In the mid-1970s, Runner's World Medical Editor George Sheehan, M.D., confirmed that he was hardly the only runner beset by injuries: a poll of the magazine's readers revealed that 60 per cent reported chronic problems. To describe himself
barbell. Oops.I became obsessed with what the human knee can and cannot do when one of mine shut down after a couple of days of modest runs over a nearby hill. The technical name for my injury was patellofemoral pain syndrome, otherwise known as PFPS
of the leg more than the front, runners often have overworked, tight calf muscles and weak shin muscles. This can lead to four specific lower-leg injuries – calf pulls, shin splints, stress fractures and compartment syndrome.A calf pull (also called a strain
) or neglected (understretched, understrengthened), they’ll complain. And the result could be one of the two most chronic, hard-to-heal injuries a runner can face – namely, plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinitis. To avoid the dreaded ‘itises’ it helps to first
that they assist with the function of both, making an injury to either muscle group extremely disruptive to running. Both can be strained (or pulled) if they are overextended to the point that they rip slightly. A complete tear of the muscle is called a rupture
The only thing runners fear more than rabid dogs and toilet emergencies is getting hurt. An injury means taking a break, and runners hate the thought of losing fitness, gaining weight or missing an endorphin fix. But what if you knew what injuries