Shin Splints...AGAIN!

[Gamingphreek]

Well it is my Senior year and i have never run track before.

My friend said that he really thinks i would be good at track. So, i told him i would try out if i got my 2 mile time under 15 mins (Bad but having never run it before pretty good). I managed a 14:55 that night and went out.

Now im on the Varsity Spring Track team and i love it. However, in the first meet i have the distinct pleasure of running against the All-State 2 Mile runner. Lucky me.

Now i KNOW my time must have dropped dramatically after 2 weeks of hard practicing, but it is still no where near the 10:30 he is running.

I also know im not going to be anywhere remotely close to him any time soon, but is there any exercises or weight lifting i can do this weekend through Tuesday that will drop my time even further. Right now i would say that a 13:30 isn't out of the question for me.

Update: Well the meet was cancelled due to "inclement weather". But the inclement weather was Sunny with ~10mph breeze (56F). My coach was in disbelief so we ran. And now we are, after practice, doing weight lifting.

Additionally, my coach also has me practicing with the sprinters. Since i can run for SO LONG i have a slow twitch muscle. So in training with with the sprinters today, on the 100 i can keep up with some of them. I was really pleased until:

I strained my quadricep. I ran 2 heats and on my way back from my second heat a searing pain went through my quad. I told my coach after i tried stretching out for 5 mins (to no avail). I have to ice it down, and the athletic trainer doesn't want me sprinting for 7-10 days. NOT GOOD. Sprinting is what i need practice on.

In that time though, ill still be running long distances, and also be exercising (working with twitch muscle). So hopefully it wont kill me too much.

Do you know if it is ok to exercise abs and twitch more than once per day? Also is it ok to bench and work tri/biceps everday. Or does doing it everyday make a big difference.

Update 2: I was off for 2 weeks for shin splints. Over spring break i ran very hard to get back in 2 mile running shape. NOw after about 1.5 weeks of running, my shin splints are back and worse than ever.

I REALLY want to run. I want to AT LEAST make districts. Preferably regions. However, i cannot run through this condition.

Is there ANYTHING i can do. At this point im thinking that i should only run in the meets. Instead of running in practice, ill go to the YMCA(Gym) and swim, and afterwards weight lift.

Any advice/comments you can get would be welcome!

-Kevin

 

[Koing]

In a word NO.

You won't drop your time by that much within a month, let alone a few days.

I use to run track at school and it is a BLAST :thumbsup:.

Another question you think there is any exercise that will drop your time by 90seconds within a few days?!

Get your basic speed up but the 2mile is a STAMINA EVENT. You need to get your overall stamina and speed endurance up. And you just have to GUT IT OUT.

No one will be beating the all state champs time of 10:30. That is fast.

Your 2mile time is also good. It thrash's my time but I only did sprints and jumping events.

After this race talk to your coaches. You should be able to learn how to do some power cleans and get some squats going but this is more for the off season work then your competition period. Idealy you should be fine tuning and getting yourself to race. We have a 1500m runner at my OL club that has won Bronze at the World Champs :thumbsup:.

Koing

 

[Gamingphreek]

Oh no, you misunderstand. I know there is no chance of me coming anywhere close to him (at least for now). I was wondering if i could drop my time by a few more seconds than i already have.

As for the stamina i guess i should just let this be known right now:
I came into practice and ran for 45mins at a pretty good pace. For my first practice the coach was impressed. Earlier this week he told me that he believe i was extremely strong but i had low turnover. He told the other coach that we are almost going to have to drill me as a sprinter because i can run for so long without any ill effects. So my stamina isn't quite the problem, it is more my speed. Right now i am definitely working on my form as well.

You won't drop your time by that much within a month, let alone a few days.

This is going to sound stupid but, what if i practiced really hard (Going for the month of course, i think districts are a hell of a lot more than a month away at any rate). I would seriously like to be running in districts and regions (at least districts). I am EXTREMELY coachable and will push myself extremely hard. Would it be any benefit if i got up early and ran before school, and then ran after school at practice. Additionally, would running on an incline benefit me in anyway more than another?

-Kevin

Edit: I have asthma also, so i have to take an inhaler (Just got it and used it for the first time the other day), so right now i would probably bet that i am well within the 13's.

