10 Essential Tips to Injury-Proof Your Running Routine

As an often-injured runner myself, I know that coming down with an injury is no fun at all.

Oftentimes, I can pinpoint how and why I got injured in the first place. Maybe it was because I ran too fast for what my body was ready to handle, or maybe it was because I bumped up my volume of training and, you guessed it, my body wasn’t able to recover in time.

As a guide, just because one runner is injured doesn’t mean every runner will get injured.

But the likelihood is definitely higher if you don’t take care of yourself and listen to the warning signs your body tells you.

Remember though, each injury is unique and has it’s own challenges. It’s vital to consult with a healthcare professional for personalized guidance on your specific situation.

These are the things that I wish more runners knew, especially when they get injured and have to miss time: 

In this post, we will discuss 10 strategies that some, not all, runners need to take to get over their injury.

The goal of any injured runner is to have a quick and successful recovery, and these tips will help!

What YOU Can Control

1. How you handle stress. Some days are going to be harder than others. Positively handling stress will go a long way in helping your body recover from the injury. Stressing over an injury will not help it heal any faster. If anything, stress will keep your body from quickly recovering. In my opinion, as someone who has been injured a lot, I find that if I can do things to keep me busy – things that don’t involve hurting the injured area, that I stay positive and recover quicker.
2. Life outside of running. I am a runner through and through, but I also know that being well-rounded will make me a better person. Find things that make you happy outside of running. That might be other sports or it might be creative, but you need to have a life outside of running.
3. Lay off the booze. One might summarize that since you aren’t running, it’s okay to up your drinking to compensate, but that’s not true. Drinking is bad for you regardless of when you drink. It wrecks your sleep and your ability to recover. As much as drinking pretends to be a social lubricant, it’s best to lay low from drinking while you’re recovering.
4. Adjust your eating habits – you aren’t training as much and therefore you don’t need to eat as much. If you continue to eat as if you were training, you’ll be consuming more calories and not burning the same amount. It’ll lead to a surplus of calories and the weight will start to creep up.
5. Be patient as you recover and return to training. Each and every runner I know would do a lot of things to get back to running. The most important thing to remember is that when our body is ready, you’ll know and at that point, you can start training again.
6. Connect with positive people. Sticking around positive people keeps you motivated and excited about getting back to healthy running.
7. Strengthen your weaknesses. If your muscles are imbalanced or weak, you’ll continue to struggle with injuries. It’s important to continue strengthening your weaker muscles. For me, that’s working on my glutes and my calves.

What You Can’t Control, But Should

1. Don’t self-diagnose – You shouldn’t let Google decide what your injury is. It’s important to see a doctor/specialist right away so you can get a proper diagnosis and work to remedy the issue.
2. Don’t delay seeking treatment. Then once you’ve seen a doctor, keep seeing them until you’re not in pain anymore. Personally, I’ve seen acupuncture, active release specialists, and a physical therapist.
3. Your amount of cross-training. If you can do any amount of cross-training, it’ll be good for you. Obviously, if you are in pain and it hurts to cross-train, then you should stop. But staying fit and also burning calories is good for you as a runner and as someone who enjoys movement. Find the right form of release – whether it is swimming, the elliptical, cycling or yoga – to keep you engaged and active.

The truth is, that running injuries happen. They occur in a large percentage of runners. It’s an unfortunate part of being a runner.

But just because it happens, doesn’t mean it has to be something you always deal with.

For me, I’ve dealt with the setbacks of my injury in a variety of positive ways and while the longer I’m out keeps me away from running, the longer I’m out, the stronger my desire to get back to running is.

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