Running - Injury, sleep and stress

How important is sleep? Very!

Written by Physiotherapist and runner Becky Sutton

There is a well-established link between lack of sleep and injury risk, not just in running but in sport generally. Sleep helps to optimise performance and recovery – allowing us to rest and allowing our bodies to repair and regenerate. Poor sleep can disrupt recovery, reaction times, cognitive function and mood.  

Sleep duration and sleep quality are both important. However, having an injury can contribute to poor sleep itself –  you may be in pain, struggling to get comfortable, worrying about your injury, and so it becomes a vicious cycle. Whichever came first – poor sleep or injury - aim for that 8 hours a night as best you can! 

Likewise, stress has been linked to injury. It can affect energy levels, mood, concentration and behaviour, therefore, impacting performance. Prolonged stress can affect immunity and increase inflammatory levels. Being unable to run or do the activity you love due to an injury can in turn affect your mood greatly, again enhancing that vicious cycle. 

Injury is never just about the body part affected – it is about the person at the end of that body part, what it means to them and what else is going on in their life. So if you’re struggling (physically or mentally), go easy on yourself, seek some help, give yourself a rest day or some time out, get an early night, and take it from there. Of course, it’s not always that easy, but it may be a good place to start. 

Running - Injury

Written by Physiotherapist and runner Becky Sutton

There is a range of different injuries but there are a few that rear their ugly heads more often than others, most commonly affecting the lower limbs. 

As mentioned last week, injuries can often (but not always) be attributed to training error - too much, too soon or too much change, too close together. 

Other areas to address are muscle imbalances – our bigger powerful muscles have a tendency to take over, leaving our crucial stabilizing muscles flagging behind. The gluteal muscles are a prime example of this. When not at optimum strength, the pelvis is not as supported as it needs to be during movement which can lead to more pressure on the hip, knee, ankle or foot ultimately presenting as pain. Weak tired muscles can also become tight and painful over time. 

Likewise, our calves may not have sufficient power and control in them for what we are asking – combine this with sprinting or hill running where we use our calves more and you may find they start to get uncomfortable. This can then impact on your Achilles (tendinopathy) or foot arch (plantar fasciitis). 

Sometimes, we can put a bit of blame on running style. Overstriding puts more pressure on your knees (patellofemoral pain at the front of the knee), while scissoring or knocking knees can also stress knees as well as hips.  

Occasionally a runner may develop a stress fracture – typically affecting the shin bone (tibia), small bones in the feet (metatarsals), the thigh bone (femur) and sometimes other areas. It is important to get checked out if you are worried about this – it may not be obvious and you may even still feel able to run initially, albeit with pain. 

So lots to think about, but many of these things can be addressed with simple, specific exercises. Some niggles will settle as quickly as they started, while other issues can be a little more stubborn, so keep at that rehab and give it time!

Next week – what else affects our running? Time to talk about stress and sleep.