The 10 Rules of Injury Prevention for Running
1. Get the Right Shoes
Change shoes every 300-500 miles. Get fitted and buy your shoes at a specialty running store. Shoes won’t correct imbalances or protect you from injuries caused by faulty training(overtraining).
2. Listen to your Body
Take time off. If you don’t, you’re body will. Your risk of injury increases exponentially if you overtrain. Take a voluntary day off now so that 3 months down the road you won’t have 4 weeks of down time because of injury. Run without your watch on Easy days. This makes you focus internally to your body’s cues and allows your body to run at it’s easy pace. You can always cross-train as well in the pool, spin, pick up yoga or a pilates class for a night.
3. Use Strength Training to Correct Imbalances and Speed Recovery
To get better at running you must run more, obviously. Strength training allows you to develop the strength and fitness to run more, run faster, and have shorter recovery between hard efforts. If you have a dominate side, whether it be front to back, and left or right, strength training can be used to correct those imbalances, decreasing your risk of injury by keeping symmetry throughout the body.
4. Shorten your Stride
Shortening your stride reduces impact forces which in turn reduces tibial stress fractures and/or shin splints. Focus on contacting the ground with your foot directly below the hip or just out in front.
5. R.I.C.E
Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevate. Immediately after injury occurs. Or try icing for 10 minutes then heating for 10 minutes. Icing decreases inflammation and heating will dilate the blood vessels so more fresh blood can pass through damaged area delivering more nutrients to help rebuild.
6. Stretch Daily
Dynamic stretches of the hamstring and hip flexor will increase knee function. Do dynamic stretches before a workout to warm up targeted muscles and increase ROM. Runners are always complaining of tight hamstrings because they are notoriously weak. Stretch the back of the legs regularly.
7. Don’t Run Hard too Often
Don’t race every weekend, don’t run hard more than 3 times a week. There is a time to train and a time to race. I recommend racing once a month at the most and no more than 1-2 speed work sessions a week.
8. Run on Multiple Surfaces
Rotate trails, grass, road, People Trail system in regularly throughout training. Running on trails strengthen your stability muscles in your legs. Grass decreases the relentless impact forces you would get on asphalt. I run a lot of my easy runs, without a watch of course, on trails in the Brown County State Park or loops around the soccer fields at Parkside.
9. X-Train for Active Rest
Don’t want to take a day off with complete rest? Cross train in the pool, go for a bike ride, get on the elliptical or row machine.
10. Know your Limitations
Always use to 10% rule. If you have a past of injuries, there is a 5% rule. Never increase intensity and volume at the same time. Use the hard/easy or hard/easy/easy philosophy. I always write my training programs in pencil, not pen.
For more information on these Rules and more contact Danny Fisher at danielleefisher@gmail.com or stop in at Tipton Lakes Athletic Club and we can evaluate any aspect of your training. Sign up for Road Warriors starting January 9th where we will go over these Rules more in depth as well as technique drills, when and how to incorporate interval training, increasing mileage, strength training progressions, and nutrition help and advice. Happy Miles!
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