Avoiding injury and what to do if injury occurs
Hopefully you are enjoying the summer and looking forward to your next challenge. If you haven't had an injury during your running career, you have done exceptionally well! Most running injuries are over-use injuries, in that they develop over time.
The other type of injury is an impact injury. Team players are more susceptible to these as they are more likely to be knocked or to fall but runners sometimes 'come a cropper' and sustain an impact injury if, for example, they put their foot into a hole or divet whilst out running, trip over a kerb or other obstacle or land awkwardly whilst dropping off a style or pavement.
Some typical running injuries include:
Strains - an injury to a muscle or tendon often caused by twisting or pulling
Sprains - an injury to a ligament often caused by stretching or twisting
Sore muscles, especially lower leg
Very tight feeling muscles
Pain along the front of the shin, in the achilles tendon area, under the arch of the foot, around the knee
These injuries are usually soft tissue injuries that can be treated and can mend quickly but it is better not to succumb to them in the first place so let's look at why they occur.
There are a number of reasons and here are just a few of them:
Not strong enough for the demands of the activity
Not enough rest between efforts; sessions or even a weeks training.
The crucial thing to remember is that all of the above can be fixed. Here are our top tips on avoiding injury:
Buy your shoes from a running specialist who can check your old ones and give advice on the best shoes for your running style and level
Improve running style and posture by including BCAs and running drills
Work on one thing at a time - use our Training Wizard to help plan your programme. Spend 6 - 8 weeks working with one focus: building aerobic base, building strength endurance, building speed endurance or improving running economy
Keep a diary of how much training you are doing
Vary your sessions to address all fitness elements
Keep intense sessions short and develop progressively
Maintain or improve flexibility by including it in your cool down and cross training with yoga or pilates
Get feedback from a running coach or leader
Prevention is better than cure but most runners do experience injury at some time so here is some advice to follow if you are unlucky and find yourself with a soft tissue injury. In the first 72 hours:
- •R est
- •I ce about 10 mins in any hour (use a dry plastic bag next to skin)
- •C omfortable support
- •E levation
If pain worsens on running or affects your style stop and apply RICE (as per above) for 72 hours.
If the injury persists make an appointment with your local physiotherapist for treatment.