Cool Down
Cooling down after training is important and aids in your recovery. Do a slow jog or easy walk the last 5-8 minutes. This allows you to properly remove the metabolic waste products that have accumulated in the muscles during your run/walk (such as lactic acid). The goal is to reduce soreness and prepare the muscles for the next workout.
Core Strengthening Is Important
One of the best things you can do to prevent injuries is to begin a core strengthening routine. Core muscles are the abs, obliques, and lower back. Core muscles are important for maintaining proper form when tired. Building bulk is not important – building strength and balancing muscle groups is. Many overuse injuries are the result of muscle imbalances.
Many things can be done just using your own body as resistance. For example:
v Crunches
v Planks
v Pushups
v Lunges
v Squats
Completing a core strengthening routine just 1-2 times a week will be beneficial.
Check out the videos on the Runners World website for core strengthening workout ideas:
Get Proper Sleep
Proper sleep is very important in providing adequate recovery during your training.
Lack of adequate sleep will reduce the effectiveness of your training. It sends a decreased amount of energy to your cells and decreases your immunity. Quite simply, if you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t have as much energy to put toward training and your motivation will lag.
Overuse Injury or Just Sore
It’s important to recognize what’s simply normal muscle soreness due to training and what’s the start of an overuse injury. Limited muscle soreness is to be expected, however this should last a few days at most and should diminish with time.
Pain will generally worsen with continued running. No Pain – No Gain should not be taken literally when it comes to injuries.
When trying to determine whether it’s routine soreness or the start of an injury ask yourself if you can explain it? The day after a long run is a good reason to be sore. Pain should not be ignored – don’t push through it – result may be worse.
Catch injuries early!
Rest is the first order of business when you suspect an overuse injury. Take several days off immediately. It is better to lose a few days to a week early rather than 3-6 weeks later.
Don’t overcompensate
Try not to compensate for pain. For example, if your right knee starts to hurt, don't compensate by trying to put more weight on your left leg. This can only make things worse. You may find that if you just continue on with your natural stride, the pain may dissipate
Acute Injuries
Be aware of these – such as twisting an ankle or taking a misstep off a curb. These can become chronic injuries if you attempt to run through them.
Consider Your Shoes
One of the most important aspects of injury prevention is your shoes. Hopefully everyone purchased new shoes from a specialty running store at the beginning of training. The proper footwear for your type of foot and its range of motion will help prevent injury.
When you go to a specialty running store, they should check your stride to determine what kind of foot strike you have:
1. Normal pronation: your foot rolls inward slightly.
2. Overpronation: your foot rolls inward a lot. This requires motion control or stability shoes.
2. Supination (Underpronate): your foot rolls outward slightly
One of the unfortunate realities with specialty running stores is that they don’t always diagnose your foot strike correctly the first time. Thus, if you’re having injury problems, it’s a good idea to go back to Big River (or wherever you purchased shoes) and discuss your problems with them. They may be able to put you in a different type of shoe, which may help.
Replace Worn Shoes
Also, track the mileage on your shoes. The cushioning within the sole of your shoes will lose its effectiveness over time. It is generally recommended to replace shoes after 300-500 miles.
Consider Different Surfaces
It’s a good idea to vary the surface that you train on. Constantly running or walking on hard surfaces such as concrete or asphalt is hard on your body. Consider training on a crushed stone surface such as the Katy Trail. Or train on a rubberized track one a week. Many public high schools have a track with an all weather rubber surface, which is easy on the body. (Heading into the school season, most high school tracks will soon be busy after school – you may have to wait until later in the evening until the lanes are free.)
Rest or Cross Train
If you’re concerned about an overuse injury, consider cross training, however limit this to low impact activities such as cycling or pool running/walking.
Treat with Ice
Ice is the best all-around treatment for reducing swelling and pain associated with soreness or an overuse injury. For small painful areas, hold a few chopped-up ice cubes in a cloth and massage directly over the injured area for 10-15 minutes. When a large area such as the knee or hamstring muscle is injured, holding an ice bag directly over the area, rather than ice massage, yields the best results.
Treat with ice three times daily. One Treatment = Ice for 15 minutes, stop for 10 minutes; Ice for 15 minutes, stop for 10 minutes; Ice for 15 minutes, stop for 10 minutes
Heat may be used, but it is more difficult to monitor. Applying heat to a sore area may do as much harm as good, especially if swelling is present.
Consider an Ice Bath (for recovery)
An ice bath is the best way to help muscles recover from a long training session. Cold water invigorates the legs and stimulates blood flow for healing. A temperate of 45-50 degrees is ideal temperature - not freezing.
Exercises for flexibility and range-of-motion can be helpful as therapy, especially after the first days of pain have passed and swelling has subsided. When using exercises as part of therapy, extra caution must be paid to stretching just to the point of discomfort and no further.
Take an Anti-Inflammatory (NSAID)
For muscle soreness or pain take, take an anti-Inflammatory (NSAID) such as Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin Aleve) or Aspirin. However, do not take an NSAID between 24 hours prior to 6 hours after a long run or walk. Doing this can worsen a Hyponatremia and result in damage to the kidneys. Hyponatremia, (as you may recall) is caused by low blood sodium levels and is typically the result of drinking too much water without replacing electrolytes.
Finally Seek Help
If you have a nagging ache or pain that does not get better with stretching or after a week of rest, make a visit to a sports related physician. The longer you try to push yourself through pain, the worse it can get and the longer the healing time. Seek out a competent sports physician.
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