It can help to take a can of soup or veggies and roll your bare foot over it repeatedly - I do it while watching TV. You can also prevent shin splints from starting by doing stretches - after a run and your normal stretch routine, walk on your heels for 50 steps, then on your heels with toes pointing out for 50 steps, then on your heels with toes pointing in for 50 steps. Some people swear by walking backwards for a quarter mile or so following a run, but I prefer the heel-walking. Hope this helps.

I've finally started getting back into running. I've only done 5Ks, but want to do a 10k, mini, and full marathon sometime soon. I did a 5K for 3 years in a row at the end of highschool, beginning of college, and I loved it. The most amazing part was the consistency...my time was 19:01, 19:00, and 19:01 in the three respective years!

Nevertheless, a man in full military gear including a backpack beat me, and a guy in a power-ranger suit was with me until the end when I out sprinted him.

A 5K is easy...you can do it. Granted, my time that used to be 19 minutes is more like 27 now...but if finishing and not time is your concern, you can do it...