# Lower Leg Pains



## Tanner

Ok, so if you haven't seen Jason's, aka my dad, post about my first meet, go check it out, itll give you some background needed.  

Anyways, tonight was our second meet and a bit before the meet, i started having knee, shin, and ankle pains.  It was getting kind of distracting.  After the race, I got 12:47, a conderable difference in time.  Granted it was hotter today and our home course is one of the toughest in the county, thats a lot of time lost.  During the race, I had some of the same pains as I had before,luckily, i was able to get through it by the motivation of trying to beat the 5 guys ahead of me I needed to pass to win it for my team (sadly only passed 3) but afterwards, I couldnt hold the pain off.  Ive already soaked and iced my calf, shin, and ankle and I can still notice pain when I put pressure on my feet.  One of my teamates mother, who is a dedicated and very good 5k runner, suggested that my shoes may have contributed to the problem (Brooks Adrenaline GTS stablility).  These shoes, rather, stability shoes, were reccommended to us by a Dick's employee who seemed very educated.  She said stability shoes were a must because she said I pronated (the running company agreed that I pronated but didnt say that stability shoes were a must.  I got these at the beginning of the season and had bad ankle pains during the beginning of the Junior High teams first couple weeks of practice.  The thought never occured that the shoes may be causing it.  Ever since I got the shoes, I've noticed an increase in the pain I experience during or after excersize but have never linked it to the shoes.  If anybody has any ideas about any possible cause for the pain, besides the shoes, or just comments about the problem, please post them!  My legs thank you!!!!


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Well what would it hurt to get a new pair of shoes? You might not be able to tell any difference at this point, but it's worth a shot.

You need to make sure you are stretching before your run, you have to do the little things. Try and hydrate yourself as much as possible during the day. Try drinking OJ in the morning before school and I always liked to drink a glass of chocolate milk before bed (be sure to get the NesQuick powder, 1.5 table spoons). I also used to take a bath every night after practice (I know baths are for women) lol for lack of a better word, however it really would relax my muscles. 

My guess is these types of pains will come and go as you continue to grow and get older. A lot of runners have a hard time disseminating everyday aches and pains from actual injuries, even in college runners struggle with this. Trust me their is a difference. If your legs are hurting you "that" bad it might not be a bad idea to consider shutting it down. The thing about an injury is that only you really know how bad it is hurting. If you think you can push through the rest of the season, then more power to you! But try not and use it as an excuse, you will be tougher for it in the long run if you just go out and do your best (knowing that you are battling through some things) it will teach you a lot about yourself and how much pain you can endure. 

One of the things that seperates the good runners from the bad is the ability to fight through pain both physical and mental. However I am not talking about injury pain, more so about being tired in a race pain, you know when your legs hurt and you feel like you don't have anything left. 

Hope this helps! I think everyone finds different things that work for them. It's just a matter of you finding what works for you.


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## Sycamore624

Get feeling better soon Tanner!


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## Tanner

Thanks.  Ill definatley have to try running with my old shoes tonight.  Btw, what exactly does the oj provide that would help me out?  I know the nutritionist the high school hired said that vitamin c had something to do with recovery or something like that but I cant remember exactly.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Tanner said:


> Thanks.  Ill definatley have to try running with my old shoes tonight.  Btw, what exactly does the oj provide that would help me out?  I know the nutritionist the high school hired said that vitamin c had something to do with recovery or something like that but I cant remember exactly.



Shouldn't you be in school? lol 

OJ helps add some Carbs to your diet and it is a great source of Potassium to avoid muscle cramps and such, just a good drink for recovery. However avoid drinking it the day of the meet. 

Milk will add some Vitaman D to your diet, as well as some potassium and obviously calcium. The younger you are the more milk you need to drink and the best way for me to do that was every night before bed. 

n 2006, the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism published a study conducted at the Indiana University in Bloomington that found, in the words of the scientists and researchers that conducted the study, "Chocolate milk contains an optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio, which is critical for helping refuel tired muscles after strenuous exercise and can enable athletes to exercise at a high intensity during subsequent workouts. It is a strong alternative to other commercial sports drinks in helping athletes recover from strenuous, energy-depleting exercise."

BOOM! Consider me an expert, I even found evidence to back my suggestions up!


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## Jason Svoboda

Morgan, now if we could just get him to drink some milk.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Jason Svoboda said:


> Morgan, now if we could just get him to drink some milk.



I am telling you the Nes Quick powder is the best way to go... Real easy to make takes all of 2 seconds to make and it's addicting... lol I used to drink that like it was water!


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## Jason Svoboda

Morgan said:


> I am telling you the Nes Quick powder is the best way to go... Real easy to make takes all of 2 seconds to make and it's addicting... lol I used to drink that like it was water!


He won't drink milk at all. White, chocolate, laced with 100 dollar bills, nothing.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Then he obviously want's his legs to keep hurting... All the good athletes do it. Tell him to google Michael Phelps and milk, I think you will find out that all the top athletes like myself (cough) drank chocolate milk!


