Running Tips To Keep You On The Roads

Injury prevention is an important topic for runners at every level, from beginners to long-time veterans. Louisville orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician
Dr. Stacie Grossfeld has many years of experience treating common running injuries and helping runners continue to enjoy the sport they love. In this article, Dr. Grossfeld offers some helpful running tips to keep you on the roads, regardless of your level of ability and experience.

Follow along for more information about common running injuries, and helpful running tips including: things you should do before you run, reasons for having your feet assessed before starting a running program and more, to keep you successful and injury free.

Top Five Reasons Why I have Leg Pain When I Run:

1. Shin splints
2. Stress fracture
3. IT band tendonitis
4. Patellofemoral syndrome
5. Meniscal tear

Top Five Things That Are Key to do Before You Run:

1. Make sure you have properly fitted running shoes. It is recommended that you are fitted with your running shoes at a store that is familiar with runners and it may help to have a gait analysis performed prior to you purchasing running shoes.
2. Warm up properly. We like to tell our patients to warm up before you warm up, do a very light run, just where you break into a sweat or get on a bicycle till you break into a sweat and then actually do your stretches and then go out and do your true run.
3. Make sure you are well hydrated, maintain hydration throughout the day prior to run.
4. Listen to your bodies. This means as you start to have aches and pains in certain areas of your body and the pain is getting worse, do not try to run through them.
5. Maintain enough caloric intake to keep up with your energy expenditure. If you are doing a lot of long distance running, you may want to keep a food log to make sure that you are taking enough calories and proper calories to keep up with your energy expenditure. The second most common reason for stress fractures is lack of proper caloric intake. The number one reason for stress fractures is too much training too quickly.

Top Five Reasons to Have Your Foot Assessed Before You Begin a Running Program:

1. It is a documented medical fact that if you are pronated, you are more likely to sustain a stress fracture involving your metatarsal, developed shin splints, and plantar fasciitis.
2. If your foot is pronated, an over-the-counter semi-custom orthotics or custom orthotics would be indicated.
3. If you have a wide forefoot or a narrow forefoot or narrow heel, it might be more difficult to be fitted in a running shoe; therefore, it is important to assess your foot and have somebody at the running shoe store also asses her foot to make sure that your running shoe fits you properly.
4. Check to make sure there are no blisters on the bottom of your feet. If blisters start to form, that may mean your shoe is not fitting well, and care should be taken to make sure that the blisters do not become infected.
5. If you are developing bunion deformity, it is helpful to have a custom pair of orthotics made to counterbalance abnormal forces on the plantar aspect of your foot that are created secondary to the bunion deformity.

Top Five Things You Should do Before Starting a Running Program If You Haven’t Run Before:

1. If you have any medical conditions such as hypertension or coronary artery disease, you should check with your primary care physician for medical clearance before you start a running program.
2. It is recommended that you consult with a running coach to determine your fitness level to help formulate a program specialized to your baseline fitness. It is important to speak with a running coach or wellness coach through any local running club or even through the YMCA.
3. It is helpful to follow a program to help guide you with increasing your mileage. Very common mistake that runners will make is they try to increase their mileage too quickly and then they become injured.
4. If you are going to start a running program, it is also important to do some cross-training to allow the muscles to rest on the days that you are not running.
5. Complete rest days are important and that should be discussed with your wellness coach prior to your running program to learn when and when not rest days should be utilized. It is helpful for new runners to set a goal, make the goal realistic. Even training for a race in the future can help motivate and keep you in your running program.

Hopefully you have found these running tips from Dr. Grossfeld helpful and educational. If you have any questions about starting a running program, finding the right running shoes or treating knee or leg pain, Dr. Grossfeld is available to provide assistance. Call 502-212-2663 for more information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Grossfeld today!