Today for a change I’m not writing about a running injury per se, but about why you may have recently started waking up in the night with pain on the front of one or both shoulders. This is pretty much an epidemic right now. I’ve got friends and family struggling with it, and I even … Read more
Admittedly calluses are not among the most feared running injuries. But they can be annoying and give you the sneaking suspicion that there’s something wrong. That suspicion is correct. Ditto for blisters. It’s true that sometimes you can get blisters or–longer term–calluses from poorly fitting shoes. But if this is a persistent problem for you … Read more
It’s pretty common for a runner to come to me feeling asymmetrical, with the right side seeming more dominant and with stronger glutes and quads. It’s possible for a runner to feel the opposite–that the left side is stronger–but that happens much less frequently. How does this happen and how can you fix it? The … Read more
You’re out on a run and begin to feel a tightness in the front of your hip joint. Steadily, step by step, it gets worse, until all you can think about is stopping to stretch it. If you do, though, you’ll only feel better for a little while. Then slowly but surely the tension and … Read more
Metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, or just an undiagnosed achiness under the ball of your foot just below your toes…this is one of those running injuries that can hang around for a long time. Most often, runners find they can keep running if they wear cushioned shoes, but there’s no denying it nags, niggles, and holds you … Read more
Every year I create a new audio lesson and make it available for free to help you start the new year on the right foot, so to speak. (And every year I try to resist making that pun and end up giving in.) Here’s this year’s lesson, which I’m calling “Perfecting Your Footstrike” because it … Read more
Do you go straight for the ice when you hurt yourself? Do you use ice baths to speed recovery from tough workouts? You’re certainly following authoritative advice in doing so — doctors and physios have been recommending this since 1978. That’s when Gabe Mirkin coined the acronym RICE, for “Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation,” the four … Read more
The past two weeks I’ve explained what a pattern of frequent post-run quad soreness indicates about your running technique, and I’ve explained why a lot of the popular solutions both to manage the discomfort and try to solve the underlying problem don’t work. Now let’s look at what will. The fundamental problem underlying frequent quad soreness is … Read more
In last week’s post, Why Your Quads Are Sore, I wrote about what a tendency to get sore quads indicates about your running technique — namely, that your pelvis is behind your foot in midstance, requiring your quads to contract strongly to keep you from sitting on the ground. This week let’s look at what you … Read more
Do your quads feel sore after a long or fast run? If so, you’re not alone. It’s not a great feeling to have on a regular basis, and if it goes too far it can affect your knees or low back or even heels, compromising your running. Sore quads after a hilly run are reasonable, but if yours are regularly … Read more
Running injuries usually involve inflammation, right? Over our years working one-to-one with clients we’ve found that injured runners often make mistakes in dealing with that inflammation in their efforts to avoid pain and heal more quickly. One of the most common mistakes is to take NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen, naprosin, acetaminophen, or … Read more
When nonrunners think about running, they immediately think about knee pain. It’s fundamental to the popular image of runners. Never mind that running is actually better for your knees than being sedentary, the image persists because so many runners have knees that hurt that there’s an entire injury–runner’s knee–named just for us. Fortunately runner’s knee isn’t the … Read more
You’re doing everything right and your running has been going well. You went out the door with confidence. You’re cruising along in the middle of your run, feeling strong, and bam! your hamstring seizes up. It came out of nowhere, you can’t remember any kind of warning sign. But once it strikes, a hamstring problem can … Read more
Do you have an injury that changes and appears to move — one day the inside of your knee hurts, the next day it’s the front below the kneecap, then a few days later it’s your calf? This can feel like a frustrating situation, almost like having injury after injury or, as a client of mine … Read more
