How To Deal With Injuries in Training

By Howard Dracup

Picking up niggles and injuries on our ultra running journeys is not uncommon. The sheer volumes which we have to run and train puts us in the high-risk category, but if done correctly, we can minimise the risks. Here are a few of my favourites to help deal with injuries in ultra training. 

Prevention is better than cure! 

Basically, by that, I mean, what can you do in the background to help mitigate the risks before they become potential injuries?! If you can do some or all of these things, they will “help” keep you injury-free…

Get enough sleep.

Sleep is the most underrated way to stay injury-free. Ensuring you’re getting enough quality sleep is one of the foundations for staying niggle and injury free- so make time for it! 

Make sure you’re eating enough. 

When you have finished training, your body needs energy to repair itself. If you don’t have enough energy availability to support your training and the recovery processes afterwards, this can lead to injuries, niggles and even worse RED-S. If in doubt, book a consultation with a sports nutritionist and let them steer you in the right direction to support your training and racing goals. 

Warm up. 

Warm up properly and avoid going into a workout not fully warmed up. Warming up increases your heart rate and, therefore your blood flow to the muscles. A warm-up also activates and primes the connections between your nerve and muscles. Spend at least 10-20 mins progressively warming up, depending on what you’re doing.