shin splints?

Monday am I woke up with a terrible bruise running down half my right shin. It's deep, dark and purple. I'm always bruising myself and have tons of bruises at various stages of healing on my legs. I usually don't know what I did to make them appear either--I'm a clutz. Anyhow, as you all know, I started running last week. My shins killed me but are far less sore now. My knees are aching today though.......... Today marks 1 whole week of running and this am, my run hurt the worst. I'm determined to stick with it and work through it! Anyhow, my mom thinks the bruising is from running. Mark says no way. I googled and shin splints, when severe, can cause bruising. I took a pic just now to see what you all thought (mind you, this is taken 2 days into healing and looks loads better than it did on Monday). Please shield your eyes from my pastiness and don't scroll down if you're especially squeamish. Oh and don't mind my sock line--I just got back from running!















I left Harper's sweet tootsie in the pic for size perspective.