On a 10 mile run your foot contacts the ground over 15,000 times. This exerts repetitive force on bones, ligaments, tendons, and other tissues. That is a lot of pounding. Unfortunately, injuries happen in the sport of running. The most common injuries for runners involve the lower leg and hips such as plantar fasciitis, shin splints, and the dreaded stress fracture. Even with a well designed training plan experienced runners can get injured.

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET INJURED

• It is important to STOP running once an injury occurs.
• Athletes should NEVER run through pain!

R.I.C.E is a great starting point if something flares up, but it is important to seek medical professionals if the pain continues ASAP.

Self diagnosing yourself with a google search is a recipe for disaster.

What type of doctor should you see?

• ART (Active release therapist)
• Physical Therapists who specialize in sports/running
• Sports Medicine Doctors

Many of these doctors have out-of-pocket rates or are not as expensive as you would think! Do not let price be the determining factor for getting help. Often injuries are a result of imbalances in the body that need to be addressed. Only a trained professional in person can help with diagnosis and proper treatment. Do NOT ask friends how to help you run through an injury. Do NOT assume you know wha your injury is unless you have been diagnosed by a doctor.

 

ASK your doctor for a treatment plan and exercises to do coming back. Questions to ask your doctor before you leave appt

• Are you releasing me to run? or should I rest?
• When I stat back running, what should I start back with?
• Can I run every day or should I cut back mileage
• Should I take any supplements for this?
• Are there any cross training activities I can do or that I should avoid?
• Are their any strength training exercises I can do to correct this?
• How often should I do these PT exercises/stretches?
• Do you think I can still do the X race I am signed up for in X weeks?
• When should I comeback?

 

TIPS FOR AVOIDING INJURY!

The base situation to be in would be never getting injured in the first place 🙂

There are many ways that we can train safely to avoid injuries. Here are some of the guidelines we recommend following to avoid getting injured. You should always follow ALL of these principles to train safely

• Do NOT increase mileage by more than 10% per week
• Incorporate a cut back week of 30% reduction in mileage every 2-4 weeks
• Do not run more than 90 min more than 3 consecutive weekends in a row
• Take a rest day or very slow/easy mileage day a minimum of 1x per week
• Keep your easy days VERY easy at 2-3 min per mile slower than half marathon pace
• Take off seasons 2x per year a minimum of 2-3 weeks of easy running only at 50% reduction in mileage or time completely off
• Never run through pain or injury
• If your body feels off, take a rest day or move a workout day
• If you are not recovered fully from the previous workout, do not do the next scheduled workout until you feel 100%
• Do not increase long run by more than 15-20 min every week
• Take time off after EVERY race even a 5k no workouts for at least 3-4 days
• Take care of yourself.
• Get a massage. Foam roll.
• Buy shoes when you need them.
• Eat enough.
• Sleep enough.
• Consider DNS for some races if you don’t feel great. Just because you are signed up doesn’t mean you HAVE to run it. If you’re hurt or feeling like shit, skip it. Sometimes people sign up for WAY too many races. Don’t do it because you “already spent the money”- it’s a sunk cost.
• learn how to run not race in a race environment. If you are going to run multiple halfs or fulls in one season (within a 1-3 month period) you don’t need to “race” them all. Learn how to start with the pacer 60-45 seconds behind your capabilities and negative split the race as a workout. Learn self control.
• if you’re running multiple marathons or halfs in a season you don’t need to do as many long runs as you think. It’s more about maintaining between marathons & not burning out