INJURED AGAIN !?!?

I was out running last Sunday with Ben and we were talking about being injured and what to do when you have one and what can help to stop yourself getting an injury. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Adrian and I am a member of CRC and have been running my own clinic for nearly 25 years helping people prevent getting injured, train and race faster and treating people who are injured.

We have all suffered a problem at some time in our running life, BUT, a lot of these injuries could have been prevented by following a few simple rules.

Firstly, most injuries start from the shoes you are using. 

DO NOT:

Wear the old shoes you used to use at the gym!

Buy some because somebody else tells you they are great shoes!

Buy some because they looked good!

Get some because they were cheap on the Internet!

If you have never gone to a proper running shop, now is the time to go, yes it may be more expensive but you are paying for their knowledge of what sort of shoe you may need. Do you heel strike, forefoot strike, suffer from pronation or supination? Or something else? If the shoe you are using is not right, you will just be building up for an issue later on, in all my years of seeing runners the most common reason for injuries are the running shoes.

The next biggest problem is when you change your normal running. Perhaps you are training for a long distance event or an off road race and you are feeling great and get a little carried away with your training. Normally for experienced runners the increase in mileage per week is only 10% with some weeks no increase at all, this is to allow your body to get used to the training and prevent the muscles from getting too tight. We have all got a bit excited about what we are doing and before long we are unable to run for a couple of weeks, this is when it is important to seek out some help to get you back on track.

Other problems can occur if you ignore the pain you are feeling, it could be that you just hadn’t noticed your stride shortening, or discomfort in the muscles, this can lead to doing even more damage and that could mean an even longer time out. The majority of my clients don’t come because of an injury BUT TO PREVENT AN INJURY FROM HAPPENING. Regular check overs will find problems before they become major ones, that is why in all sports many athletes have a Sports Massage session as often as possible to help them perform to the best possible level.

Also, be very careful with stretching, if you are stretching and feeling a lot of tightness, STOP! You should only stretch until you just feel a little discomfort. If you over stretch you are more likely to make the situation worse.

An injury can cause you to be out of action for a lengthy time so please try to avoid it in the first 

place, so if you have a problem the best choices you can make is rest, and get it checked out by someone like myself who can help, but also consider visiting the Doctor.

Taking painkillers normally only masks the pain and could make the problem worse so try to avoid taking them unless suggested by a Doctor.

If you ever need any help or advice please contact me on 07403675593 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I look forward to seeing you out on the road and take care!

Adrian