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Hi all,

I've recently been having a problem and I'm not sure how to cure it so thought I'd turn to you all for some help.

About 6 weeks ago, I did a 10km race and achieved my personal best of 46:35. Since then I've been a bit off running as I had a week off to recover & relax as I was doing about 40km a week in the lead up to the race.

However, I've not been able to build up my training again as I have a bad pain in my right shin & ankle area. I thought I had traced the problem to my new car and that it took me a while to adjust to the new driving position - given that my Tib Anterior muscle felt tight after the 1 hour drive to work.

So I pretty much stopped running and only doing a couple of kms each week but the pain starts after about 2km. I'd been using a foam roller on my tib anterior and then icing it and that seems to have helped as I don't have any problems when driving.

However, last night I was only able to do another 2km and had to stop - I wasn't even running at a decent pace 5:30/km.

What seems to be happening is that my right ankle becomes tight and I'm unable to run as I usually do. I usually run by striking my heel first but when my ankle gets stiff/tight I start running flat footed and becoming a really loud runner. Then the pain on the ankle and shins is so bad that I have to stop. I walked towards home for a couple of minutes and the pain stopped so I jogged a bit and it was fine for a while but the dull pain started again so I stopped.

After my 10k race, I did buy some new shoes but the pain is just as bad when I go out in my old & new shoes - plus the pain is only on my right leg.

It's rather frustrating (like most injuries I guess) as there is no pain when walking or when going up stairs. When I do run as I'm running so slowly (for me), I'm not out of breath and am concerned that my fitness will take a nosedive - I have a number of 10ks next month.

Has anyone had this before? What does it sounds like? Can anyone suggest what to do?

Thanks in advance,
@thesasgeek

Hi all,

Thanks for the information.

I'm feeling a lot better and back on track with my training. I've made an effort to make sure that the food is high in protein and carbs.

I'm now back on course after doing a 50m 10k the other day and felt fine afterwards.

Cougie asked for my paces (very mixed) so:
10k pace currently at 5.15/km start building to 4.50/km after about 5k. Before my break I was doing steady 4.45/km splits
5k pace near 4.30/km
3k pace near 4.00/km - done once a month for a race at lunch at work
Long slow runs at about 5.10/km but not speeding up
Interval nights start at about 4.20/km but go up to 3.20/km

I'm also starting to investigate supplements - as I'm planning on building to a decent amount of training (2 months to my next 10k) - but I didn't like them when I did them 5 or 6 years ago. I would appreciate any suggestions,

I'm 30 and 5 foot 6.