1) Happy Feet.

Making it a daily practice, whether standing, walking or running to be in a position whereby your feet are not flared out like a duck or turned inward (pigeon-toed). It may seem unrelated to think of your foot positioning as an indicator to potential injury but if for example your feet are splayed outward. What this does is puts the joints above the feet into bad positions and can slowly damage the soft tissues supporting and surrounding them eventually leading to pain and swelling (think MCL/Meniscus injuries at the knees).

2) Awesome Ankles

Range of motion at the ankles is fundamental to happy running. Limited range of motion is a big indicator of poor running form. Limited movement at the ankle is a big causative agent in 3 of the most well-known running complaints namely

- Plantar fasciitis

- Achilles problems

- Shin splints.

So what can be done to maintain supple ankles?

A biggie is keeping the tissue above the ankle supple, by creating slack in the tissue it provides additional slack around which the joint can move. There are a few ways this can be achieved:

A) Using a self massage tool such as a trigger ball/ foam roller, by using it as a tacking mechanism and flossing the underlying tissue between the respective ball and the weight of the leg. Achieve the flossing mechanism by finding a sore/tight spot, placing the foam roller/trigger ball on it and moving the whole foot such that the toes point up and down. This intern mobilizes the soft tissue around the ankle and buys some mobility in the ankle. It can be done at both the calves and the front of the shin.

B) Another nifty trick is to use an old hockey/cricket ball and gently roll the arches of the feet, this builds some flexibility back into the arches of the feet.

3) Warming up and cooling down

The warm is very important in that it gets the nervous system ready for action ahead as well as warming the muscle and connective tissue and getting the joints lubricated. It allows the lymphatic and circulatory systems to serve their function. Runners that train and then don’t cool down are essentially shutting down their lymphatic system which in essence removes all the nasty by products of running and sets the stage for poor recovery and increased risk of future injury.

A great tool for warming up and cooling down can be achieved with a skipping rope as the skipping action closely mimics a running action.

4) Hydration:

Everybody harps on about how important hydration is but no one really seems to take it seriously. Considering that 80 percent of our bodies are made up of water and most of our most important body functions depend on water it makes sense that adequate hydration is very important.

Structurally water is a huge component of the fluids that bathe our joint surfaces which provide shock absorption and allow for smooth sliding of different muscular layers against one another. Thus if inadequately supplied it will cause a lack of shock absorption capability (think about sore knees post run) and the lack of sliding between muscular layers can setup adhesive bands (think hot spots in the muscles) and that achy and stiff feeling the morning after a long run. Aim for roughly 500ml and hour during the run and consider supplementing with an electrolyte drink.