Tips for Starting and Continuing Your Running Journey
The secret to running is consistency! And to enjoy consistent running, you need to stay healthy and injury-free. As a runner, especially if you are training to compete, you are likely going to experience a setback in training at some point or another.
Running-related injuries (RRI) are multifactorial with both intrinsic (personal) and extrinsic (environmental) factors playing a role. In research, only four factors have consistently been shown to be associated with RRI. 1) running experience 2) previous injury 3) running to compete 4) excessive weekly running distance (Buist et al., 2010).
Personal factors: Age, sex, BMI, physical fitness, previous injury, anatomy
Environmental factors: Training, running surface, shoes
I divide my recommendations for long-term healthy running based on the factors we can control:
Training
Start with the end in mind—pick 1-2 goal races, one for each half of the year. For example, a half-marathon in April and a marathon in December. Give yourself enough of a training block (12-16 weeks for a half-marathon & 20-24 weeks for a marathon) to gradually ramp up your running. In between training blocks, make sure to take some time off from running before jumping back into training.
Find a running coach—if you're looking to perform, a coach will be an invaluable tool to have. They will help to keep you accountable and more importantly, help adjust training to your life to ensure that you aren't overdoing it.
Mix things up—as we age, we experience changes in our explosiveness, quickness, and power production. This is mainly due to the loss of lean muscle mass, which is made up mostly of fast-twitch muscle fibers. We won't go into too much detail, but these are the fibers responsible for fast, explosive movements. Cue in strength training.
Personal story: As I've been switching gears from marathon training back to 5k training, I instantly felt that I was lacking power in my stride. I've started to incorporate more plyometric training and slowly, but surely, I can feel that "kick" coming back.
Lifestyle Factors
Sleep—we've all heard the recommendation of 6-8 hours of sleep a night. This is particularly important during training because this is when the body repairs itself.
Nutrition—I find that most runners don't eat enough, sometimes they don't even realize it. Signs of underfueling in runners can include being sick/injured often, trouble sleeping, losing your appetite, missing your period, inability to focus, and lack of performance gains.
Stress—chronic periods of stress can negatively impact your body. One thing that has significantly helped me manage my stress is recognizing when I'm dealing with good stress (eustress) and negative stress (distress). There are several stress management techniques; you just need to find the one that works for you.
One final word of advice, if you’re a beginner runner, don’t rush into the marathon. Enjoy the shorter distances and set yourself up for success by gradually building up your tolerance to running!
Thank you for taking the time to read! If you've struggled to enjoy healthy, consistent running and would like to learn more about what you can do, schedule a complimentary call today and let us help you RISE ABOVE!