| 1.Take at least 1-2 rest days per week. This means no | | | | gives you an indication that you are about to sustain |
| impact giving your joints a rest from the pounding | | | | an overuse injury. This may be in the form of a slight |
| forces that running produces. Less experienced | | | | or nagging pain. If you stop training at that point, you will |
| runners may need 2-3 rest days per week. | | | | more than likely be all right after a bit of rest. If you try |
| 2.Perform no more than 1-2 "break through" or high | | | | to push through the pain you may end up with a more |
| intensity interval work outs per week. Speed work | | | | serious injury. |
| puts more stress and the body, and requires more | | | | 8.Periodize your training. Periodization means training in |
| recovery time. This type of work must performed | | | | specific cycles that move towards a goal (race). Your |
| prescriptively and carefully. Try to schedule your | | | | training moves from the general to the specific and |
| speed work or intervals work outs the day prior to a | | | | from low intensity to higher intensity as you approach |
| rest or recovery day. | | | | your peak. The implications are that you only perform |
| 3.Train in 2-3 day cycles, with a rest or recovery work | | | | your most intense work late in the season near your |
| out in between cycles. This allows your body to adapt | | | | goal race or peak. This means less stress on the body |
| to the stress of training. Some athletes will need more | | | | throughout the year because you are not performing |
| rest and less training, especially as intensity increases. | | | | high intensity training all year long. Have a licensed |
| 4.Change your shoes out frequently. A good rule of | | | | running coach work with you on an annual training plan. |
| thumb is at least 3x per year for a high volume runner. | | | | 9.Perform strength exercises to keep your knees |
| You may want to write the date you purchased your | | | | strong. One of the more common overuse injuries is |
| shoes in permanent ink on your shoes for reference. | | | | "runner's knee." This can be caused by a patella |
| Buying shoes is expensive, but so is your insurance | | | | tracking problem, much like a tire that is out of |
| deductible. | | | | alignment. By keeping your quadriceps strong you can |
| 5.Take the supplements Chrondroitin Sulfate and | | | | prevent this condition. If you are an endurance runner |
| Glucosamine. I don't recommend a lot of supplements, | | | | you do not need to overwork these muscles or use a |
| but this combination has shown promise in clinical | | | | lot of weight, but light strength work performed |
| studies, and in control groups of people suffering from | | | | correctly can help prevent injury. |
| knee pain. One works as an anti-inflammatory; the | | | | 10.Cross train. One of the benefits that multi-sport |
| other helps regenerate cartilage. I know of several | | | | athletes have over runners is that they are able to |
| orthopedic surgeons who are recommending the | | | | perform swim and cycling work outs in between run |
| supplement to their patients. It is definitely worth a try. | | | | work outs. This helps reduce the stress caused by the |
| 6.Increase your volume of endurance training by less | | | | pounding of running, but the athlete still receives the |
| than 10% per week. Bringing your mileage up too | | | | aerobic benefit of training. A good time to cross train is |
| quickly is a sure fire way to promote injury. Your body | | | | when you have a recovery work out scheduled or a |
| adapts to stress (training), compensates for it, and | | | | low intensity work out. If you use a heart rate monitor |
| builds or gets stronger. If you put too much stress on | | | | you can stay in the same heart rate zone as your run |
| your body, it can't compensate and breaks down | | | | work out. Swimming, cycling, stepper, elliptical trainer, or |
| further instead of getting stronger. | | | | even hiking are all good examples of cross training |
| 7.Listen to your body. In my experience your body | | | | work outs. |