By Michael Sharp
With the new year in full swing, many people are already on the path or at least gearing up for a new health or fitness goal in 2010. Some might want to lose weight or get back in shape while others may want to try a new event or test themselves by doing something they’ve never done – like run a 5K or pushing to a further distance like a 10K or even a marathon. Still others might consider a first triathlon. With New Year’s resolutions burning hot, this beginning exercise, or in many cases return to exercise after taking a few months off to recover from the previous season, many people jump into their training routines inadequately prepared for the stresses of training and experience injuries. While injuries are often a common part of training for endurance athletes, they should not be an inevitable part. There are certain fundamental ways to progress training and reduce the likelihood of injuries.
Footwear
As always, runners and triathletes can best avoid injury by wearing proper footwear. This goes beyond just buying an expensive pair of shoes. Running shoes need to be specific to each person so that they fit their foot and are appropriate for their running gait pattern. This ensures that with each foot strike, they are maintaining proper anatomic alignment of their foot. If not, the effects are propagated to their ankles, knees, hips and back and can result in overuse injuries at any of these joints. Specialty running stores have qualified personnel that can assess your gait pattern and put you into the appropriate shoes. If in doubt or you have previous injuries, see a physical therapist and they can do a more thorough assessment.
Progression
The next step to progressing training is to progress slowly. The top training error that results in injury is that people progress too much too fast. It helps to have a good base of fitness before taking on an event. If not, start by doing some form of aerobic exercise before starting to really focus on the training. This might involve a program similar to the Galloway program that promotes a walking to running progression. If you are an endurance athlete but have taken some time off, be careful not to jump right back into your previous training program. This is sure to lead to injuries and frustration. With each period off, you will lose some degree of fitness. It will take some time to build this back up.
A good rule to follow when progressing from any level of endurance activity is the 10% rule. Don’t increase the time or distance of your training by more than 10% each week. This allows a slow and steady increase in distance while minimizing the risk of injury. If at any point an injury starts to occur, drop back down to the previous level of training that was injury free and stay at this level until the injury subsides. One reason that people often times don’t follow this rule is that they haven’t allowed enough time before the event to progress properly by using this rule. The race day approaches faster than they allotted time for and they have to push quicker through their training and an injury results.
The Little Things
Swept up in passion to complete a first big race, athletes tend to overlook the seemingly “little things” which all add up to a huge component of training and staying injury free. All athletes need to address all these other factors that promote injuries outside of the training. This includes the strength, flexibility of the entire body, core muscle training, proper nutrition and hydration (not just for the event, but training, too), and get plenty of rest. Because of the time constraints required for training, these other issues are often times overlooked and an injury results.
Endurance events can be fun, challenging and incredibly rewarding. Don’t let an injury keep you away from the action. Follow these guidelines to reduce the risk of injuries and keep you training. If you suspect an injury or have a painful ache that doesn’t resolve with rest, see an orthopaedic physician or sports oriented physical therapist for a thorough evaluation.
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Michael Sharp is a Certified Athletic Trainer at The Athletic Performance Center where he focuses on sports rehabilitation for active individuals and endurance athletes. In his free time he enjoys training and competing in triathlons, trail races and ½ marathons. Mike can be reached at msharp@raleighortho.com or by visiting www.apcraleigh.com.
