Finally got back out to do a run today.
I suffered a lot of pain from what I believe to be shin splints after that last run two weeks ago, so today I dialed it back a little and ran no more than 20 min rather than 40.
From what I've gleaned on the web, my pain was caused ultimately by my flat feet. What happens is that when I apply weight on my feet, they tend to roll inward because they lack arches. There are muscles that are supposed to act as shock absorbers every time my feet hit the pavement, but because my feet roll inward, some of these muscles become prematurely overworked from over-compensating. Once they become fatigued, they lose their shock absorbing properties. The shock then gets absorbed by my tibia (the larger of the two shin bones) which it isn't designed to do, which in turn causes the pain.
...
Or rather the tendons which attach said muscles to the tibia absorb the shock, which again they're not supposed to do, and they get damaged, hence the pain.
The rolling inward motion is called
pronation. People with flat feet tend to have feet that over-pronate.
If this continues, I will have to consider getting arch supporting inserts or shoes designed to give more support to the arches so that my feet don't roll inward when they hit the pavement.
Hopefully, it's more of a training error (I increased the duration of my runs too quickly) rather than a purely biomechanical one (meaning I'll have to fork out the dough for specialized shoes/inserts).
Anyway. Here's the stat's for today's run:
- 10 laps (field) (probable miscount)
- 21' 35"
- 3.1 km
- 8.62 km/h
I was being vigilant and could actually feel my feet rolling inward due to my flat feet so I slowed down the pace somewhat. Increased the pace for the whole of the last lap.
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