Can anyone with a bit of running experience help me out.

Im keen to shed some weight (15kg to be precise) & going for walks/runs is about the only practical thing I can manage time/money wise (although I will look into gyms in the new year once kids are back at school).

Thing is, tonight I noticed the start of sharp pains in the front of my shins. Im walking mostly with burst of jogging. I am not grossly unfit but am not a runner by any means.

What is the best way for me to avoid shin splints while picking up the pace so I can build my fitness level?
I bought myself a decent pair of runners (had my feed fitted at Athletes foot) & mostly been going around the streets at home & also a grassy track that runs along the back of the houses on the edge of the rainforest.
I did 5km (mostly fast walking with some jog) along a concrete flat path this evening & thats when I noticed the pain in my legs. First outing in the new shoes.

So any tips?

Interested too as I also suffer shin splints.

You need to heat the muscles before you run...deep heat, stretching and warm up. After you exercise you need to apply ice to the area, better yet actually massage with an ice block.
A proper remedial Massage will also help. While the shin splint pain in acute, take it a bit easier. As it improve, you can up your routine :)

Dee, I walked with DH for the first 2ks, would that not have warmed up my muscles?

I get shin splints too.

My personal trainer told me that the things which make it more likely to flare up are going uphill, wearing heels (more relevant to me racing around town, than jogging though!), hard surfaces (eg: footpaths -v- grass) and going quickly.

HTH.

Stretching will help, but in the build up, only jog on soft surfaces such as grass and sand. Also look at your running style, sometimes that is the culprit. Of you join a running group, they will have someone to correct your technique.

hmmm I wonder if it was the stuff I do around home then. I do live on the side of a mountain & figured the uphill streets would be more beneficial. I basically go along a fairly level part then up a hill (trust me when I say hill lol) & then do a stint along the nature strip that runs along the back of the houses. Its mostly flat with a few areas of incline & then 1 stop that had a decent dip that I have to race down then back up. Then I run back down the hill on the road again & depending on my energy/time limits (I usually go while dinner is on the go with DH keep tabs on things cooking) I will go further down the road then up a path that has steps & go up & down those 3 or 4 times & then home again which has me on a slight incline. All up its about 30 minutes possibly 40 if I do the steps.

Firstly, good on you for running! I can't wait toget back into running after bubs is born.
Well it sounds like you have your shoes sorted, my only recommendation would be to run on soft surfaces as much as u can rather than road/footpath. Hills r great to build strength and switch up intensity of ur workout.

hmmm off to the beach then It seems. Should I run bare foot on the sand. I don't want to ruin my new shoes! LOL

Mind you I can do the grass along where I went tonight. There is a long stretch along the esplanade with grassy areas I can run on instead.

Hey, the warm up for any exercise is important, but with shin splints the more heat you can get into the muscle to loosen it up the better. The most important part though is the ice afterwards. After playing netball for years and years suddenly I got shin splints. No reason why, no change in anything, some people just suffer with it from time to time. So even though walking is a good warm up in general, it's not going to help with the shin splints. Thats why I always give them a good rub and heat it before I start.

excellent. Thanks, Im reading up on the fitness nerd blog now found some good info

Shin splints. So that's what that pain is! I never knew what it was called. I get them if I walk fast.
Good on you for starting running!

Barefoot running works different muscles but otherwise there's no reason you can't go barefoot in the sand.

Oooh beach running even more of workout! Go the soft sand, however u may be 100 times more sore the next day lol

I feel a bit caught between a rock and a hard place ... walking on flat surfaces just isn't as good a workout, walking on flat surfaces uphill gives me shin splints and going on grass or sand causes me to spend the entire time watching the surface to avoid rolling an ankle!

This (combined with my concerns about getting rained on or sunburnt) generally means I just go to the gym and work out there ;)

No excuses at the gym!

I found my shin splints improved after I got some orthotics from my local physio. They recommended i didn't spend the hundreds of dollars getting custom made ones but instead purchased some off the shelf and they heated them to mould to my foot a bit. Much cheaper and certainly helped.

I also was told by my foot/ankle surgeon to run on the road as opposed to the concrete paths. Apparently it is less impact because of all the little grooves in the road around that allow your shoes to absorb some of the impact - if that makes sense?

Also icing after a run and don't over do it, build up your running slowly and listen to your body.

Good luck, I LOVE running!

Holy crap beach running is hard

About 6 months ago I started bootcamp which is done on sand, and that's the only form of exercise I did for about 3 months. When I first ran on a concrete path, my shins were sore for days! After 6 months it's rarely an issue as most of my running is still on grass or sand, but I did a fun run recently on concrete and had no soreness at all. In the past I have always given up because my shins hurt while running, so I'm glad I kept going because I do believe that with consistency and increasing your fitness that it will get better.

I had to stop on the beach I was in so much pain lol I think I will stick to a good circuit and jogging along the esplanade or at home and then in a few months tackle the beach again

I used to get them and my physio said that for me it was related to rolling in of my feet so I got some orthotic inserts and that helped. May be a good idea to consult a physio to have them check out the problem.

Good shoes, correct technique, running on grass, stretching properly (and no walking doesn't count!) all can help. Thing is once you have them you need to rest up for at least 4-6 weeks or they can get worse and can actually tear off the bone and even split the bone so if you feel any pain in the area at all don't keep running. I have had them on and off for years - just over a bad bout and am slowly building up my running again but think I will always be prone to them = power walking for me works ok and I burn lots of calories as with running. A good podiatrist can assess you and your shoes as well and see if there are othotics you might need as well. Good luck - I LOVE running, am about to move to the beach and hoping sand running may help a bit too!!

How come walking doesn't count? I have a physio appointment on Monday I will ask then. I think I could enjoy running so would like to give it a good go

Walking doesn't stretch the muscles properly like an actual stretch does so they can still be injured once you go from a walk to run. A physio should be able to show you a few easy ones you can do for shin splints And for running in general.