Shin Splints in Cross Country

SHIN SPLINTS SHIN SPLINTS IN CROSS COUNTRY IN CROSS COUNTRY

The reality of shin splints for cross country runners at Tino

RAJASI LADDHA writer

All runners have once been afflicted by shin splints which is inarguably one of the most common, yet least mentioned, injuries in runners. According to the Mayo Clinic, shin splints, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, is an inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and bone tissue around your tibia. Cross country runners often find themselves afflicted by this injury at least once in their career due to the intense training routines these athletes undergo, yet still, persevere through the intense pain to maintain peak condition. “Shin splints inflammation around the area of the [shin] bone and it would hurt if you pressed it [...] If it gets really bad, it hurts when walking and aches when sitting,” recounts a current Varsity Cross Country athlete at CHS, “I’m pretty sure most of the cross country people [in the team] have had shin splints at one point [...] It can happen from running too much, running too suddenly, or running on different surfaces. [For example], if you’re used to running on concrete and you suddenly run on grass, it might cause shin splints.”

Cross country is a taxing sport as it often entails running races across open-air trails over natural terrain such as dirt or grass for 2.5 to 7.5 mile courses. To run these arduous races, athletes are expected to be in peak condition from the start of the season in order to keep up with the harsh routines during practices.

“[Shin splints] is just really rampant in Cross Country,” notes senior Trevor Lei, a varsity Cross Country athlete. “We ramp [up] the mileage and intensity pretty quick

and a lot of us are not as disciplined as we should be during the off-season. Once the season starts, [there] is a lot of stress on our shins”

Combined with the tough races and infrequent training during the off-season, practices often entail heavy mileages, sometimes even when runners are afflicted with shin splints. Coach Paul Armstrong, who has been the coach of both Cupertino’s Cross Country and Track and Field for many years, helps mitigate the pain of shin splints in runners who are severely afflicted, but also tries to maintain the team’s overall condition. Trevor Lei reflects back on practice: “If we do feel [shin splints] during the warm-up, … we usually tell Coach that..and either he forces us to do the workout, or he lets us sit out and we do the exercises and roll.”

The other Cross Country athlete also recalled similar experiences. “On days I felt good, I would do the whole workout which would be around 4 to 6 miles. If I felt bad, I would do every other lap or jog around the field instead of doing road runs... And sometimes if it’s so bad that you can [not] run, Coach has you do shin splint exercises to help you heal a little.”

This troublesome injury can last throughout the entire season, according to the anonymous Cross Country athlete. They mentioned how in their first two years of high school cross country, they would find themselves afflicted with shin splints throughout the season and would only recover after one to two weeks of break in the postseason. Essentially, most of the afflicted athletes on the team would have to run an average of five miles a day throughout the season while experiencing pain in their shins, even while jogging, and still compete in races. The sheer tenacity of cross country athletes shines through with their steadfastness and devotion to their sport although contin uously dis tressed through constant pain.

“Whenever I had shin splints, everyone was really supportive and gave me time to recover and I could take things at my own pace, ” mentioned the anonymous athlete.

Trevor Lei explains, “how I learned to deal with it was [almost] like detaching from running a bit. You are also trying to focus on academics and extracurriculars, and for me an outlet was weightlifting and not focusing on running so much and fixating on the pain so much.”

While detaching from running has helped “HOWEVER THERE REALLY IS NO FOOLPROOF WAY TO AVOID SHIN SPLINTS. ”ANONYMOUS HOWEVER THERE REALLY IS NO FOOLPROOF WAY TO AVOID SHIN SPLINTS. this runner cope with the constant pain of shin splints, many other runners cannot cope with the tax ing injury which often affects their mental health. Said the athlete, “It has affected my mental health for sure, and I know it has affected the mental health of a lot of other people. It has made a lot of them a little more pessimistic, I guess, but the key is to do other stuff and not focus on it so much.” Mental health is often impacted and shin splints are a given due to the rigor of the sport, yet the runners persevere through their mental and physical exhaustion for their dedication to cross country. The anonymous athlete also men-

“WHENEVER I HAD SHIN SPLINTS, EVERYONE WAS REALLY SUPPORTIVE AND GAVE ME TIME TO RECOVER WHENEVER I HAD SHIN SPLINTS, EVERYONE WAS REALLY SUPPORTIVE AND GAVE ME TIME TO RECOVER tioned later on: “However, there really is no foolproof way to avoid shin splints.” AND I COULD TAKE THINGS AT MY OWN PACE”ANONYMOUS AND I COULD TAKE THINGS AT MY OWN PACE