5 Tips for Injury Free Running

Below are a few tips that I have found have helped me stay injury free.  They are in no specific order, but I've gotten injured before with running, and I think it was due to the fact that I did too much too soon.  So, #1 is especially pertinent.  Remember, these are just suggestions, and your mileage may vary.

1. Increase Mileage Slowly

The general rule of thumb that you'll probably hear most is to increase weekly by no more than 10% every week.  This is a pretty straightforward recommendation.  If you're running 20 miles a week, next week you'd run 22 miles.

I also think it's helpful to have some weeks where you step the mileage back down.  Essentially it's a recovery week while you're building your base mileage.  This could be anything, but I'd likely shoot for 3 weeks up, 1 week down.  Looking something like:

20 miles, 22 miles, 24 miles, 20 miles
26 miles, 28 miles, 31 miles, 25 miles

A big part of increasing weekly mileage has to do with #3 below, listen to your body.  Throughout the whole mileage buildup, you should constantly be taking mental notes about how the increased mileage is affecting your body.

2. Increase Run Cadence

Jack Daniels found that the most efficient runners run around 180 steps per minute (SPM).  Most new runners have cadences that are much slower than that.  A slower cadence will promote over-striding and heel-striking.  It's been my anecdotal experience, that a faster cadence and a mid-foot strike will help prevent running injuries.  Even recovery runs can be run at a higher cadence, though it does take some getting used to.  It might feel like you are prancing at first, but practice makes perfect.

You may feel like this at first, just keep at it.

It's pretty easy to calculate your cadence, simply count the number of steps your left foot takes for 1 minute and then double it.  It might be easier to do this on a treadmill.  Some new watches will calculate cadence for you without a foot pod, for instance my Garmin Forerunner 220 has an internal accelerometer.  It turns out I have 180 SPM for recovery runs, and 190+ SPM when racing.

3. Listen to Your Body

This is probably the most important aspect of healthy running.  As you increase your mileage during the base building phase, or run hard workouts in preparation for races, a part of you always needs to be aware and calculating how your body is reacting to the training stimulus being provided.  If you need to take a down week to help your body recover, do it!  You won't lose much, if any, fitness at all.  And, you may find when you've had some time to recover, that those workouts that seemed impossible to get through before are now more attainable.  Don't be afraid to back off.

4. Log Your Miles

Use a site, any site, to log your miles.  I use RunningAHEAD and Garmin Connect.  Use the site to make notes about how your runs are going, how your body feels and is reacting to the training.  This is an easy way to also monitor your weekly mileage to make sure you aren't doing too much too soon.  All those mental notes that you've been taking during your runs can be quickly jotted down on a log so you can always go back and see how you've been feeling.  You don't have to always write down how you felt, but if you feel it's important, then write it down.  Otherwise, you will forget!

5. Take Recovery Days

Recovery days don't mean you have to have days where you don't do anything.  Even easy runs can been done on recovery days.  Or you can cross train on recovery days.  You should only be doing 2-3 hard workouts a week (and if you're just starting out, 1 day a week is advisable), the rest of the week should be recovery days.  Fill those days with 2+ easy running days, days off, or cross training days.