Blog

With the London Marathon just days away and summer just around the corner, I thought I would discuss some common running niggles that can occur when you either start increasing your mileage or start running for the first time.

Achilles pain

The achilles tendon connects your calf to your heel bone. This like many other tendons often gets aggravated when you increase mileage too quickly or suddenly introduce a new activity. If you do start to experience pain over your achilles tendon it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to back off training completely but you should probably reduce some of your activity to allow symptoms to settle. A rule of thumb is if your pain stays below a 4/10 then you can continue with the activity. However if your pain starts to increase day to day or during activity then you need to consider reducing the amount you are doing. Alongside this most people with these symptoms require some additional strengthening for the lower limb. This may be calf strengthening or actually higher up the kinetic chain – e.g. hamstrings or gluts. 

High hamstring pain

This is another load related injury involving the hamstring tendon. Common symptoms include pain on sitting, high speed running and hill running. Common mistakes with managing this are to stretch the hamstrings- this often maintains the symptoms and can make the symptoms worse. Basic management is to avoid high speed running and hills and to not stretch the hamstring. The best treatment for this is to undertake a hamstring loading program and you probably need some guidance from a physio as these conditions can be difficult to manage. 

Knee pain - on the outside

The usual culprit for this is the Iliotibial band that connects one of the hip flexor muscles to the knee. Often people develop pain on the insertion of this band at the knee due to a particular movement pattern that causes the knee to fall inwards. Correcting this movement pattern will reduce symptoms. Strategies to correct this often include glut strengthening exercises and functional movement training e.g. single leg squat, hopping, step ups. Running gait analysis can sometimes be beneficial to identify any issues in this area.  

Knee pain - front

Pain in this area can have many causes but with runners it is often due to a combination of reduced muscle strength (usually calf, hamstring, gluts) and a similar movement pattern that we see with other knee pain that causes the knee to fall in. Addressing muscle strength deficits and correcting this movement pattern can have a big impact on reducing the symptoms. 

On the whole most running injuries are a result of overload. Simple strategies of increasing mileage slowly and including plenty of recovery and strength work within your running programme can help mitigate a lot of issues. However if you do run into problems and need some guidance on managing symptoms and running load then it would be advisable to book in with a physiotherapist for a comprehensive assessment and rehab plan. 

As ever have a good Friday and Weekend!

Becki