Running and Avoiding Stress Fractures
As the weather continues to warm up, I am starting to see more and more people getting outside to exercise and run, which is awesome.
At the same time, I have already had a few people come into the clinic this year with stress fractures in their feet. Because of that, I wanted to talk about how to get back into running while avoiding injury.
There is a concept called Wolff’s Law, which states:
“Bone adapts to the loads under which it is placed.”
This means your body will get stronger when it is exposed to the right amount of stress over time.
The goal is to apply enough stress to stimulate adaptation, while giving your body enough time to recover between sessions.
We have all seen what happens when too much force is applied too quickly. That is when fractures occur. An extreme case would be a collision that causes a distinct break, but a stress qualifies as well.
If you have not been running all winter, you need to be especially careful with how quickly you ramp things up.
For someone who is not currently dealing with an injury, I typically recommend starting with no more than 1 mile per run and limiting running to 3 days per week.
This allows your bones and soft tissues to begin adapting to the stress of running while still giving you recovery days in between.
A simple weekly structure might look like this:
Day 1: 1 mile easy run
Day 2: Rest or light activity
Day 3: 1 mile easy run
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: 1 mile easy run
Weekend: Rest or low intensity activity
After about 3 to 4 weeks at this level, most people can begin to increase their total weekly mileage.
A good next step is building up to around 5 total miles per week.
This could look like:
Two 1 mile runs during the week and a 3 mile run on the weekend
Two 2 mile runs and one 1 mile run
Or any combination that allows you to reach that total without overloading a single day
From there, you can continue progressing by increasing your total weekly mileage by about 1 mile per week.
The key is that the increase happens gradually, and your body has time to adapt along the way.
This is especially important when we are talking about preventing stress fractures. These injuries typically occur when bone is asked to handle more load than it is prepared for, without enough time to adapt.
If you stay patient and build your running volume the right way, your body will respond and get stronger.
If you rush the process, that is when problems tend to show up.
If you are unsure where to start or are dealing with pain as you return to running, feel free to reach out. We would be happy to help you build a plan that keeps you moving forward safely.
-Dr. Caleb
P.S. Remember, this is for people who have not been running at all. People who have been running throughout the winter would have a different program.
