If you discovered a magic Genie in a bottle and he granted you three wishes, what would they be?
When I was in college, one of those wishes was to never suffer through another running injury ever again.
Am I a total running geek? Absolutely.
But for over six years, my running was constantly interrupted by Achilles tendinopathy, IT band syndrome, and chronic aches and pains that prevented me from running well.
After just one 6-month stretch of injury free training, I was able to run with the Varsity squad in college and take nearly a minute off my 8k cross country time.
And for over four years, I haven’t had a single major injury. With injury-free training, I’ve set two annual mileage records and improved my marathon time to 2:39:32.
Injury prevention (and the consistency that comes with it) is the most powerful way to become a better runner.
In fact, I’ve been helping runners overhaul their programs for years to run faster, build more consistency, and finally run pain free. I’ve been keeping detailed notes of every technique and training method that’s worked for us.
And over the next few weeks and months, I want to share these injury prevention strategies in more detail with you.
I’m putting together a free course on the most pressing injury prevention topics you’ve sent me – and I want to answer your specific questions. Like:
- How to structure training so you don’t spike your injury risk
- What to do when soreness strikes – keep running, rest, or…?
- Often ignored lifestyle factors that cause injuries
- How your training should change after getting healthy from an injury
You can sign up here for the free injury prevention course – it’s free!
Jason is a 2:39 marathoner, USATF-
While I’m running I normally wear shoes that control my pronation (Brooks Adrenaline GTS, Asics Gel Kayano), can I do some barefoot running (or in minimalistic shoes) as well? Would it be a positive thing or would it just result in injuries?
I’m pretty cautious about it, because when I started running (+/- 3 years ago), I found out I need such good shoes or otherwise my knees would just get hurt after a few weeks.
Kevin – submit your question in the survey.
Oh, ok, totally missed the fact that there was a link.
After a groin injury, I got serious about diligent strength training. I use you standard core routine, and alternate your ITB rehab and Myrtl routine after every run. What a difference! No more muscle pulls or sore hips. But what about shin splints? Mine are not bad enough to stop me from running, but they’re annoying. What do you recommend to resolve them and then prevent them? I don’t think I’m overtraining and my mileage increases are gradual. I’m training for a half.