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How To Avoid Injuries During Your Running Training
 

Running may be a rather simple sport but it is by no means an easy sport. Running can actually be quite taxing on the body due to the repetitive pounding associated with running. Although there are a number of precautions a runner can take to avoid injuries, these precautions are not 100% effective and any runner who runs on a regular basis is likely to encounter injuries as some point during his running career. The severity of these injuries can vary quite dramatically with some injuries being mild enough for the runner to continue with the regular running routine while other injuries are serious enough to warrant the runner completely halting the running program until the injuries shows substantial improvement or heal completely. This article will take a look at some of the common causes of running injuries and will also examine methods for dealing with these injuries.

Far and wide one of the most common causes of running related injuries is overtraining. This can be a difficult concept for many to understand because they adapt a more is better mentality to training. This means they believe that if running one mile per day can be beneficial than running ten miles per day will be even more beneficial. However, this logic is flawed because running is such a physically demanding and high impact sport that not allowing the body adequate time for rest is very likely to result in injuries. Common overuse injuries are shin splints and stress fractures but virtually any injury including muscle pain, planter fasciitis and joint discomfort can all be related to overtraining. In a nutshell, overtraining is the process of doing too much mileage too quickly.

Overtraining injuries can affect both novice runners as well as experienced runners. Novice runners put themselves at risk for overtraining injuries when they start out their running program with more mileage than they are capable of handling. These runners are advised to carefully evaluate their current level of fitness as well as their current level of activity and then to devise a training schedule which starts out moderately and gradually increases. Novice runners may wish to start their program by running approximately 1-2 miles on 2-3 days of the week. This can be frustrating for those who are anxious to put a great deal of effort into their new exercise regime but it can also help to prevent injuries which will likely cause the runner to have to decrease the amount of running he is doing or stop running altogether. Even experienced runners can put themselves at risk for overtraining injuries. In these cases the injuries typically occur when the runner increases his mileage too quickly. Runners should take care to increase their weekly mileage by no more than 10% each week. This will give the runner’s body adequate time to adapt to the new training load. Advanced runners are also advised to exercise this same gradual progression with interval training and hill training. Drastically increasing the amount of high intensity training or strength based hill training the runner does each week makes him susceptible to injuries resulting from these drastic increases.

Dealing with injuries is something all runners should prepare themselves for because it is very unlikely that any runner will complete his running career without ever being sidelined by a debilitating injury. Running injuries may be chronic or acute. Chronic injuries are typically injuries which develop overtime and have long lasting consequences. Often the runner is able to continue running with these injuries although he may be required to curtail his training to some degree. Acute running injuries are more serious injuries such as bone breaks or muscle tears. Unlike chronic injuries which develop overtime, runners can usually pinpoint the exact moment an acute injury occurred. For example a bone may break during a fall or a muscle may tear while sprinting. These types of injuries are typically associated with intense pain which manifests quickly. Acute injuries also usually require the runner to stop running completely at least during the initial phase of the healing process. However, the recovery is likely to more rapid than the recovery from a chronic injury simply because the acute injury typically does not enable the runner to continue running at all.

There are a number of different ways runners can help to alleviate the pain associated with their injuries and promote the healing process. However, in many cases pain management is the primary focus of the healing process. Once the runner is made to be as comfortable as possible, methods of improving the injury are usually employed. Ice and ibuprofen can both be used to decrease inflammation. This is beneficial because in many cases, reducing the inflammation is enough to make the runner feel significantly more comfortable. Heat can also be applied to the injury during the first 24 hours after the injury occurred. The application of heat will help to stimulate blood flow to the area of the injury. This increased blood flow will be very beneficial during the healing process.


 

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