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Training & advice

Andy Byrne - Looking after your shins and feet

Advice from Andy Byrne at David Roberts Physiotherapy

First and foremost it should be pointed out that if you have any pain in the shins or lower legs it is important that you are properly assessed to ensure that it is nothing more serious than muscular tightness. Runners can suffer from some quite serious problems in the lower leg and foot, such as stress fractures, and these must not be ignored! So assuming that you are either having no problems, or very mild problems in your feet or shins, then the following advice should keep you fit and healthy, or settle any mild pain you might be having.

The shins are notoriously ignored when stretching and this is the main cause for shin pain, along with the problem of over-pronation.  Over-pronation is written about at great length in running circles so I will not go into this in this article.  In recent years, running shoe technology has advanced significantly to a point where all runners can buy footwear that aligns their foot to neutral when they are running.  This should reduce the likelihood of shin pain from over-pronation, but that does assume that you don't keep running in "your favourite pair" when the support has weakened from over-use!

Given that your running shoes should place you a in a neutral position, then that leaves a lack of stretching as the probable cause of your mild shin pain.  The best stretch that I have found for the shins, and the tendons on the top of your feet which can also get tight, is the following:

Kneel on the floor (a carpeted one) with your toes pointing out behind you.  Slowly sit backwards onto your feet keeping your back straight.  Use your hands behind you to support some of your weight so that you feel a stretch in your shins and the tops of your feet, but you are not putting all of your weight through your feet.  Hold for the standard 20-30 seconds, and repeat as part of your stretching regime, as well as before and after running.  You can vary the stretch slightly by leaning slightly left or right, or by turning the feet slightly in or out as you do the stretches to target the area that feels like it needs the stretch the most.

As I mentioned, this also stretches the tendons on the top of your foot which can get a little inflamed and shortened when you do a lot of running due to the repetitive nature of the action.  If you are having mild discomfort on the top of your foot (often where your laces may be pressing or at the base of the big toe), then as well as the stretches, you can do a little massage to the top of your foot.  You don't need to be particularly proficient at massage to do this.  Simply get plenty of moisturising cream and rub it into the top of the foot, focussing on any painful areas, and aim to spend 5 to 10 minutes doing this a couple of times a week.

Whilst training for my first marathon recently, I had a lot of problems with the tops of my feet as I tend to pull my toes up as I run. Check your running shoes. Is there an area on the top of the shoe where your big toe has rubbed a hole? If there is then you particularly need to stretch and massage! I added the stretch mentioned above to my daily stretching regime, and I was doing daily massage to the tops of my feet, and I managed to solve the problem which had previously come close to making me miss days of running through pain! 

The advice in this article, as well as the article about calf pain, may sound like you are adding hours to your training regime a week simply by stretching, but in practice it will only add a few minutes each day, and it is very effective for reducing the likelihood of you having lower leg injuries.