so right, running faster seems to hurt less.

Avoid training on hills unless you're going to be racing those conditions.  I do hill training - I run up a small incline (about a 45sec climb) and slowly jog down, 10 times once a week.  It's enough for Melbourne.

If you do get an attack of shin splints then straight off to the physio or myotherapist (I prefer the latter as they offer a more all round approach, curing the cause rather than the symptoms only)

Find one that is sympathetic to your needs (advising me not to run for five weeks is not an option)  I have a Myotherapist in Carlton, Advanced Myotherapy - pricey but good.  Treatment of shin splints, straight after training or massage ice.  Massage and heaps of it - ouch.  Dry Needling encourages the muscle to heal quicker by causing it a minor trauma.  Heat pack when resting.  And stretching of course - on myotherapist advice I now stretch every morning for 20mins and I feel great for it.

The other thing that helped me heaps - lost 15kg!