My New Way to Prevent Running Injuries
Call it preventive physical therapy, or prophylactic exercise, it’s about getting ahead of the pain
Across four decades of running, zigging and zagging from casual jogging to competitive triathlons, ankle-turning trail races and one ill-advised marathon, I’ve developed everything from shin splints and chronic hip-flexor pain to inexplicable knee pain and soul-crushing plantar fasciitis. Each time, a major contributing factor is irrational exuberance — ramping up too quickly. Yet there’s more to it, I know: weak muscles or joints, or some sort of structural imbalance — something that needs more attention.
Whatever the case, I keep coming back to running, for reasons every runner understands.
While I seem not to have gained any wisdom through all the pain and frustration, I have come to understand that the solution to each setback was simple and obvious: Stop running or scale way back, get a proper diagnosis, do the physical therapy while leaning into other low-impact activities to stay fit, then ease back into the running cautiously and try not to be an idiot again.
(If there’s anything consistent about my approach to running, it’s idiocy, once evidenced by a stupid, dangerous run in 110-degree heat.)