 

[Koing]

Your current PB is 14:55. NO WAY are you going to hit 13:30 within 4 weeks. NO MATTER how hard you train you will not chop off 90seconds off your time.

You need to set REALISTIC GOALS.

Running 45mins is NOTHING compared to 14-15minutes of running. Totally different game. You need to focus on some speed endurance work and start hitting 14-15minutes. Try running 2/3 distance at real pace as if you were to hit 14minutes for 2miles. Rest up a bit and repeat that.

Doing something for 45minutes if completely different to doing something fast for 10minutes or 20minutes.

Speak to your coaches they will inform you of breaking your times faster.

It isn't a case of training harder but smarter. You WILL BURN YOURSELF OUT before the race if you run too much. You need to peak. The week before you should be easing up on your times and not going crazy. If you do you will have NOTHING left for the competiton.

Right now is not the time to be training like this. You train like that in the OFF SEASON where you don't have meets.

Koing

 

[OdiN]

1) Take Steroids
2) Run really freaking fast.
3) .....
4) Profit!

 

[roguerower]

Nope, no way to drop it by 3 min. Ur running 6:45 miles, while he's running 5:15. Just try ur best.

Shoulda rowed crew.

 

[Rufus12]

I sprint. 200m ftw.

 

[TripleAAA]

You may be able to drop your time if you're diet wasn't that great before starting to train. If so, you can adjust your diet and you might be able to go a bit faster. I'd recommend eating a lot of pasta the night before.

As for more long term, your diet will help you achieve your goals faster than just training alone. Both are extremely important.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: roguerower
Nope, no way to drop it by 3 min. Ur running 6:45 miles, while he's running 5:15. Just try ur best.

Shoulda rowed crew.

So even after 2 months of practice (Districts is in ~2 months) i wont be able to drop my time to ~11?

As for the PB; i SHOULD be significantly faster than that for a couple of reasons:
[*]I ran it on the treadmill on a slight incline
[*]I have been running extremely hard practices (Ladder/Pyramid Sets, Intervals)
[*]I set that record in Shox, in a meet or even at practice i have my $110 trainers or my Spikes
[*]I set that time after working out
[*]Did not have my inhaler at that time

I will run my ass off if it means making districts and possibly regions (Cant remember the VA Qualifying times though).

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
You may be able to drop your time if you're diet wasn't that great before starting to train. If so, you can adjust your diet and you might be able to go a bit faster. I'd recommend eating a lot of pasta the night before.

As for more long term, your diet will help you achieve your goals faster than just training alone. Both are extremely important.

Well im not out of shape by anymeans. Lean is a pretty good description, but i dont quite have my "six-pack" or anything...yet.

At anyrate, i still eat way too much. Even though i dont eat breakfast, and i rarely eat a decent lunch, ill eat dinner and then snack later. I figure if i can manage to eat a banana for lunch (Potassium), skip lunch (So horrible running on a full stomach), and then cut back on my Dinner (Moreso snacking) intake, my diet will be very nice.

-Kevin

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
You may be able to drop your time if you're diet wasn't that great before starting to train. If so, you can adjust your diet and you might be able to go a bit faster. I'd recommend eating a lot of pasta the night before.

As for more long term, your diet will help you achieve your goals faster than just training alone. Both are extremely important.

Well im not out of shape by anymeans. Lean is a pretty good description, but i dont quite have my "six-pack" or anything...yet.

At anyrate, i still eat way too much. Even though i dont eat breakfast, and i rarely eat a decent lunch, ill eat dinner and then snack later. I figure if i can manage to eat a banana for lunch (Potassium), skip lunch (So horrible running on a full stomach), and then cut back on my Dinner (Moreso snacking) intake, my diet will be very nice.

-Kevin

DUDE if you do THAT you will run COMPLETELY SH!T.

That is NO FOOD TO RUN ON AT ALL. You will have NO ENERGY.

You WILL be DOOMED if you do that for more then a few days and especially so when you are going to run a RACE.

How do you figure you eat too much? You don't even eat breakfast. You probably mean you eat too much junk on snacks and stuff like that right? Well that stuff is what gives you some energy to run. Eating nothing will get you no where in an endurance 2mile race.

