Injuries are almost a guaranteed fact of life for the competitive runner. In the quest for the ultimate performance, there is a tendency to overdo things and cross the fine line between peak fitness and injury. 

Fortunately, if you pay attention to this simple training rule, you substantially lessen your chances of ending up on the Injury Reserve List: 

Common Types of Running Injuries 

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of running injuries: chronic and traumatic.   Chronic injuries occur when repetitive movements break down or irritate a body part such as a muscle, tendon, joint, or bone.  Examples of common chronic running injuries include: 

 
• achilles tendonities
• shin splints
• IT band problems (usually resulting in knee pain)

 
• muscle pulls, tears, or strains (usually the hamstring or quadricep)
• ankle sprains

Preventing running injuries takes some effort and thought.  Here are a few tips to consider: 

• Don't do too much too soon. One common rule of thumb is if you are increasing your mileage, limit any increase to 10 percent per week.  Another rule of thumb is to limit the percentage of really intense running to less than 20 percent of your total weekly mileage.  Remember, when it comes to staying healthy, under do it rather than over do it.

• Don't let little hurts turn into big hurts.  Pain and discomfort are the body's signals that something is amiss.  Here's a useful rule of thumb: If the pain is getting worse after running, it's time to take some time off; if the pain is not getting worse after running, you can probably keep going.

• Stretch and strengthen on a regular basis. Proper stretching and strengthening exercises done on a regular basis can counteract the impacts and imbalances that running causes.  A good physiotherapist or massage therapist can diagnose your individual muscle imbalances and biomechanical faults and suggest which exercises will help you the most. 

• Buy proper shoes.  A good pair (or better yet pairs) of running shoes are essential for preventing injury.  It's usually worth the few extra bucks you might spend going to a specialized running store and getting properly fitted with a shoe tailored to your individual needs and biomechanics.  For example, if the sales clerk takes the time to find out if you are a pronator, supinator, or neutral foot striker, then chances are that he or she may be able to make a wise shoe recommendation.
• Replace worn out shoes. Shoe manufacturers recommend replacing shoes every 500 or so miles.  While this recommendation might be overly conservative, you normally need to retire your shoes long before they are showing obvious signs of cosmetic wear.

• Consider getting orthotics.  For the vast majority of us who don't have perfect biomechanics, custom-made orthotics can correct or reduce improper motions which lead to chronic injuries. 

• Allow for adequate recovery between tough workouts.  Tough workouts result in micro traumas to the muscles.  When these micro traumas are allowed to heal, the muscle is built up to a stronger state.  Without adequate recovery, the muscle is continually broken down until an injury occurs.

• Ease into radically different changes to your training.  If you are incorporating something totally different into your training (e.g. repeat hills, circuit training, really long runs), a cautious and conservative approach is better.   Remember (here it comes again), under do it rather than over do it.

• Do a proper warm up and cool down.  A proper warm up readies the muscles and connective tissues for the range of motion needed to do the workout - this should lessen the chances of muscle tears and pulls.  A cool down is an excellent time to work on flexibility - a warm muscle can be stretched to its optimal range of motion.

• Avoid hard or uneven surfaces.  The ideal running surface is both smooth and soft.  Most roads are smooth, but hard, whereas many trails are uneven, yet soft.  Given this, varying your running routes to include both roads and trails is usually the best answer.

If you're on the Internet, chances are you are the type of person who chooses to self diagnose and medicate first.  On this single page, we can't hope to do justice to the whole topic of self diagnosis and treatment.  Instead, we offer a few great links to running injury sites: 

If your running injury has progressed beyond the self-help stage, then it's time to seek professional help.  So who do you go to?  We suggest that you seek out a medical practitioner who understands running and runners. 

This practitioner might be a general practitioner, sports medicine doctor, chiropractor, podiatrist, physiotherapist, massage therapist, village shaman, or whoever - the specialization is less important than the person's willingness to work with you to get back to a healthy running state.  If the first and only piece of advice you get from the practitioner is "stop running,"  then it's time for a second opinion.