don't you wish you had shin splints?

yesterday and today I've had to run before work, which isn't too bad, it's been 2 mi and 3 mi respectively. The one thing I have noticed though, is how my shins are now in a near constant state of agony. Yesterday they started out in pain, but it subsided as I went along, by about 1/2 way through I was fine. Today, they were really tight and didn't loosen up at all, though somehow I still managed to run 3 miles in about 35 minutes, which is a good time for me. I tried stretching them out once I got home, and it just hurt too much (and I really didn't have too much time with needing to get ready for work and all). =(

So they're currently tender to the touch, and nothing I've been doing over the last couple weeks has been getting rid of the pain for very long. I think it's time for new shoes, a little early in fact. They're not quite a year old, but I don't know that I can get through another month and a half of this as the runs get longer and longer. Last year when I was training for the Twin Cities 10mi, anything over 6 miles or so felt like my hip joints were just going to pop out and my legs would fall off. I know that was because of my shoes and it directly affected how I trained and ran in the race itself. Since I'm more than doubling my distance this time around (and I'll have a 10mi run in the next 3-4weeks) I should maybe get this taken care of now.