Running Training Guide

Running Injury Prevention

Most running injuries come from training errors, not bad luck. The common ones, what actually prevents them, and how to tell “run through it” from “stop now.”

The short answer

Most running injuries are overuse injuries: tissues loaded harder than they can currently handle. So prevention is mostly load management — ramp mileage gradually, keep easy days genuinely easy, add strength work twice a week, and sleep enough to recover. New shoes don't fix training errors; consistency and patience do.

Most injuries = overuse, not accidents
Ramp mileage gradually; the 10% rule is a ceiling
Strength 2x/week; easy days genuinely easy

Top risk factor: Training load, too fast
Strength: 2x per week
Easy days: Genuinely easy
Red flag: Sharp or worsening pain

Ask a room of runners who has been injured and most hands go up. That is not because running is inherently destructive — it is because running makes one mistake very easy to make: doing too much, too soon. The good news is that the fix is mostly boring training discipline, not expensive gear or secret exercises.

Why do runners get injured so often?

Because the parts of you that get fitter fastest are not the parts that break. Your heart and lungs adapt in weeks; your tendons, bones, and connective tissue take months. So you feel ready for more miles long before your legs agree — and the gap between feeling fit and being durable is where injuries live.

Almost every common running injury is an overuse injury: the same tissue loaded repeatedly beyond what it can currently recover from. That is why the pattern is so predictable — a mileage jump, a new speed session, a return from a break — and why prevention is mostly about managing that load rather than fixing your body.

What are the most common running injuries?

The usual suspects below are descriptions so you can recognize them, not diagnoses. If something here sounds like your leg, treat it as a starting point for a conversation with a physio, not a conclusion.

Shin splints

An ache or throb along the front of the lower leg, usually in runners who have recently increased mileage, switched to harder surfaces, or are new to running. It is the classic too-much-too-soon injury. It tends to show up early in a run and settle as you warm up — which is exactly why people ignore it until it doesn't settle anymore.

IT band syndrome

A sharp ache on the outside of the knee that often starts at a predictable point in the run — mile three, say — and gets worse from there. Common in runners building mileage or adding hills. The iliotibial band gets irritated where it crosses the knee. Hip and glute weakness gets blamed a lot, and honestly it is often part of the picture.

Runner's knee

A dull ache behind or around the kneecap, worse on stairs and after sitting with the knee bent. The knee pain page has the full rundown. Like most entries on this list, it usually arrives with a jump in training load.

Achilles tendinopathy

Stiffness and soreness in the Achilles tendon, typically worst first thing in the morning or at the start of a run. Tendons adapt to load more slowly than muscles, so this one often follows a spike in speedwork or hill running. The stiff-then-loosens pattern is the tell.

Plantar fasciitis

Heel pain, classically worst with the first steps of the morning. The plantar fascia gets overloaded — often from a mileage jump, lots of hard-surface running, or worn-out shoes. New runners and runners coming back from a break are the usual customers.

What actually prevents injuries?

Load management is the big one, and it is mostly about restraint. Increase mileage gradually — the 10-percent rule is a ceiling, not a goal. Change one thing at a time: more miles or more intensity in a given week, never both. And take a down week every third or fourth, cutting volume by 20 to 30 percent. Adaptation happens during recovery, not during the workout.

Strength work twice a week is the best-supported extra you can add. It does not need to be fancy — squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, some single-leg work. Stronger tissues handle more load; it is that simple. Most runners skip it because running time feels more productive. Most injured runners wish they hadn't.

Easy days have to be genuinely easy. A day of moderate running costs real recovery while delivering little extra fitness — and tired legs run with worse mechanics, which is its own injury risk. If you can hold a conversation, you are easy. If not, you are borrowing from tomorrow.

Then the unglamorous stuff: sleep enough, because that is when tissue repair happens. Rotate your shoes and replace them when they are dead — most pairs give up somewhere around 300 to 500 miles. Vary your surfaces when you can. None of this is exciting. All of it counts.

Run through it or stop?

Most runners get this wrong in the tough-guy direction, so here is the plain version. Dull soreness that warms up and fades within the first mile is usually fine to run through gently. Everything below is a stop signal:

Sharp pain. Pain that changes how you run — limping, shortening your stride, favoring a leg. Pain that gets worse as the run goes on instead of better. Pain that is still there at rest, or swelling you can see. None of these are tests of character. They are information.

And the rule people skip: if pain has not improved after a week or two of sensible backing off, see a physio or a doctor. The earlier you get an actual assessment, the shorter the interruption usually is. Waiting it out for a month is how a two-week problem becomes a two-month one.

Who needs this most

Most at risk

New runners ramping up

Your cardio fitness improves faster than your tendons and bones. A plan that holds you back in month one is doing you a favor, even if it feels insulting.

Start a free plan

High-load weeks

Marathoners in peak weeks

Peak weeks are where the most training gets done and where most marathoners get hurt. When fatigue is high, your plan should adjust instead of insisting.

Train with recovery-aware coaching

Easy to rush

Runners coming back from time off

Old fitness is a memory, not a base. Treat the comeback like a beginner phase on load — even if the engine still feels familiar.

Get a comeback plan

Frequently asked questions

Can you run through shin splints?

Sometimes, carefully — but the smart move is to back off early. A few days of reduced mileage and softer surfaces beats months on the couch. If the pain changes how you run, shows up at rest, or is getting worse instead of better, stop running and get it checked. Running through pain that alters your stride just moves the injury somewhere else.

Do I need new shoes to prevent injuries?

New shoes don't fix training errors — most injuries come from load, not footwear. That said, rotating two pairs and replacing dead ones (most shoes are done somewhere around 300–500 miles) is reasonable insurance, especially if you run on hard surfaces.

How much can I increase weekly mileage safely?

The old 10-percent rule works as a ceiling, not a target — don't aim to add 10% every single week. And volume shouldn't be the only thing that moves: add mileage or intensity in a given week, not both. Every third or fourth week, cut volume by 20–30% and let the body catch up.

Does stretching prevent running injuries?

The evidence for static stretching as injury prevention is thin. A real warm-up — easy jogging and some leg swings before hard efforts — matters more. If you want to spend your non-running time on something that moves the needle, strength work twice a week has a better track record than any stretching routine.

When should I see a physio for a running injury?

Sharp pain, pain that changes your stride, swelling, pain that gets worse during a run, or any pain that hasn't improved after a week or two of sensible backing off. A physio who works with runners will usually find the load error faster than you will. This page describes injuries so you recognize them — it doesn't diagnose them.