.jpg)
Road Warriors
Every year, distance runners suffer from common injuries that can be avoided. A small stretch can lead to better times and farther distances
By:
Andrew O'Brien
Chris Winters, 21, trained all summer to prepare for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps regimen that would start during the fall semester. He focused on running four to five miles at least three days a week. But when he started to feel discomfort in his shins, he just cut his distance.
“I had a feeling it was shin splints,” the junior from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., said. But he didn’t seek medical attention.
“I just wanted to get my miles in,” he said. “Sitting around wasn’t going to get me in shape.”
Winters isn’t the only runner who neglects medical advice when it comes to runners.
Dr. Matthew Matava, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, estimates that only 30 percent to 40 percent of injured runners take the time to seek medical help.
Matava understands why runners fail to seek help though.
“Runners that have been running for a long time tend to wait longer than they should,” he said. “They tend to form a community within the sport and seek information on their own.”
Matava believes by the time the patient seeks medical help, the injury has been persisting for months.
The big question still remains, however. When a runner begins to feel discomfort or pain, what should they do and how soon should they act?
Here are several tips from various experts to help runners avoid common injuries, treat particulair injuries and how to tell when a potential injury could soon develop.
Training can often lead to injuries
According to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, training errors are the most common source of injury. In particular, lack of quality stretching results in the nagging injuries many runners are confronted with.
Dr. David Geier, spokesman for the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, says most long-time runners stretch, but beginners tend to skip a warm-up routine.
“New runners or those who don’t run regularly might be more likely to skip warm-ups,” Geier said. “It is likely more common for people to not stretch or warm-up enough or to stretch cold muscles instead of doing light cardio work for 5 minutes or so first to warm up the muscles.”
Another huge reason runners tweak muscles are rapid changes in their regimens. A drastic increase in miles or itineraries can often result in pulled muscles.
Geier says runners often see good progress in their training and quickly escalate their distance or speed. Not such a great idea. It all relates back to where Winters went wrong. He had a mindset of getting into shape, and although his shins were hurting, he simply lowered his distance as opposed to resting or seeing a professional.
“Runners are notoriously hard to get to back off of training to decrease pain and inflammation in order to try to decrease their symptoms,” Geier said. “The problem with running is that it involves repetitive contact on the same body parts over and over, so it is difficult for pain to improve without at least somewhat decreasing or altering a training program.”
How are running injuries treated?
The AOSSM says the best approach to treating a running injury includes rest or modification of the activity to allow the injury to heal and to reduce inflammation of the area.
Upon increasing your flexibility and regaining your strength and endurance, a gradual increase (about 10 percent in mileage per week) is recommended. The best method to treat newly-found injuries is the simple RICE theory, according to Matava.
Rest, ice, compression and elevation is the best idea for about a week after seeing inflammation or feeling discomfort.
“Wait about a week,” Matava said. “Certainly, if there is significant swelling in the join or mechanical pain, seek medical care sooner rather than later.”
Signs an injury could soon arrive
Sure, injuries are obvious for the most part. But there are plenty of injuries that develop over time where you can’t feel the pain or discomfort until weeks later.
Shin splints is an injury that happens weeks, sometimes months, before you begin to hurt, and it’s also an injury that you can’t put an exact date on. This means you could have developed shin splints months or years ago and not really feel it until now.
Nevertheless, there are many signs that are hinting for you to take some days off, or at the very least, alter your training schedule. Some of these signs include pain or discomfort while running, pain or discomfort after running, pain while at rest or while sleeping, limping or stiffness.
Advice for runners from the professionals
When it comes down to it, avoiding injuries starts at the most basic level.
Matava explains injuries can be avoided by doing the small things most of the time.
“The basics are the biggest thing,” Matava said. “So often I see kids at the beginning of the year who want to run cross country. They come unprepared wearing basketball shoes instead of running shoes.”
Injuries are also caused because of simple reasons.
“Secondly, a lot of problems with overuse typically result from too many miles or too many days in a row,” Matava said.
Geier said runners mainly suffer overuse injuries.
“Overuse injuries are fairly common,” Geier said. “Although in high-level runners, injuries that require surgery or a significant amount of time off from running are unusual.”
Although many competitors feel running through pain may lead to the injury disappearing, that is often not the case. Pushing through the pain can worsen the situation, according to the AOSSM. This can lead to the runner having to take more time off than normal.
Geier says common injuries include shin splints, knee, ankle and foot pain, and stress fractures.
There are plenty of preventative measures runners can take to help avoid injuries, according to the AOSSM. For one, talk about running with a professional or a veteran runner. Reading information in a specialized running magazine or visiting reliable Web sites can also provide runners with tips.
As for runners who are training for half-marathons and marathons, Geier recommends slowly increasing your mileage.
“For instance, if you run 30 miles per week, increase by 10 percent per week,” he said. “Therefore, the next week of planned increased mileage would be no more than 33 miles.”
Eating also plays a huge part in being a healthy and successful runner.
“Also eat enough calories to meet caloric demand and take a multivitamin to ensure calcium and vitamin D along with other nutrients,” Geier said.
“Last, listen to your body and take all pain seriously.”
That’s exactly what Winters did. He realized his body was telling him to take time off to let his injury heal.
“My body knows more than my mind does essentially,” Winters said. “I wanted to keep going, but I took some time off because I knew it was in the best interest of my legs and health. Five months later I’m able to run faster than I could before.”
