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Comment by postpawl | Hacker News Reader

“After a few weeks magic happens. You can run 8 miles in about one hour, not get bored, not think about it.”

This is exactly how I got a bad case of shin splints. I don’t mess around with upping mileage this quickly anymore.

On a shin splints related side note. Something not sure intuitive for non runners. If possible take the 1 minute-ish analysis at the shop to find out how your feet roll while running. If they roll to much inside (pronate) your appropriate shoe has more support in that area. If you roll too much outside (supenate), they add it on the outside. If you dont roll too much, shoes for either or these can cause shin splints or stress fractures in the medium to long term (still preferable to inactivity). Most of the time this is the key thing to consider when buying running shoes.

I'd be very skeptical of any analysis that takes one minute at a shoe shop. I'd wager those machines are there to anchor, so to speak, a buying decision.

Too much running before the body gets strong enough to handle it, along with hard surfaces are more likely the culprit behind shin splints than poor choice of shoe.

You don’t need a machine you need someone to observe your feet as you run. Then based on your roll, buy shoes that support your feet. This is not rocket science, you need new running shoes every year or two. Protect your shins, get proper shoes, if it’s a minute to analyze on a treadmill (“machine”) then take the minute. If you have a friend, have them take a minute..

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