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## ohio

here is a good way to discern everyday aches and pains from an injury.  if you are running and your stride or form is being altered (you cant run normally) then you have an injury.  if you are running with pain but you are able to run normal then you have a case of the everyday aches and pains.  how much time was between getting new shoes and your legs hurting??


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## SycamoreStateofMind

ohio said:


> here is a good way to discern everyday aches and pains from an injury.  if you are running and your stride or form is being altered (you cant run normally) then you have an injury.  if you are running with pain but you are able to run normal then you have a case of the everyday aches and pains.  how much time was between getting new shoes and your legs hurting??



That brings up a good point, however their are injuries that you can run through, people do it all the time. Some people can tollerate more pain than others, it's a common fact. What you Ohio can run through is going to be something totally different than what I can run through. Ohio prolly does not have as high of pain tollerance as me.... lol Kidding Ohio, but you are from Ohio and clearly people in Indiana can tollerate more pain than folks from Ohio. 

I don't know your level of pain but I would say if its anything under a 7 on a scale of 10 (10 being your dieing) then you can prolly run through this injury. That's just the way I would handle the situation - you gotta learn to be a tough kid sometime, why not learn that now? Ohio is going to tell you that you have to learn to be a smart kid sometime and he will say that running through pain is not smart. But I have done it plenty of times and I never had a stress fracture or anything like that, I might have but I just ran through them becuase I learned to handle the pain.... It's the nature of the sport, just something you learn to deal with daily...


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## ohio

ok. ok. morgan. i see you.  i agree with you though.  i think running through things is good for you, the less time you spend on the bench the better runner you'll be.  however, if your pain is detrimental to your ability to run, it is better to find out what is wrong and take the time to fix it and, if you have to take time off, spend the minimal amount of time off.  you do have to be smart, smart as in training without interruptions.


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## Tanner

the time between my new shoes and my legs hurting was about 1 or 2 weeks into training with the team.  Recently, I have tried both shoes.  I ran in them friday morning and had my worst pains to date, spiking through my legs for short periods of time (30 sec or so)  I ran hard today in my old shoes and it still hurt, just not as much as with the new shoes.  I havent noticed much difference in my stride, apart from trying to make it smoother today just to improve my form.  We are probabley going to the doctor though, just to see if anything is wrong.


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## Skeeney

Tanner: be more precise with your inury so that we can ascertain what the actually injury is.  When exactly did the pain begin?  Did it immediately hit you one day or did it starts as aches and pains and then get worse?  And the most important question is: where exactly does it hurt?  You said your calves, shins, and ankles, but be more specific.  Do your MUSCLES hurt?  For instance, you have two large muscles in your calves and a couple that run along your shin bones.  Can you find specific spots on these muscles that hurt if you touch the area, or does everything hurt?  If it is not muscles, then does it hurt if you tap or press hard on a bone, such as your shin bone or a bone in your ankle?


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## ohio

changing your shoes for a day won't stop pain IF it is caused from a shoe.  it takes time to recover


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## Tanner

i figured that out ohio.  I did notice that pains after the run and a tiny bit during the run were different depending on which shoe i used.  with the new ones, i had horrible pains throughout the day.  with the old shoes, i dont notice nearly as much pain afterwards.

and for skeeney: pain begun about 1st or second week with shoes.  started as aches and pains and got worse.  It hurts along the shin, lower calf occasionally, and lower ankle and into the heel, especially when i lift my foot up.  i dont really know about bone or muscle on heel and shin but it is kinda right through the middle of my heel, and right under my ankle.   For my shins, it just hurts basically in the middle of the leg.  both inside and outside of the middle of my shin.

also, something else i noticed was that my shins hurt more during the run and my ankles hurt worse afterwards.  it seems like its only in one area most of the time.

thanks for all of your help guys


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Let me say this, I would say 100% of runners have shin issues at some point in their running careers. You really need to focus on stretching before and after you run. You could get some muscle rub and put it on your muscles at night. You have to learn to keep care of your calf muscles, very important muscle for runners. Don't let those muscles get to tight or they will have negative effects on your shins and your Achilles tendon. Some people do better than others with dealing with shin problems, best thing you can do is ice after you run and take some pain killers...


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## Skeeney

Sorry Tanner I haven't looked at this in a long time haha......I don't know how your pain is now, but it appears as if you simply have some soft tissue issues.  Several muscles begin in your shins and calves and become tendons that attach in your feet.  You probably have irritated some muscles and thus the tendons that go along with those muscles.  It sounds like you have "shin splints," which is simply inflammation of the muscles in your shins, along with some irritation in the tendons that attach to your feet and wrap around your ankle.  Like Morgan said, you need to stretch the calves a lot and work on calf strength, so do calf raises on a stair step or some kind of incline.  Hope you are feeling better, good luck!


