Coopah How To: Stay Injury Free
In this series of ‘HOW TO’ blogs, we are going to share our tips for the most common questions we get asked by our community of runners, and this blog is all about How To Stay Injury Free.
Now, we do have to clarify that whilst we cannot guarantee that you will never get an injury, if you follow our advice it will decrease the likelihood of it happening during your training.
Listen to your body
This is probably one of the most important things you can do during your training to ensure you don’t pick up an injury, and that is listening to your body. Remember, you know your own body better than anybody else, and only you know if you are really pushing yourself too hard. It is true that during half marathon training you may have a few aches & pains, and that is normal. You’re working hard and putting your body through a lot. But what’s not normal is having pain that stops you from being able to run, is painful when resting or if you notice something just really isn’t right.
Sometimes it is really easy to ignore those early signs, but that is only going to make things worse in the long run (no pun intended!) If you are worried about something, it’s always best to be over cautious and take an extra rest day, and seek professional help, and hopefully if you get the problem sorted early on it won’t put you out of action for a long time.
Cross Training
Sure, when you are training for a half marathon, running is obviously an important part of your training. But what about everything else? Cross training is a great thing to include in your training and it can be a really good way to build fitness, reduce the risk of injury and help to keep your training fun!
Here are some things you can do alongside your training to help benefit your running;
Cycling
Swimming
Yoga/Pilates
Strength Training
Walking
We have a whole series of blogs & videos around Strength Training, so if you are not sure where to start, click here for everything you need!
Rest & Recovery
One of the most underrated things you can do to avoid injury - prioritise your rest and recovery!
This includes full rest days, making sure you get plenty of sleep and ensuring you have lots of easy training days.
We know its easy to think that if you want to make progress, get faster or stronger that you need to train hard every single day, but the truth is that our bodies can only really adapt & make progress when we allow our body to repair and recover.
Ideally we would advise to have at least one full rest day per week - so that means no running and no cross training. Instead, use those days to do as little as possible physically, and perhaps just go for a short walk or use the time you normally spend training to finally use that foam roller that has been collecting dust in the corner 😉
Here at Coopah we want to take all the stress out your training and make life easier for you, which is why we have created our app.
A fully personalised training plan built around your availability and goals
Unlimited coaching support 24/7
Streaks and incentives to keep you motivated
Access to our community of other runners, physios and mental health experts to give you support and advice up to the day.
Track your progress and your weekly/monthly mileage