If you are reading this, I bet you are currently either an injured runner, experiencing pain while running, or are fearful that an injury may come back to haunt you.

And I totally understand this frustration and fear. That is why I am here to help you. After experiencing the agony of IT Band Pain Syndrome years ago, I still find myself worried or even looking for the pain as my mileage increases, after hill work, or when I have a big race coming up.

So, let’s do what we can this off-season (chances are you aren’t gearing up to toe any start lines this cold and rainy fall/ winter).

• Build and maintain your training, stay consistent.
• Remember we are all different and will do best with individualized plans.
• Don’t skip strength training, especially heavy-slow resistance training.
• Respect rest and recovery, including sleep and managing stress.
• Don’t ignore pain and don’t try to hide from a previous injury.

Injuries often creep in when you train hard for a race, take several months off, and then jump right back into training, usually a little faster or more intensely than your body’s ready for.

The key to avoiding this cycle is consistency. From a big-picture perspective and week to week, maintaining steady training loads helps your tissues stay strong, resilient, and tolerant to the demands of running. When you remove that regular stimulus, those tissues “de-train” and lose their capacity to handle the same stress when you return.

Of course, it’s not always realistic, or enjoyable, to train year-round. Life happens, and rest is part of the process. Just remember: each time you return to training after time off, treat it like a fresh start. Ease back in and build gradually.

And one more thing, if your goal is long-term progress, personal records, and sustainable running health, nothing beats consistent training. It’s the foundation for both improvement and injury prevention.

We’re all built differently. Different genetics, lifestyles, goals, and access to training. Because of that, it’s always best to seek help in creating an individualized plan, whether you’re training for a race, building a strength program, or recovering from a running-related injury.

Personalization keeps the focus on you. It helps you stop comparing your progress to others and reminds you that your journey is unique. After all, comparison really is the thief of joy.

If you’re ready to stay consistent, run healthy, and focus on your own path, I’d love to help you design a plan tailored to your needs and goals. Send me a message through my contact form on my website or leave me a comment below.

If you want to run stronger, faster, and with fewer injuries, heavy slow resistance training (HSR) is one of the most effective tools you can add to your routine. Unlike light, high-rep workouts, HSR focuses on lifting heavier loads at a slower tempo, which helps build true strength, tendon resilience, and tissue tolerance to the repetitive impact of running.

Running itself is a series of controlled single-leg jumps, and each stride puts significant load on your muscles and connective tissues. By progressively loading those same tissues under controlled conditions in the gym, you’re teaching them to handle greater stress, recover faster, and reduce the risk of overload injuries.

Beyond injury prevention, HSR also improves running economy, meaning you can hold your pace with less effort. Think of it as giving your muscles and tendons a higher capacity so that your usual running load feels easier and more efficient.

You don’t need to live in the gym to see the benefits. Two well-structured sessions per week focusing on compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and lunges, performed with good form and progressive loading, can make a powerful difference in your running performance and longevity.

When it comes to staying injury-free, runners often focus on the miles, workouts, and strength sessions. All of that is important but the magic also happens in recovery. Rest isn’t laziness; it’s training. Your body adapts, rebuilds, and grows stronger during recovery, not during the run itself. Ignoring this side of the equation can slowly lead to fatigue, breakdown, and overuse injuries that derail progress.

Sleep is one of the most powerful recovery tools you have. During deep sleep, the body releases hormones that repair muscle tissue, restore energy stores, and regulate inflammation. Likewise, stress management plays a huge role. Chronic stress raises cortisol levels, which can interfere with recovery and make you more prone to injury. Building in quiet time, breathwork, or mindfulness can go a long way in keeping your body and mind balanced.

And don’t underestimate hydration and nutrition. Muscles, joints, and connective tissues depend on adequate hydration and a steady supply of nutrients to repair and adapt. Skimping on these things can make tissues less resilient and more prone to strains or soreness.

Lastly, stretching and foam rolling can feel great, and they have their place, but if you’re not sleeping well, under-fueling, or constantly stressed, those recovery tools can only do so much. The foundation of injury prevention is built on the simple, often overlooked habits that support your body’s natural recovery processes every single day.

Pain is your body’s way of signaling that something isn’t quite right. In most running-related injuries, that pain usually means you’ve overloaded a specific tissue and that tissue needs to be properly strengthened and reconditioned to adapt. (More on mechanotransduction coming soon!)

The key is: don’t ignore that signal. When you push through pain and it worsens, you’re digging yourself into a deeper hole that’s much harder to climb out of. Cough cough- that’s exactly where I, or another running specialist, can help guide you through the process.

Just as we shouldn’t brush off early signs of pain, we also can’t ignore past injuries. If you’ve had a running-related injury that wasn’t fully rehabilitated, there’s a good chance it could resurface. It might feel fine now, but once training intensity ramps up, whether that’s more mileage, hills, or speed work, those old issues can come knocking again.

One of the biggest risk factors for a new injury is a previous injury. Even if you’re currently pain-free, it’s worth getting a full assessment to make sure your body is ready for the next training cycle or race. Taking care of it now can save you from setbacks later and keep you running strong, consistently, and confidently.

Running injuries, setbacks, and frustrations are part of the journey, but you don’t have to face them on your own. Whether you’re dealing with pain, feeling stuck in training, or just want to run stronger and more confidently, I’m here to help.

Send me a message or email me directly at adria@runfreely.co. Whether you’re looking for a full running evaluation, a performance screen, a personalized strength plan, or comprehensive run coaching, we can create a plan that fits you- your goals, your schedule, your body.

The path to running freely again starts with taking that first step, let’s take it together!