Athlete's Foot by Footnote

Hello my footlings and hope you are well and in one piece. Sadly this is not always the case when running. For a sport that is meant to be so healthy for the body, why do most of us runners complain about being injured all the time?

You can always tell when one of my running buddies is very fit and in form, he starts moaning about his long list of injuries and niggles. If he complains of 4 or more niggles you know you are in for a hard run with him! A problem even elite runners suffer from is defining when a niggle turns into something more.

I would define a niggle as a minor complaint that is not stopping you from training but is still very annoying and uncomfortable. Runners tend to get many niggles that normally sort themselves out over a few runs (or you mentally move onto another one) but, there are some that stay with you for quite a while and can eventually turn into a bigger problem.

The key with niggles is to monitor them without turning into a hypochondriac. There are some runs when you can ask yourself the same question over and over again after each stride:

“Is it hurting?” or “Is it still there?”

This does not really help the situation especially if you are ignoring the answer you are telling yourself. “Yes it is hurting still, now what?”

“Erm, lets do another mile and see if it is still hurting…”

It is not easy but, you need to try and be objective about your niggles. Personally I believe I am very good at offering advice about injuries and training but I nearly always give myself duff information about my personal wellbeing. I always overstep the mark and push a niggle too far and give myself something really to moan about.

With 9 weeks to the Virgin London Marathon and other spring races this is a key period to be extra cautious with niggles and injuries. An injury that will take a couple of weeks to heal will have a big effect on your marathon performance. Many niggles can be treated early and future injuries can be prevented before they become a big issue. I really recommend sports massage during this next period if only to do a M.O.T on your body and help it recover from the longer/ more intense sessions and races you are starting to put your body through.

Now sports massages are not ‘free’ but are definitely what your body needs. My advice is to shop around and ask advice from fellow runners.

For injuries and niggles are that are definitely starting to interfere with your training then I really do suggest you see someone more qualified than a sports masseuse. A fully qualified physiotherapist, osteopath or podiatrist will not only treat the problem but, offer advice on prevention for the future.

You will be paying a bit more for this qualified treatment but will definitely solve your problem quicker. In the same way you quantify and rationalise a purchase of cheap or expensive running trainers you have to decide how much you want to get rid of your injury and run pain free! Only you can really answer this. If it helps it is good to know that compared to most other sports running is relatively cheap so don’t neglect your feet (because a foot has feelings too!)

If you are running in the UK why not check out this list of qualified running injury specialists. http://www.realbuzz.com/injury-clinics/