Every spring, as Melbourne’s fun runs and marathons get closer, our appointment book fills with the same handful of running injuries. The good news: almost all of them are overload problems, not damage, and they settle with the right changes to your training rather than weeks on the couch.
The usual suspects
- Shin pain (medial tibial stress syndrome): an ache along the inside of the shin that is worst at the start of a run.
- Runner’s knee (patellofemoral pain): pain around or behind the kneecap, worse on stairs, hills and after sitting.
- ITB pain: a sharp pain on the outside of the knee that comes on at the same point in every run.
- Achilles and calf pain: morning stiffness at the back of the heel, or a calf that tightens on longer runs.
- Plantar heel pain: sharp pain under the heel with your first steps in the morning.
What to do in the first week
Don’t stop moving altogether. Cut your weekly distance by about a third, drop the hills and speed work, and keep runs at a pace where pain stays at 3 out of 10 or less and is no worse the next morning. Cycling and swimming are good ways to keep your fitness while things settle.
When to see a physio
- Pain that is getting worse from week to week, or that changes the way you run
- Pain at night or at rest, or a spot on the bone that is very tender to touch (rule out a stress fracture)
- The same injury coming back every training block
A running assessment looks at your training load, strength and running form together. Most runners leave with two or three strength exercises and a simple plan to build back up, and keep running while they do it.
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