I've been training for my first tri for awhile (large ammount of cycling, some running and a decent amount of swimming). After about 10 miles of running this weekend (on 2 seperate trips, not all at once) I've developed a pain 3 inches above my ankle on the outside of my leg. Anyone else ever had a similar problem? I've heard of this from a few of my friends who run a lot but nobody seems to know what it is or how to fix it. I'm worried it could be a stress fracture. Any help would be appreciated.

Sounds like it could be shin splints, a common runner's problem. Is the pain sharply localized at a single point, or more broadly diffused over an area? If the former, that's evidence of a fracture; if the latter, evidence for shin splints. Here's an article from Runner's World on pain in this area: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-78-0-0-529,00.html

+1 for shin splints. I've had countless teammates in years past develop them from running excessive mileage over an extended period of time. Out of curiosity, is most of the running done on roads, or on trails, because the hard surface of the roads could be beating up the legs a little more than most trails would.

Thanks so much for the feedback. After reading the article it sounds more like I have anterior shin splints than a stress fracture. Most of my running is on "bike" trails in my neighborhood (which are hardly suitable for any real cycling). I've done several 5 and 10k races but have never had this problem. Hopefully I'll be able to get it straightened out before the tri at the end of July. I guess it's time to focus on the biking and swimming for awhile. Thanks again!