Injuries suck. Anyone that has ever had one would certainly agree, especially when one hits close to race time. The best way to combat against injuries is obviously to prevent them in the first place. However, if you plan on continuing running, I do have some unfortunate news for you. Injuries are inevitable. As some of you have began running, you may have already experienced this and know what I am talking about. For those of you that have not, let’s put things into perspective.

Before you picked up running, you may have been running a mile here and there to get some cardio in, if at all. Once you have decided that you are going to train for a race, you are almost quadrupling your chances of something happening. I know that it is a hard pill to wallow but it is reality. After all, you are spending a ton more time on the road or treadmill. One of the most important ways to prevent foot injuries is to be sure that you have the right shoes and that they fit properly.

As you begin to run more frequently and longer distances, you will become more in-tune with your body. You will begin to feel aches and pains well before you would have regularly noticed them. As you prepare your finely tuned machine for the next event, you may begin to feel things “pop up”. This is completely normal but do not ignore them. The most important thing that you can do is address them as you notice any potential injury. In the event that you do decide to power through, you have a greater chance of aggravating or compounding your injury.

I have shared this story before and will share it again in the hopes that others will learn from my mistake. As I was training for my first half-marathon, I suffered an extremely bad injury to my Achilles tendon. I ignored it because I was flying through my training. As a result, I strained a groin, my knee began acting up and my foot stiffened. All of this happened two weeks prior to the big race. I don’t recommend the hyper-rehab that I went through as it might not work well for everyone. I was able to finish the race as a result of care and discipline.

Some of you may or may not have heard of one of the best treatments for potential injuries. If you plan on continuing running, one thing is for sure, this will not be the last time that you read about it. What I am speaking of is often referred to as RICE. It is an acronym for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

Rest is probably the most important thing that you can do for an injury since it will allow your body to recover and limit the chances of you re-aggravating the injury.  When applying ice to the area, you generally want to limit the treatment to 15 minutes. Any longer than that, you will run the risk of frostbite. Compression will help to limit the swelling. It is important not to wrap the area too tight. Any sign of throbbing will tell you that you may need to loosen up the wrap a bit. Elevation also helps to relive any swelling. When elevating an injury you are going to want to be sure that the affected area is elevated above the heart to be effective.

Injury prevention is a very important part of training and we can probably go on forever here but hopefully, you have gained some knowledge on how to address injuries and why it is important to do so.  If you have included weight training in your program, it is helpful to know that working on the muscles around the affected area after rehabilitation will help your body to maintain strength in that area. If you get injured, stay motivated and stay disciplined. It is hard to just stop the training but most of the time it is necessary so that your body can get better. Stay well and keep up the running.

Next time: Increasing your distance