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## BankShot

When I coached HS X-C on the Turtle Mtn Indian Reservation (ND/Chippewa)), I had a runner that was a full-blooded Sioux by the name of CLEVELAND BRAVEBIRD. Cleve was originally from SD, but the BIA divided his family because of a ongoing inner-tribal feud, sending Cleve to ND to live in a boarding home. 

Cleve used to apply "atomic bomb" from the upper ankles to his hamstrings EVERY meet, regardless of the weather during the Fall season. When I asked, "Why," he replied, "Because I get good thoughts from the pain."

Thought a lil' Native American psyche couldn't hurt your approach, possibly igniting your endorphins prematurely!


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## SycamoreStateofMind

LOL! Classic post - I love it. My dad played high school football at Fort Wayne Northrup - he suggest he was pretty good... But he used to have some old old "Atomic Bomb" around the hose for muscle pain - that stuff was GOLD! Do they still make that? I think the bottle he had must have been from his high school football days the stuff looked so nasty - but man it did the job.


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## BankShot

*Cramergesic*

http://www.cramersportsmed.com/products_catalog.jsp?catID=107&path=AT

Here you are, Morgan...don't pull any of those jockey strap pranks!

For those of you w/ shin problems:

http://www.cramersportsmed.com/products_catalog.jsp?catID=202&prodID=142&path=AT
* Don't forget the Cramergesic INSIDE the wrap!


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## JerseyShore

"Atomic Balm" was still around in the mid to late 90's.  Great stuff, you could use it for everything!  I actually think we still sell it at Pacesetter.  A few times I made the mistake of hitting the crapper before a race and accidentally applying the medicine to my junk.  Leg pain quickly took a back seat to the raging inferno blasting away at what used to be a functional urethra.  It would also dye your skin a awful orange color.  One leg always had a latino shade going.

With regards to injury, I will often tell the story of a pretty horrific scrotum tear.  Coaches advice was "lets go with some half-tights and vaseline and see what you can do".  This was at Sycamore Pride- at the stadium!  Hahahaha  He was right in the end- the half-tights worked to contain what remaind of my manhood.

I was also cleared to train with a IV still protruding from my arm after a bout with Meningitis.  The only caution our trainer gave was to "hold your finger over the hole if it starts to slide out".  Times have changed, but when one of my sprinters complains of shin-splints, I always think back to half-tights and vaseline!


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## SycamoreStateofMind

JerseyShore said:


> Leg pain quickly took a back seat to the raging inferno blasting away at what used to be a functional urethra.  It would also dye your skin a awful orange color.  One leg always had a latino shade going.



OMG! LOL I needed to laugh today - that's great! Hall of Fame post!


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## Jason Svoboda

Found out tonight that Tanner isn't running Saturday. Could have went to Penn State but I digress. Anyhow, he is still having IT band issues and also has swelling under his kneecap -- there is a fancy name for it but I can't remember it. He's now missed all four meets this year and I'm not sure if he is even going to run at all. 

Pretty frustrating since his coach had him join the track team to train and then had a summer long conditioning program only for it all to pay off this way. I still think he needs to put more muscle on his body personally but all of his coaches are just saying it is him growing. Any suggestions on how I can help him through this?


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## sycamorebacker

Jason Svoboda said:


> Found out tonight that Tanner isn't running Saturday. Could have went to Penn State but I digress. Anyhow, he is still having IT band issues and also has swelling under his kneecap -- there is a fancy name for it but I can't remember it. He's now missed all four meets this year and I'm not sure if he is even going to run at all.
> 
> Pretty frustrating since his coach had him join the track team to train and then had a summer long conditioning program only for it all to pay off this way. I still think he needs to put more muscle on his body personally but all of his coaches are just saying it is him growing. Any suggestions on how I can help him through this?



I had a daughter that "played through pain" and the injury never went away and ended her career.  I think we made the mistake of not taking time off to let it heal.


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## Jason Svoboda

sycamorebacker said:


> I had a daughter that "played through pain" and the injury never went away and ended her career. I think we made the mistake of not taking time off to let it heal.


We got a 2nd opinion yesterday and Tanner is going in for a MRI today or sometime this week. Doctor thinks it may be a torn meniscus causing an issue in addition to IT band issues.


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## Jason Svoboda

MRI showed no tears or injury. Just IT band issues.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Jason Svoboda said:


> MRI showed no tears or injury. Just IT band issues.



Pretty common for a runner to have IT band issues - all I can say are strengthen his core and have him stretch out really well. My former roommate and Sycamore great Scott Keeney had big time IT band issues, he really dedicated himself to working out his core daily and I think that ultimately helped him out with IT issues - but it's a pretty difficult condition for runners, I've never really had any IT issues when running. If I've had problems it's been my calf muscle or my achilles tendon, but I figure running is a tough sport and you ought to man up and run through about everything - it will eventually go away and if it doesn't then you know something seriously wrong... Probably not the best advice to take, but it did me well for my career.

Glad it wasn't anything major Jason - good news!


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