Man, I hate shin splints

I went for a short run with the dog this morning and I was ready to self-amputate under the knee after about three steps. The good news, though, is that there is relief for these pesky shin splints (if that's what they are, because I've only self-diagnosed). If I rotate each foot clock-wise 50 times and then counter-clockwise 50 times (it kills, though, let me tell you, because it stretches that long muscle running down the outside front of your leg, and who ever thinks of stretching that thing?!), the pain goes away. The trick is to remember to do it. When I forget, I can count on about 20 minutes of torture, and then the pain just goes away. Since my run was about 17 minutes, it hurt the whole time, which was unpleasant. But today I've been rotating those feet like you wouldn't believe so that tonight's run, hopefully, will be pain free. I'll let you know.

Also, I found a great resource for info on all kinds of problems you have when you run. JUST ASK THE ULTRAS! I mean, at 100 miles, everything you can imagine happening to you, does. And they're very forthcoming on everything: chafing, relieving oneself on the road, blisters, you name it, even shin splints. Plus, psychologically, when you read about these people running for like 30 hours straight, you start feeling like a marathon is no big deal. Also, when you think about their pace-- a good ultra marathon pace would be a 15-minute mile-- it makes your 10, 11, heck, even 12-minute mile feel FAST (as long as you don't take into account the difference in distance of about 73.8 miles...). I'm hooked!
http://ultrunr.com/