Whether you’ve just secured a spot in the London Marathon ballot, have a spring half-marathon in the calendar, or are stepping up to your first 10km, this is an exciting time of year. Motivation is high, and the miles are stretching out ahead of you.
However, as a physiotherapist, this is also the time of year I see a sharp increase in running-related injuries. Running is a highly repetitive, high-impact sport. When things go wrong, it is rarely due to a single bad step; it is almost always an issue of how your body handles the stress of training.
If you want to make it to the start line healthy, performing at your best, and actually enjoying the process, here are the most common training mistakes runners make—and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Tissue Demand vs. Tissue Capacity
The fundamental equation of running injuries is incredibly simple: injury occurs when the demand placed on a tissue (a tendon, bone, or muscle) exceeds that tissue’s capacity to handle it.
To prevent injuries like Achilles tendinopathy, bone stress injuries, or runner’s knee, you either need to safely decrease the demand or slowly increase the capacity.
In sports science, we measure this demand using the Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR). This ratio compares your acute load (how much you ran this week) to your chronic load (your average weekly running over the last four weeks)¹. If your training spikes suddenly, the demand rapidly outpaces your current tissue capacity, and your injury risk skyrockets.
But here is where most runners get it wrong: Demand is not just the miles you run. Systemic load is a combination of everything your body is processing. A 10km run on a day when you slept eight hours is a very different physiological load than a 10km run after a highly stressful week at work, poor sleep, and fighting off a cold. Your training history, life stress, and previous injuries all affect your tissue’s daily capacity.
Advice:
- Follow the “80/20 rule”: 80% of your running should be at a genuinely easy, conversational pace, and only 20% should be high intensity. Too many runners run their easy runs too fast and their hard runs too slow.
- Prioritise recovery. Tissue capacity increases (meaning muscles repair and adapt) when you are resting, not when you are running.
Mistake 2: Biomechanics
You don’t need a “perfect” running style, but certain biomechanical inefficiencies drastically increase the braking forces and joint loads your body has to absorb with every single step.
Common mechanical faults we see include:
- Low Cadence (Step Rate): Taking fewer, longer strides usually leads to overstriding (your foot landing too far in front of your centre of mass). This acts like a brake, sending massive shockwaves up your shin and knee².
- Knee Valgus: When your knee collapses inward as your foot strikes the ground. This places immense stress on the patella tendon and the iliotibial band (ITB).
- Trendelenburg Gait (Pelvic Drop): When the hip of your non-weight-bearing leg drops during your stride. This is a classic sign of poor hip control and weakness in the gluteus medius, forcing your lower back and knees to compensate.
How We Help: At Physio on the Green, we offer Bespoke Run Assessments. Using high-speed video analysis, we break down your gait frame-by-frame. Often, a simple cue – like increasing your cadence by just 5-10%, can instantly reduce joint loading and improve your running economy².
Mistake 3: Not Doing Strength Training!
Runners love to run. They often hate the gym. But running alone does not build the tissue resilience (capacity) required to handle the repetitive impact of a half or full marathon.
Research shows that concurrent strength training alongside your running programme not only significantly reduces your injury risk, but it also improves your running economy (how efficiently you use oxygen) by up to 8%³. Simply put, stronger muscles absorb force better, protecting your joints and making you a faster, more efficient runner.
How We Help: Guessing your strength imbalances isn’t enough. We use high-performance testing, including Force Decks and Hand-Held Dynamometry, to gather objective data on your power output and muscular strength. This allows us to pinpoint exactly where your weaknesses or right/left asymmetries are, creating a highly targeted strength programme for both injury prevention and peak performance.
Mistake 4: Overlooking the Foundations (Footwear & Fuel)
Your biomechanics and strength are your engine, but you can’t ignore your equipment and your fuel.
- Footwear: Running in the wrong shoes – or shoes that have simply died after 500 miles – alters your foot mechanics. If you have persistent foot or lower limb pain, a physiotherapy assessment is the first step. However, if we identify complex foot mechanics requiring structural support, we work closely with our on-site podiatry expert, Maddie Tait Podiatry, who can assess your need for bespoke orthotics and precise footwear recommendations.
- Nutrition: As physios, we can provide general guidelines on the importance of carbohydrates for fueling and protein for tissue repair. However, marathon training places extreme metabolic demands on the body (which can lead to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or RED-S, if you are under-fuelled)⁴. For bespoke race-day fueling strategies and high-performance diet plans, we highly recommend consulting a registered Dietitian or Sports Nutritionist to ensure your engine has exactly what it needs.
The Takeaway
Preparing for a long-distance race is a massive achievement, but crossing the finish line starts with how you manage your body today. Don’t wait until a niggle becomes a painful injury that derails your training block.
Whether you need a biomechanical tune-up, a strength testing baseline, or a clear load management plan, Physio on the Green is here to support your running journey from week one to race day.
Run smarter. Move stronger. Live pain-free.
Written by Darcy Johnston Physiotherapist / Head of Clinical Services
References
- Gabbett TJ. The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2016;50:273-280.
- Heiderscheit BC, Chumanov ES, Michalski MP, Wille CM, Ryan MB. Effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43(2):296-302.
- Blagrove RC, Howatson G, Hayes PR. Effects of Strength Training on the Physiological Determinants of Middle- and Long-Distance Running Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine. 2018;48(5):1137-1149.
- Mountjoy M, Sundgot-Borgen J, Burke L, et al. The IOC consensus statement: beyond the Female Athlete Triad—Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014;48:491-497.