Steriods won't help you run faster. You will put muscle on and that will kill your times and make running distance harder.

Running a race time on a treadmill DOES NOT COUNT. You have no wind resistance and the mechanics are not the same. Any runner will tell you this.

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
So even after 2 months of practice (Districts is in ~2 months) i wont be able to drop my time to ~11?

As for the PB; i SHOULD be significantly faster than that for a couple of reasons:
[*]I ran it on the treadmill on a slight incline
[*]I have been running extremely hard practices (Ladder/Pyramid Sets, Intervals)
[*]I set that record in Shox, in a meet or even at practice i have my $110 trainers or my Spikes
[*]I set that time after working out
[*]Did not have my inhaler at that time

I will run my ass off if it means making districts and possibly regions (Cant remember the VA Qualifying times though).

-Kevin

Run the race on Wednesday and see what time you get. Then you have about 7 weeks until your Districts. You can't gauge performance in a race on a treadmill where the pace isn't generated by you.

The saving grace is that you did do it after a work out.

If you drop your time to 11minutes by district you will be a very gifted athlete. ~23% improvement in 2 months is insane for a none technical event is insane. Maybe 6 months of you could do it IF YOU WERE really out of shape to begin with.

If you break in to the 13's in 2 months that would be very good.

You should finish eating some pasta (half to 1/3 portion) 2-2.5hrs before the race starts ideally. Load up on it the day before also. Don't take stuff that is greasy/ fatty, that will slow you down for the race.

Koing

 

[Koing]

Btw within a week there is ALMOST NOTHING you can do to INCREASE performance physiologically. You can improve performance by being MENTALLY TOUGH come race day. NOTHING you will do now will help you run better. Technique wouldn't have been ingrained yet and it will flop out of the window. Stick to what comes naturally to you for race day. It really is a case of how badly do you want it? See what you clock in on Wednesday and report back. Your coaches should know how to increase your time and to see what is doable.

Training is the time to fine tune our technique.

:thumbsup:

Koing

 

[JDrake]

take a look at this

 

[Gamingphreek]

DUDE if you do THAT you will run COMPLETELY SH!T.

That is NO FOOD TO RUN ON AT ALL. You will have NO ENERGY.

You WILL be DOOMED if you do that for more then a few days and especially so when you are going to run a RACE.

How do you figure you eat too much? You don't even eat breakfast. You probably mean you eat too much junk on snacks and stuff like that right? Well that stuff is what gives you some energy to run. Eating nothing will get you no where in an endurance 2mile race.

Well im not hungry normally/get up too late to eat breakfast. Is eating a banana and having a cup of juice not enough? I haven't eaten breakfast regularly in ~2 years. Lunch is really more of a this year thing.

The main reason for me not eating lunch aside from like a bag of chips is because of track. If i run (Today i had a sub...ugh) on a full stomach i feel a lot heavier, and i feel like im going to throw up.

You probably mean you eat too much junk on snacks and stuff like that right?

EXACTLY! I really have to stop that lol.

Steriods won't help you run faster. You will put muscle on and that will kill your times and make running distance harder.

Not even an option, dont worry.

Run the race on Wednesday and see what time you get. Then you have about 7 weeks until your Districts. You can't gauge performance in a race on a treadmill where the pace isn't generated by you.

The saving grace is that you did do it after a work out.

From what i hear, you are generally slower on a treadmill than on the track (That coupled with my other boneheaded moves).

If you drop your time to 11minutes by district you will be a very gifted athlete. ~23% improvement in 2 months is insane for a none technical event is insane. Maybe 6 months of you could do it IF YOU WERE really out of shape to begin with.

Well, i have a good stride for my size and no REALLY major technical issues but i am far from a model example. My feet do the thing where i overstep (My trainers have the extra reinforcement in the instep). My arms were too low, weren't at 90 degrees, and were barely moving (Im working on that currently).

If you break in to the 13's in 2 months that would be very good.

I would be willing to bet that i can run in the 13's by now. I am in A LOT better shape (More cardiovascular and aerobically) than i was 3 weeks ago.

You should finish eating some pasta (half to 1/3 portion) 2-2.5hrs before the race starts ideally. Load up on it the day before also. Don't take stuff that is greasy/ fatty, that will slow you down for the race.

