Unfortunately, new running trainers for Christmas and a new year new me mindset is the perfect recipe for running related injuries to crop up come January. Running is a fantastic form of exercise, however, it puts a deceivingly large amount of strain on the body. For new and experienced runners alike, dodging injuries can be very frustrating!
The single biggest factor when it comes to running related injury is actually how we build up the amount of running we are doing.
‘I should probably stretch more’. Perhaps. However, your weekly running load is considerably more important and consists of more than just your total mileage. Running load also considers how fast you are running, how hilly your routes are, what terrain, and how you are spreading your miles across the week. Your training history is also very important. Here are some key tips to help you enjoy running.
- Look at your past month of training. Are you completely new to running? A couch to 5k plan can be a great way to progressively build up how much impact stress you are putting on your bones and tendons. More seasoned runners- consider how many runs on average per week you are currently doing and do not increase this by more than one a month. 2-3 runs are typically okay to begin with providing your total mileage increases at an appropriate rate (see below).
- Track your mileage. Tracking mileage is helpful for avoiding spikes in training which increase our risk of injuries.
- Increasing weekly mileage. Weekly milage should increase by a maximum of 10 percent. If you ran 30km this week, you can increase this to 33km next week.
- Single run duration. Increasing how far you run in one go by more than 10% has shown to significantly increase your chance of injury. If your longest run in the past month has been 10km, progress next to 11km.
- Every run should not be a progression. You should not increase every run’s speed or distance compared to the last. Adaption to training takes time and consistency to build a good base. Be patient!
- Run slow to run fast. Higher running speeds increase the amount of impact the body needs to cope with. Running at a conversational pace for 80% of the time is recommended to see benefits without spiking risk of injury.
- Recovery. Adaptation happens outside of training. Poor sleep, diet, hydration and stress negatively affect how we recover from training, meaning our body is not ready to tackle another training session just yet. Consistently poor recovery over time will contribute to overuse injuries- those pesky niggles that we try to ignore (but definitely shouldn’t!).
Running injuries are complex and this advice is a sensible starting point, however, individuals should seek specialist advice that is specific to them regarding increasing training and managing injuries.
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