Kissing Good-bye to SCKLIM 2010

Yim's postings on his knee issue and his consultation with Dr. William has prompted me to consider seeking proper consultation on the pain around my lower left leg (near the shin and during a run could also be felt around the calve), which has been bugging me since before the Energizer Night Run. All this while I have classified the issue as minor due to the facts that:

(a) the pain would be apparent at the start of the run and later eases as the run progresses;

(b) the pain returns after the run and may become a bit worse in the next morning but eases after a day or 2 of rest;

(c) I could continue my run and training as long as the pace is easy; and

(d) since I could run, I am convinced that the pain is temporary (most probably it relates to some muscles soreness) and once I log in more mileage, naturally my running muscles would be strenghtened and eliminate the pain, in time.

I made a visit to Dr. William's clinic at Subang Jaya this evening and after the facts finding interview, some physical examination of my foot/leg, x-tray and ultra sound of the related parts, it has been confirmed that the pain is a second stage "Medial Tibial Stress Syndrom" or in a layman term, "shin splints".

The most important thing about shin splints is to identify the actual cause of the injury. Training wise, a runner should not suffer shin splints if the mileage is around 20-30+km per week. I have been doing about 32-37km per week for the past 4 weeks and this is far from being classifed as excessive mileage. Having ruled out the cause relating to "training errors", the second possible cause is the "biomechanical inefficiencies" and this is where my case fits the bill. In summary after all those examinations, the following are the causes why I suffered shin splints:

(a) I have a left "over-pronate" foot;

(b) my footware did not support the above (case of ignorant or just being lazy bum to dig for more information about running shoes); and

(c) my running style of "forefoot landing" and "big toe pointed outwards" just compounded the (a) and (b) above.

A stage 2 shin splints injury would require a resting period of 6-8 weeks. As Dr. William is a runner himself, he did provide an option that if I still want to run in SCKLIM (restricted me in 5k category!!), he could give me certain medication sometimes nearer to the day of the run. This is the time where I reminded myself why I took up running in the first place. I may ignore the Dr's order and run in the coming Setia Eco 1/2 this weekend and hope with the medication and treatment, I could still run in the SCKLIM but at what cost? I am not running for the podium (I wish I can hehehe). No need to guess the answer. I will be a good boy and listen to the Dr's advise.

Now Yim, when we should start shopping for the bike that we talked about quite sometimes ago :)