Injuries happen. It’s virtually inevitable at some point, but as much as tape, straps and supports may be needed in the short term, don’t let yourself become reliant.
The healing process
It’s important to take time, listen to the professionals treating your injury and do as they recommend. In the short term that may mean using an external method of altering muscle activity or joint stabilisation. That’s fine however, in the long term you need to fix the root problem if one exists.
Running root cause
Most running injuries have an underlying cause related to muscle weakness/imbalance, inefficient running technique or occasionally a skeletal issue.
For the most part, these can be corrected entirely or at least improved upon through exercise, stretching and drills, in combination with occasional treatment or manual therapy.
Do the work
As runners we’re used to pushing ourselves physically and to a degree mentally too. I want you to think of the challenge of working to strengthen an injury in the same way as you would any race.
The exercises, stretches and drills likely won’t be enjoyable for their own sake. They may even be boring. But if it allows you to continue running without pain or at least significantly reduced discomfort, then to me that seems like a pretty good trade-off.
Keep doing the work
This is unfortunately where most of us get it wrong. As soon as the pain stops or the injury has passed we stop doing what we did to fix the issue.
Chances are you’ll be able to stop the short daily routine, and instead perform it 2-3 time per week instead to prevent recurrence.
Aside from this, with your now stronger muscles and/or better movement, you’ll be able to push forward into full on strengthen and make yourself faster over any given distance too.
When you get an injury, don’t just focus on stopping the pain. Find the cause, treat it then prevent it. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure.
Written by Kyle Brooks, Running coach based in Norwich, Norfolk
