LARR Newsletter: Week 4

COACH DAVID'S TIP: PREVENTING INJURY

It's Week 4 and you may be starting to feel some nagging aches. Don’t worry – it doesn’t mean your marathon dreams are over before you got started! But identifying trouble spots early can help prevent future issues.

There are four basic categories that explain why most injuries occur:

1. Muscle Tightness & Weakness
2. Run Form
3. Equipment (shoes and possibly orthotics)
4. Doing Too Much, Too Quickly

Tightness & weakness. Many issues begin with hip tightness or weakness and work their way down to the knees, ankles, even the feet. It’s important to stretch and strengthen the hips to deal with tightness. Foam rolling exercises like these from Evolution PT target the hips, legs, and back. Strength training can help prevent injury - common body weight exercises are Plank, Squats, Rear Lunges, Clam Shells, and Bridges like the ones you'll find here.

For running form help, LARR members can ask me to do a video gait analysis during a training at any time during the season. (If you're not a member you can reach out to a local coach, physical therapist, or trainer who offers this).

For answers on equipment, I recommend you go to a specialty running shoe store to get a shoe that’s right for your gait and goal. Buying a cheap shoe or one that looks great online may not be in your best interest.

And finally, be careful not to increase your mileage too quickly. An increase of 10% to 15% in weekly mileage is a good rule of thumb. If you follow the LARR Training Plans, this small increase is already laid out for you.

We’ll talk more about these 4 categories and I’ll touch on simple strength work and stretching you can add to your weekly routine, in the online coach chat on Thursday. Plus, this week if you go to Track Night on Wednesday, a therapist from Evolution PT will be there to answer questions.

Have an inspired week!

David Levine
LARR Head Coach

P.S. Several pace leaders are observing Yom Kippur or attending a local race this weekend, so we expect some absences. We will do our best to find substitutes to fill the gaps but keep in mind you may not be with your usual group.