Advice for the Injured

I once heard a young, new mother — somewhat exasperated by constant parenting tips from well-meaning but overly intrusive relatives — say, “There’s nothing less welcome than unsolicited advice.”

As an Opinionated Jerk, I’ve tried (not very effectively, I might add) to keep that maxim in mind over the years, and to keep my suggestions to myself, unless someone asks for them. So you can imagine how pleased I was when a friend recently sent me a note asking what I thought he should do about his recurring shin-splints problem. As someone who has suffered from that common running ailment (and others), I was all too glad to pass along what I’ve leaned. And here it is:

1. After sustaining your injury, wait a long time to start again, like 4-8 weeks. You need to let the shins heal completely, otherwise you’ll just aggravate your injury.
   
2. Build up super slowly. The main cause of shin splints is building up too fast. So add to your mileage at a very slow rate. (The number I often see quoted is no more than a 10 percent increase a week.)
3. Start out on soft surfaces — i.e., sand, grass, track. Avoid pavement and hills at first and concrete always. Then slowly work pavement/hills into your regimen. First once a week, then twice, etc.
4. Ice whatever ails you three times a day. For shin splints, there's a handy item called "Shin Ice," which is an ice pack designed to fit around that part of your leg. (You can buy it at Amazon or a million other places on the web.) When I was recovering from shin splints I used Shin Ices on both legs three times a day: when I first got up, after a run (or, if I wasn't running that day, sometime in the afternoon), and once again at night. What's nice is you don't have to sit/lie down to use them — you can still play with the kids, etc. (The downside: After soaking up some sweat, they start to stink!)
5. Try to stretch that part of your leg a lot. Lifting yourself up and down by your toes is an easy way to do it, an can be done at any time, if only for a few seconds, here and there.  

Finally, this being a Catholic blog and all, I would add to pray for patience. Having to sit out weeks of running, while your conditioning falls to pot, is hard. Running tedious loops around the track and building up mileage in baby steps can be frustrating. And when we runners are suffering the pangs of endorphin withdrawal, we can be an unpleasant lot. Here’s a good prayer for patience and gentleness:

Bestow on me, O Lord, a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance;
a mild, loving, patient, heart;
kindly looks, pleasant cordial speech, and manners
in the exchange of daily life;
that I may give offence to none,
but as much as in lies live in charity with all men.

(Johann Arndt, 1555-1621)