Prevention of lactic acid buildup

Congratulations on taking on the challenge!

I doubt if lactic acid is your problem unless you are sprinting through your runs.

It sounds more like some sort of shin splint problem beginning to develop. The tension and burning is probably being caused by inflammation of the muscles on your lower legs, aggravated by the way you are running -- you may be over-pronating, and/or the muscles on the front of your lower legs may be weak.

A quick fix is to ice aftert every run and to try running a bit slower on soft, level surfaces -- gpo;ld course grass is ideal. But of course that doesn't really address the real cause: I'd suggest you do two things 1) Go to a specialist running store, get them to watch you on the treadmill and assess what you are doing and suggest shoes to match; 2) Go to a specialist running physical therapist and ask him/her to check out the relative strength/weaknesses of the muscles on your shins and to show you the appropriate stretching and.or strengthening exercises.

It is worth taking time to do this now, otherwise you will get real problems farther up the road.

Wow great! Thank you for your thorough response. I am just not sure what "gpo; ld course grass" means. Also, I am very interested in having an assessment of my running style. Is it hard to find running stores that do such a thing?

Sorry! Typing too fast and with my eyes shut :) = Golf course grass !

There are more running stores that DON't do that thorough assessment than there are who do, but having said that.... tell us where you live and I'm sure we can point you at a specialist store. (If you don't want to do that email me privately.)

Great! Thanks again! I live in York, Pennsylvania. I purchase all of my running shoes and gear through Flying Feet; however, I don't think they do any testing.

Well Flying Feet LOOKS like they know what they are doing. There are a bunch of PA stores listed on the Running Network here and as none of them seem to be national chains (that I've heard of anyway), I thnk yoiu might need to phone round a few and ask them if they put their customers on a treadmill to assess their gait before recommending shoes.

The stores round here bill this as "Video gait Analysis" as it should be hooked up to a camera so that you get to see a back view of your feet while you are running (most instructive!), and when you get off the assistant can play your foot strike back in slow motion to reveal exactly what you are doing.

The Runner's Roost store in CO has this set-up; the one in PA hasn't got a website, so I can't check -- they are at 326 Market St. Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-286-6132. Anywhere near you?

There's one that looks good and not too far from you -- but I can't tell from the website whether they do treadmill testing or not -- and that is A Running Start
www.arunningstart.biz, 705 Penn Avenue, West Reading, PA 19611, 610-320-9097

Anyway, that should get you started! Happy hunting!

Great news! I found an excellent running store in Baltimore, MD where I went and had the video gait analysis performed. I am an over-pronator! I was fit with a great pair of running shoes: New Balance 858; a brand new shoe! They feel great and I am not over-pronating as much as I did before (which I think contributed to the pain in the medial part of my shins). Thank you so much for your help! I am a happier runner now!

Your training starts today! Email me on your progress.

Way to go!

Now remember step two: physical therapist for a strength/imbalance and flexibility assessment and a "prescription" for xupportive exercise :)

Hmm.. I seem to be turning into a nagger as I get old.