Injury Prevention
Run organiser Jane Newman (MCSP, HPC, MACP, MSc), Chartered Physiotherapist who runs the Peak Physio clinic at Darts Farm, Topsham has some tips for you!
Important factors to reduce the risk of injury:
- Complete regular stretches for all muscle groups in your legs, see exercise below
- Ensure leg muscles have enough strength and endurance for the mileage you are asking them to do. When your muscles have fatigued you are more prone to injury.
- To ensure your muscles are strong enough it is important to gradually increase your millage rather then rapidly increasing your mileage.
- Make your training specific to the runs you want to do. For example for the Jurassic Coast include some hill training and some cross country runs.
- Ensure your trainers support your feet well and they have not done over 500 miles. If you find your foot is flat or you have a very high arch it may be a good idea to go to a good running shop, such as iron bridge runners in Exeter to see if your shoes are supporting your feet in an optimal position.
- Allow time for a good warm up and cool down with each run.
To optimise your running:
- Increase the amount of carbohydrates in your diet when you are increasing the mileage.
- Lower limb weight training, especially for gluts, hamstrings and quadriceps.
- Wear suitable clothing, quick dry, wick away sweat
Strenthening Exercises
Running Stretches
Some useful websites
There are a number of great websites available to help you train for the day. This list details a few of them:
