Shooting pain in shins/calves

Question
After running a few intervals of 400 m around a track, I start to develop shooting pain running down my shins and calves, starting from the knee. It doesn't feel like shins splints, I have had that before. This occurs even with a 2 km warmup and good stretching. Is this from running too hard? Shoes too tight? Thank you!

Answer
I'm not sure what it causing the pain.  I know a warm-up jog and stretching just isn't the 'cup of coffee' that it used to be for runners any more.  What I mean is that there are better ways to warm-up the muscles than just a light jog for a while, and static stretching.  The keys to a solid warm-up are increased blood flow to the main muscle groups involved, and one technique I use is rolling massage devices.  There is a device called "The Stick" (TM) that is becoming popular with using before exercise, taking it across various muscle groups.  It has become a staple of my warm-ups for my clientele and my own exercise workouts.  If you can't find one, or can't afford one, a simple wooden rolling pin can work, too, to a point.  

My YouTube video site has a short video on how to use the rolling pin for such a process.  Its shorter than an average warm-up, but if you take the pin across 10-15 times each area, this will work sufficiently for most people.  It isn't perfect, but its close to it.  The Stick works best, but a pin does a pretty good job on a budget, too.

The YouTube link is below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIRqyN1PvgE

Another reason could be if you haven't been doing 400m's in a long time, and its your first time returning to it.  It is a lot of force being applied to your body as you attempt to run faster, and this can cause a lot of stress in places where you can't figure out what causing the pain.  I would aim for having the shoes 'snug', but not super-tight where they have constriction of blood flow.  

I hope these tips help you well,

Rick Karboviak
http://endure.speeddialcoach.com