The best thing about a fun run is in its name: It’s supposed to be fun! Don’t ignore that niggle! Early assessment and treatment can stop injuries before they develop into something that stops you from doing what you love. After all your training effort, the last thing you want is an injury stopping you from enjoying the experience and the atmosphere of being a part of something special!
Common Risk Factors for Running Injuries
- Overtraining: The most common scenario leading to an overuse injury. Too quick an increase in volume frequency or intensity can overload your muscles and tendons. Gradual increases less than 10% per week are safest
- Biomechanical flaws: Tight and weakened muscles in your foot or lower limb, too much or not enough pronation (rolling in) of your foot arch, lack of range of motion in ankle, hip or knee.
- Improper or worn out shoes not offering adequate support
- Poor running style – over striding is a common problem which can lead to injury.
In The Event of an Injury
- Stop running: Trying to ‘push through’ the pain will only make the injury worse
- Maintain your fitness by switching to a low impact form of exercise that doesn’t aggravate the injury. Swimming or cycling are options until the injury heals.
- RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation are all essential first aid measures to help reduce pain and inflammation in the early stages of injury
- See a physiotherapist promptly for diagnosis and treatment
How Physiotherapy Helps
RICE is important, but it doesn’t always rectify the cause of your injury. Our physiotherapist are experts at identifying the root cause of your problem. Usually several factors are involved that will need correction. After taking a thorough history and performing an individual assessment, our physios will identify any imbalances, biomechanical faults, footwear issues, training or technique errors that are the cause of your problem. Treating the actual cause ensures the quickest recovery and reduces the likelihood of reoccurrence once you are back out on the track.
How Remedial Massage Helps
Regular massage is useful to keep your body fine-tuned whether you are an athlete, desk worker, or weekend warrior.
Benefits of Massage:
- Reduced muscle tension: Work out those tight ‘knots’ to keep muscles more efficient and less prone to break down
- Improved circulation: Helps relieve muscle tension, reduce soreness and make for a faster recovery
- Increased joint mobility and flexibility: Helps prevent imbalances and can lead to better athletic performance
When to Schedule a Massage
A Massage here and there is nice, but won’t give you the same benefits of a regular massage program. Like exercise itself, benefits are cumulative, meaning the more regularly you receive a massage, the more you will reap their advantages. Think of it as preventative maintenance! Fortnightly or monthly remedial massages are ideal. Our remedial massage therapists can direct you as to what is most appropriate for your situation. With all the hard work, you have put into training, reward yourself, you won’t regret it!
Now for the Main Event!
In the final weeks before the big day, you should taper the length and intensity of your training runs down, with your last run performed ideally two or three days before to avoid running on sore, tired legs on race day. Get a massage instead or enjoy a leisurely walk.
You’ve made it! Whoohoooo! Remember: you’re always going to have people finishing ahead of you, and you’re always going to have people finishing after you, you should be aiming to compete against yourself only. Do your best, and enjoy the journey. It’s a FUN run, after all!