Tips from USATF Certified coach Mark Eichenlaub
Summer training is almost over and there is more mileage to run ahead. With cross country weeks even a month away for some, staying injury free and improving as a runner is most important. Mark Eichenlaub is a USTF Certified coach and also a cross-country/Track coach of a team in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. In the last 10 years he has lost around 60 pounds, tackled asthma and went from not being able to break 3:30 in 800 meters to training for a 2:55 marathon. His website Teachtorun.com is for runners who want to improve their running, form, learn how to get faster, stay injury free and much more. I reached out to him and he's agreed to give us some tips!
Q - How do you prevent shin splints?
From my experience shin splints usually originate from someone upping the mileage or intensity to aggressively or running in worn out shoes. I'd suggest being careful when adding intensity or mileage and listen to your body. Make sure you are replacing your shoes fairly often or preferably having at least 2 pairs to rotate for your runs. This will help quite a bit. Keeping some variety in the paces that you run (don't just plod every day), the surfaces that you run on and the shoes you wear can help with the overuse issues because you aren't doing the exact same thing every day.
Q - What if I still get shin splints, what can I do?
If you still get shin splints anyway you can probably still run through it. Some remedies that I would look into that are safe and easy are:
1. Soaking and freezing a towel and then wrapping it around your lower leg at the shin area after runs. You can use an ace bandage over the towel to make it tight and more effective. Do this for 15-20 minutes after runs. The ice will reduce inflammation and help bring in fresh blood to repair the area.
2. Self massage of the area. Massaging the area will bring in fresh blood and speed up the recovery process of this tough to reach area.
3. Thoroughly stretch your calves and consider using "The Stick" on them. Do a search on TeachtoRun.com for Foot and Ankle routine. That routine is something that can be done while watching tv at night and will aid in shin muscle recovery.
4. Compression socks might also be a good idea.
Q - How can you avoid running injuries?
This could easily be a book by itself and is included in mine. I am finishing my free eBook for TeachtoRun.com and people can subscribe to get it free when it is done in the next few weeks.
I also have included a lot of this in my 5k training plans at howtorun5k.com.
The Reader's Digest version of injury prevention though is:
1. Listen to your body. Ice and treat running pains as soon as they come up. You can do full blown ice baths or just ice the affected area. You will also need to listen to your body to know when to back off the volume or intensity.
2. Prehab. Prehab is a term used by Greg McMillan and others referring to exercises that are done to prevent injuries instead of rehab them after they occur. I'd start with the "Lunge Matrix" found at TeachtoRun.com and start doing that before runs. This will thoroughly warm up your knees, ankles, hips, etc. and strengthen a number of common trouble areas for runners.
3. Variety. This was mentioned early. Run on different surfaces. Run different paces. Run in different shoes. Of course don't be reckless about the paces, a coach can really help with this (I am a coach but can also recommend some GREAT ones).
4. Nutrition. Getting in some carbs/protein/water right after a run is important. There is a brief window where your body needs to be refueled more than ever. Take advantage of this. Not eating or drinking anything within 15 minutes after a run is going to put you in a weakened state.
Q - What if I get a stress fracture?
Listen to your Dr. and proceed carefully. You don't want this to become a long-term or recurring issue. You should be able to safely do some running in the pool to maintain fitness. Get in the deep end of a pool, put on an aqua jogger type belt and run at least as much as your normal runs would have been. Preferably throw some intervals in and keep your cadence fast.
Q - Best way to increase weekly mileage?
Again, proceed with caution. When adding mileage I would start off by adding in some easy second runs or adding mileage on to your regular runs. When doing so back off of the intensity and only add mileage for a few days and then take down day. You can gradually add mileage by the week or month but you will want to schedule down days, lower mileage days, for your body to absorb the training. Again, a USATF or RRCA would help you do this safely and is a great idea.
Q - How important is stretching?
I think the research now is pretty conclusive that a dynamic warm-up is preferable to static stretching before running. The "Lunge Matrix" mentioned earlier that can be found in video form on my site is a great warm-up.
After your runs doing some leg swings and strength work is great as well as some static stretching but I'd forget the static stretching before you run entirely.
For running tips like these, videos, Podcast every week subscribe to his free weekly email newsletter here.
Follow Mark on twitter @Teachtorun
Follow Mark on twitter @Teachtorun
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