When has it happened to you? Maybe in the middle of a run when you were training for that 10k or half-marathon? Oh no, you think to yourself as you start to feel the familiar burning ache in the front of your leg just above the ankle. It'll pass, you try to delude yourself. But the ache gets sharper and spreads a little higher.

Damn. Shin splints.

Shin splints result from a flattening of the arch from weight, especially from high-impact sports involving running. When the arch flattens, tension in the long muscles of the shin increases and that irritates the attatchment to those muscles in the lower shin, says Vincent Perez, director of sport therapy at Columbia University Medical Center Eastside in New York. 

So to prevent or treat shin splints, he says, the best bet is to go to the root of the problem and strengthen the muscles that support the arch. Those include the long muscles on either side of the ankle, as well as the toe flexors in the arch itself.

Perez says he's had success with several basic exercises.

1. Rise on your toes. Use a flat or inclined surface to the maximum comfortable height. Don't do it off the edge of a step, because leaving the arch totally unsupported like that will contribute to its collapsing.

2. Sway forward, keeping feet flat on the floor. It looks easier than it is. Keep your body straight, and lean forward over your toes while keeping your heels firmly planted on the ground. (Pretend you're a ski jumper in mid-air, or, if you're in a more whimsical mood, maybe a hood ornament! . . . Or not.)

3. Keeping feet flat on floor, roll your ankles in and out so that each side is lifted off the ground rhythmically.

Perform these exercises in three sets of 10 reps each, progressing to 15 reps in two to three weeks. Don't do them too aggressively, but do them daily, Perez says.

Tightness in the calf muscles usually contributes to the dropping of the arches, so Perez recommends calf stretches, too, with knees straight and bent. Stretch for 20 seconds and repeat three times. Always do those calf stretches in shoes and never off the end of a step or with one of those ProStretches. As we mentioned above, both of those approaches put the arch in a very vulnerable, unsupported position.

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One of the hardest aspects of recovering from shin splints, particularly if you're a Type A sort, is to have the patience to let yourself heal gradually. Runners, especially, will pine for their daily dose of the outdoors and cardio work. Try a bike if you want to get outside. Inside, a spinning class, the stationary bike, or the elliptical trainer will give you that desired calorie-torching sweat. Or if you must run, run in a swimming pool first, then talk to your physical therapist, coach, or doctor about possibly taping or tight-bandaging your shins as you get back into more vigorous training. 

And of course, when you do start back running, build up your miles and speed bit by bit. You'll be a better, wiser athlete for the experience.