Shin Splints - 9 months in the making!
A running friend of mine has just recently pulled back on her running shoes and returned to pounding the roads after a fairly long maternity break.
“I didn’t run at all for nine months and I’ve been really careful to start again sensibly with a walk/jog programme so how come my shins are giving me jip?” she complained when I met up with her for a BabyJogger training session.
I looked at her baby boy sleeping soundly in his Jogger and suggested he might have something to do with it.
“How can that be?” she continued. “It’s not as if I’ve gone out and done too much too soon as I’m struggling to get out even just a couple of times a week and I’m hardly breaking any land speed records am I? Weight usually falls off me when I’m running but I’m still at least half a stone heavier than I was before and I can’t even blame any new kit as I’ve just kept my old running shoes.”
Without realising it, she’d just answered her own question. It’s very common for shin pain to appear when the lower limbs are put suddenly under new pressure such as taking up running, returning to running after a long break or running further or faster than normal but in this case, with overloading due to mileage or pace ruled out, it was far more likely to be down to having just had a baby. Another factor in the occurrence of shin splints is a change of gait or running style. The affects of pregnancy and childbirth on the body should not be underestimated and the residual hormonal influence on the muscles, tendons and joints can be problematic when returning to exercise.
My friend’s situation highlights several factors that need to be addressed by women returning to running after having a baby if injuries such as shin splints are to be avoided:
- Consider the physical changes in your body after childbirth and take advice from medical professionals regarding when it’s appropriate to return to running
- Bear in mind that carrying extra body weight will affect your running style and may change your running gait entirely
- Your old running shoes, as well as potentially having too many miles run out of them, were the right shoes for your pre-pregnancy running style - consider having a new gait analysis done before buying a new pair
- Running and pushing a baby in a BabyJogger is a completely new experience for your body - no matter how many 10ks or half marathons you ran before having a baby, you weren’t pushing a stone or so in front of you as you did them!
Related Links
Article: the pregnant runner - click here
Web site: Running4women - click here
Article: Running Strollers which to pick - click here
Article: Running with a baby - click here
