Are the majority here running with injurys?

Dunbar, 50miles a week minimum, 2 days off with an ankle niggle this month, one week out with a back strain in Feb, often tight hamstring, occasional bursts of a tight back or calf.

Not too bad really

Compare it to football where most weeks you'd have a niggle.

Yes and no...I don't think the majority of people are injured, but those that are will be more visible simply because they are posting about it while people probably don't start "all is well" threads.

That said, people do put faith in plans, and sometimes lack the experience to realise that their body may not be capable of doing all the elements in a particular plan, and follow it slavishly to inevitable injury.

I did exactly that a few years ago, now I am far more likely to miss a run if I feel a bit sore or overtired. I did a long run on Saturday, had a busy weekend, and have no qualms whatever about staying in with a beer tonight rather than push my aching legs too far.  I'll be fine to go again tomorrow.

begineners are more likely to do too much too soon and therefore more likley to get an injury......

also it take a while to recognise the difference between an injury and a niggle.........one you can run through and the other needs rest.......even experienced people can ignore the warning signs

and sometime people ignore the signs as they feel they have to follow the schedule.....and other times they are not running consistently for long enough before attempying the schedule...........

so many factors as well as we always love to have a moan when we are injured

ive not ran much for a few weeks now(sciatic problems)went back to docs today as the pains now in the bottom half of my leg and  its the peroneal nerve thats compressed,and i also have some dorsiflexion in the foot where i cant flex my toes or foot upwards.

Kev i would tend to agree about beginners being injured more frequently (too much too soon)

Apart from my current injury ive never had a niggle at all in the year i have been running

YC

Also (from my own experience) once you've really messed yourslf up and had to take serious time off (four months in my case), you're hopefully more likely to (a) recognise the difference between a niggle and a real-injury-in-development; (b) be determined that next time if it hurts, rest, stupid! - On the basis that a few days or even a week or two off now is better than a couple of months or so off down the line.

I've also decided that if I'm following a schedule, I'm going to start it a week or two early, so that if I do get a niggle which might become a real injury, I can rest without worrying about "falling behind".

You definitely learn a lot in years of running. How to deal with and prevent a range of typical running injuries, and what can and can't be run through.

It sounds obvious, but anything that changes the way you walk, or gives pain to walk, is ridiculous to run through.

However, just tightness, can usually be run off pretty easily.

I've also found some injuries actually need "active rehab" rather than rest, such as groin strains, toe problems, and ankle problems...

it just takes time to find out what to do in each situation, and appreciate how the different parts of your body come together.

For instance, my hamstring has been a bit achy for a while, so I stretch it loads. The 2 day ankle lay off then came along... It's pretty likely it was a weak calf muscle causing both of these effects, even though there was little pain in the calf!

What's an injury and what's a niggle?

I would say that beginners tend to get injured a lot as they haven't learnt how to listen to their bodies and when to stop.  They tend to look at the short term and worry that if they rest now then they will lose all the fitness that they worked so hard to achieve over the last 6 weeks.  I was the same too.

Beginners tend to be all or nothing type people. They train until it hurts so much that they can't, then they take a couple of weeks off.  They start back full of enthusiam, do too much and get injured again.

Once I stopped trying to improve and started running consistently three times a week I stopped getting injured and my running actually got better.

I do still have niggles.  My calves are prone to being tight due to how my skeleton is aligned, so I frequently wake up with tender achilles.  However, I haven't had an injury that has caused me to take more than one extra rest day in years.

I'm recovering from an injury, and running - but shorter runs, and fewer of them.

As the pain reduces, the miles increase gradually.

I did stop running all together at first (mainly because even walking was rather painful!)

I think SuperCaz is spot on, it's about listening to your body & knowing when to stop. 

I niggles here & there but I've learnt when I need to take it easy & when I need to stop. Despite having almost no proper warm up or cool down I've been very lucky with injuries, the worst I've had is ITB syndrome & that was done a few months before VLM on a treadmill during some bad weather.