Ill definitely try to do that. What is so good about pasta. Is it the carbohydrates that will give me some stored energy or something?

-Kevin

 

[Koing]

I would be willing to bet that i can run in the 13's by now. I am in A LOT better shape (More cardiovascular and aerobically) than i was 3 weeks ago.

Well CV improvements are not immediate. IIRC it takes about 3 or 6 months for THOSE improvements to show. You can run better times by being more determinend or just gutting it out and staying the pain off.

Pasta = complex carb = slower release in to blood stream = more sustained energy then 'simple carbs'. Stored energy would be fat and that takes longer to use.

Well im not hungry normally/get up too late to eat breakfast. Is eating a banana and having a cup of juice not enough? I haven't eaten breakfast regularly in ~2 years. Lunch is really more of a this year thing.

The main reason for me not eating lunch aside from like a bag of chips is because of track. If i run (Today i had a sub...ugh) on a full stomach i feel a lot heavier, and i feel like im going to throw up.


If you feel heavy you didn't eat and leave enough time. It is as simple as that. Don't hog the whole sub, have half of it and try and make sure you run 2-2.5hrs AFTER you have finished the sub. Don't run on a full stomach!

If your not hungry you should still have some cereal. Having your body like this is no way for maximum performance.

NO athlete runs on a banana and OJ. That is performance suicide.

wtf @ bag of chips. Avoid oily/ greasy food, they will make you slower and provide ah heck all nutrition.

You can run faster on a treadmill on account of not having to wind resistance and not pushing yourself forward but having rollers do it.

Whats your best 'real' run time?

Forget the technique for Wednesday race. I gurantee if you think too much on the technique you will use up too much energy keeping your arms at 90* and have tense arms and shoulders. You will expend so much energy you will be wasted by 70-80% of the race.

Moving your arms faster will help your legs move faster.

Koing

 

[TripleAAA]

You need to eat throughout the day, preferably smaller meals, to get your metabolism running at a constant. If you eat large amounts of food only when you are hungry, you won't get anywhere with your diet or your goals.

It's a pain in the butt, but if you can squeeze in 4-6 small meals throughout your day, you will have much more energy to burn come race time.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Whats your best 'real' run time?

Not sure (Ill soon find out i guess), but every single person on the team said that i should be faster off of the treadmill rather than on it.

If your not hungry you should still have some cereal.

Why should i force myself to eat a bowl of cereal though?

Don't hog the whole sub, have half of it and try and make sure you run 2-2.5hrs AFTER you have finished the sub. Don't run on a full stomach!

Nah, it was Senior Lunch today, and they had a Sub cut into slices. I had 2 slices which was probably ~4-6"

wtf @ bag of chips. Avoid oily/ greasy food, they will make you slower and provide ah heck all nutrition.

So im at school what should i be looking at here. I can get a Sandwhich, or a Salad. But other than that the meals are super healthy (Although practically everything is going low fat in my County Schools).

The reason i say that i can probably manage a 13 by now is because when i ran the 14:55 on the treadmill, in addition to the things i said earlier, i wasn't used to it. Now having run everyday, experienced the pressure and pain everyday, built muscle and burned fat everyday i am at LEAST somewhat used to it. What i did on the treadmill is just like at practice. I should be able to push myself past that.

Tomorrow, ill get one of my friends or someone to go out to the school (Instead of me running in my neighborhood) and time me on a 2 mile race. Ill wear my Spikes, ill eat a decent breakfast ~2 hours earlier, ill have my inhaler. This will be just like the real deal, ill push myself BEYOND what i have done in the past. I swear i will break 13 soon if i haven't already (Ill train until i do).

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
You need to eat throughout the day, preferably smaller meals, to get your metabolism running at a constant. If you eat large amounts of food only when you are hungry, you won't get anywhere with your diet or your goals.

It's a pain in the butt, but if you can squeeze in 4-6 small meals throughout your day, you will have much more energy to burn come race time.

So would a bowl of cereal, and then 2 snacks during the day at school (As well as, of course, a couple bottles of water) be enough. Dont know if it will help at all, but im 5'7" and 147lbs.

If so, what kind of little snacks should i eat throughout the day.

