Some very good bicycle racers develop painful shin splints on the front inside of the lower legs when they tried to train for triathlons. The injury is also common in women who take up aerobic dancing.
Shin splints occur when you damage the posterior tibial muscles in the inside back of your lower leg, and/or the soleus that helps to raise you up on your toes after you land on your heels.
Bicycle riding develops very strong upper leg muscles because you pedal with your knees and hips. It does not stress your lower leg muscles much. Running stresses mostly your lower leg muscles. When you run, you land on your heels and raise yourself up on your toes with the calf muscles in the back and the posterior tibial muscles on the inside back part of your lower leg. So your upper leg muscles can handle the stress of running very easily, but your lower leg muscles are not strong enough and you tore them.
Once a runner develops shin splints, he has to stop running to let the muscle and tendon injury heal. A bicycle rider has to go back to the bike. When he can run without hurting, He should try to run on one day and cycle on the next and stop running immediately when he feels pain in his lower leg. When he can run for 30 minutes without feeling pain, he can start training again by adding fast runs. In the future, he should not run very fast more often than every other day or twice a week.
The treatment for athletic muscle injuries is to rest the injured muscle and then strengthen it so it can withstand greater forces on it. If you dance, run or walk and develop pain on the inside back part of the bone of your lower leg, stop participating in your sport until you can do so without feeling pain. The soleus muscle raises you up on your toes, so as soon as you can raise yourself up on your toes without feeling pain, try to strengthen that muscle. Hold a barbell in front of your upper legs just above your knees, stand back on your heels and raise yourself up on your toes slowly and lower yourself ten times in a row, rest and then do two more sets of ten. Do this every other day, being careful to stop immediately if you feel pain. Gradually increase the weight that you hold in your hands.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com
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For other common injuries see my articles on * Elbow Pain: "Tennis Elbow" * A Pain in the Butt: Piriformis Syndrome * Heel Pain: Plantar Fasciitis * Ankle Pain: Achilles Tendinitis * Shoulder Pain: Rotator Cuff Injuries * Stress Fractures