Running to keep fit or competition might appear like a uncomplicated exercise, yet up to half of all runners can get some sort of injury each year. That injury might be minor and they run through the injury until it gets better or it could be significant enough for them to have to quit running or jogging. The most common reason for these running injuries is that the runner merely over did the running. They ran too much before the body has been given time to adapt or get used to the distances being run. Each time that a load is applied to the body it is important to give it a rest before you apply another load by going for another run. If an excessive amount of load is applied before recuperation from a earlier training session, any damage get exacerbated and this may progress into an injury. Rest is equally as important as the training runs and that is how fitness and strength is increased and is also how an injury is avoided.
In addition to the too much too soon situation, biomechanics also plays a role. This is the way that we run and different runners do it in different ways. Different running techniques can affect different tissues in a different way and load some tissues too much, so that when running that may be enough to cause a running injury. For example, conditions such as medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints) may occur when the width between the foot placement when running is too narrow. Runners with this condition could benefit from running with a wider base of gait. Another common biomechanical problem in runners can be tight calf muscles. When running this makes the arch of the foot to break down or flatten and may result in a a range of injuries like plantar fasciitis to runners knee. These people may benefit the most from a calf muscle stretching program. The management of running injury will depend on the cause and really should be geared towards the cause, whether its biomechanics to training load issues.