Proper training aids running program
There are many aches and pains that come with running. These can easily derail your training program and make your daily run a miserable experience. To make sure you get to the starting line in good shape, it helps to know how to avoid and treat the most common running ailments.
One of the most painful, most common afflictions that runners encounter is shin splints. This pain can occur on the front or side of your shins and usually feels like an ache, not a sharp, centralized pain.
I had a bad case of shin splints during my freshman year at college and the athletic trainer gave me a treatment that worked.
He had me do a set of exercises to strengthen my lower legs. He said that my calf muscle had become much stronger than the muscle over my shinbone, and the resulting imbalance was causing my pain.
I did three sets of 30 toe raises, standing on the ground with my weight on my heels and pointing my toes upward. This worked the muscle over my shinbone. Then I did the same number of calf raises, standing and rising up onto the balls of my feet to work the calf. Doing this three times a week made the pain disappear.
Another common torment that all runners will encounter is the blister. Blisters can be caused by new shoes that haven’t been broken in, old shoes that are broken down, or anything else that causes friction between your foot and your footwear.
The easiest way to prevent blisters is to wear shoes that fit, but if you do get a painful blister, treatment is relatively easy.
If the blister is large, puncture it using a needle sterilized with alcohol. Allow the fluid inside to drain and then place a bandage on the area to prevent infection.
If the blister is small, it should be left intact as your skin provides some protection.
I take some adhesive moleskin padding and cut out a small donut shape to fit around the blister bubble.
Apply the donut and then put some athletic tape around it to make sure it stays put. This should pad the sore area and alleviate the pain until the blister goes away.
There are many injuries beyond shin splints and blisters, but for the cornucopia of hurts that are out there, these two remedies never fail: rest and ice.
When you experience pain or soreness, backing off or taking a break will always help. Some devoted runners hate to miss valuable training time, but giving the body a rest is sometimes the only way to go.
Icing is another proven cure-all. Applying cold ice to a sore or hurt muscle increases the blood flow to that area, accelerating the healing process.
Jumping in a bathtub full of ice water is the best method, but this is often hard to set up. To ice centralized pain, fill some small paper cups with water and place them in the freezer. When you need it, just peel away the top of the cup and ice your pain away.
Using these simple treatments for common running injuries will help keep your body intact and your training on track.
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E-mail Thomas Weiler at tweiler(at)abqtrib.com.