That ache down the inside of your shin. Turns up a mile in, eases off, comes back worse afterwards. Nearly every runner gets it, usually early on or after a jump in training.

Important bit first. I’m a coach and a PT, not a physio. If it hurts to press one small spot on the bone, if it hurts when you’re not running, or if it’s been weeks and it’s getting worse, go and see a physio or your GP. Stress fractures start off feeling like shin splints and you don’t want to run through one.

Right. With that said.

What it actually is

The proper name is medial tibial stress syndrome, which tells you more. It’s stress. Tissue along the inside of the shin is being asked to absorb more than it’s built for, and it’s complaining.

Which means it’s almost never a shin problem. It’s a how-much-you-asked-and-how-fast problem.

Where it comes from

• Too much too soon. The big one. New runner, jump in mileage, sudden switch to harder surfaces
• Weak calves. If the calf can’t absorb the landing, the load goes somewhere it shouldn’t
• Overstriding. Landing well ahead of yourself on a straight leg puts a lot through the front of the lower leg
• Shoes at the end of their life, or a sudden move to something much more minimal

I went through a minimalist phase years back. Taught me plenty about my form. I’d not recommend anybody go at it quickly, because your lower leg needs months to catch up, not weeks.

What actually fixes it

Back the load off, don’t stop dead. Complete rest feels sensible and mostly isn’t. Tissue needs some load to remodel, just less than it’s getting. Cut mileage by about half and see how it settles.

Load the calves. Heavy, slow calf raises, straight leg and bent knee, three times a week. This is the actual fix and it’s the bit people skip because it’s boring.

Shorten your stride a touch. Slightly quicker turnover at the same pace. Landing closer underneath yourself cuts the braking force considerably.

Get off the road for a bit. Grass, trail, canal path. There’s some ace running out there once you look.

What doesn’t

Stretching your shins. Rolling them, which mostly just hurts. Ice on its own, which numbs it for an hour and changes nothing. New trainers as the entire plan.

None of that touches the real problem, which is that your lower leg isn’t yet strong enough for what you’re asking.

The bit I learned the hard way

Don’t manage a niggle for months and call it managing.

Mine wasn’t shin splints, it was a Haglund’s deformity on the back of the heel, and I adjusted round it for the best part of a year telling myself it was settling. It wasn’t. It ended in surgery in July 2025 and eighteen months without a half marathon.

Different injury, same mistake. Something that keeps coming back is information, not bad luck.

Coming back

Once it settles, build at ten per cent a week and no more. Keep the calf work going permanently. Be honest about what caused it.

You can’t outrun a weakness. You can only train it.

---

My strength and conditioning plan is built round exactly this, and it asks about injury history so it comes back written for what you’ve actually had. £30.