-Kevin

 

[Koing]

Snack = fruit = vegetables, peanut butter sandwich

Why should you force yourself to eat? Because your SLACKING off breakfast. Fine don't eat breakfast, you will run poorly and get poorer results then had you eaten properly 4-6x during the day with smaller meals. When I want to add on mass I eat when I'm not hungry. Yes it is a hassle but you get results. This is much more optimal then eating when your hungry or skipping meals.

Ask your coach what he thinks of your banana and OJ before racing and keeping it up for a few days. And skipping breakfast...

Run the 13 then get back. 55seconds is A LOT out of a 2 mile race. That is ~ 8laps. You are looking at 7seconds faster PER LAP for 8 laps. You will be busting a gut.

DON'T DO IT TOMORROW man. You have your RACE on the Wednesday. If you run tomorrow hard you will F0CK YOURSELF UP. It will take at least 2-3 days for you to recover from it if you run it hard. Your performance on Wednesday will be poor.

Remember it doesn't matter what you can do in training etc. It only matters on race days and conditions. THOSE are the days that get you selected for District.

Koing

 

[Gamingphreek]

DOnt get me wrong, i simply dont know. You obviously know what you are talking about, and i have heard numerous others tell me i should eat breakfast, im just going to have to suck it up and get up earlier.

Ill work on a plan where i eat the way you advised me. Hopefully that will help (Hopefully it will give me more energy in school too)

banana and OJ

I think you misunderstand me there. The Banana and OJ is my breakfast sometimes, still just as bad though.

Run the 13 then get back. 55seconds is A LOT out of a 2 mile race. That is ~ 8laps. You are looking at 7seconds faster PER LAP for 8 laps. You will be busting a gut.

THese past couple days i have REALLY been moving. Keep in mind my other boneheaded moves and excuses.

DON'T DO IT TOMORROW man. You have your RACE on the Wednesday. If you run tomorrow hard you will F0CK YOURSELF UP. It will take at least 2-3 days for you to recover from it if you run it hard. Your performance on Wednesday will be poor.

Oh ok. I wont then

My coach said that it is horrible for a distance runner to take 2 days off though, so would it be better for me to run Sat, skip Sunday and then do Mon and Tuesday; or how should i work that?

Thanks for all the advice. Believe me ill take it to heart.

-Kevin

 

[wtfbbq]

i wouldn't be so quick to rule out massive PR's. First year runners always have huge PR's, especially because his first "races" weren't even real races at all. Also, be greatful you aren't in CA like I am... we have 4 guys who run sub-10 3200m in just my league.

i think you're looking too far into things that won't affect your race much. just eat something that isn't totally fatty/greasy/disgusting but you shouldn't really deviate all that much from what is normal for you (though normal for you sounds kinda sketch... definitely be eating at least something). as someone said before, i wouldn't advise racing right before the meet (although 4 days of recovery is quite a bit). Try to set a goal and plan out your splits for what you want to hit. I wouldn't advise going straight down to 13's... you should plan splits for 14:00 or something, then gauge how you feel during your race.

 

[bondboy]

:beer:

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: wtfbbq
i wouldn't be so quick to rule out massive PR's. First year runners always have huge PR's, especially because his first "races" weren't even real races at all. Also, be greatful you aren't in CA like I am... we have 4 guys who run sub-10 3200m in just my league.

i think you're looking too far into things that won't affect your race much. just eat something that isn't totally fatty/greasy/disgusting but you shouldn't really deviate all that much from what is normal for you (though normal for you sounds kinda sketch... definitely be eating at least something). as someone said before, i wouldn't advise racing right before the meet (although 4 days of recovery is quite a bit). Try to set a goal and plan out your splits for what you want to hit. I wouldn't advise going straight down to 13's... you should plan splits for 14:00 or something, then gauge how you feel during your race.

Well ill have to wait until the race then to guage where i should start my goal i guess.

Well, im just going to give it everything and more than i have! Ill make sure to wave at the State Runner when he passes (jk)

-Kevin

 

[glenn beck]

10:30 high school....that's amazing

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: glenn beck
10:30 high school....that's amazing

Thats what i said. Seriously, what are the odds (Its only a Dual) that on my first meet i have to race the All State guy.

-Kevin