Running injuries are often blamed on bad biomechanics, worn-out shoes, or simply bad luck. In reality, more often an injury develops because the total stress placed on your body quietly exceeds what it’s currently prepared to handle.
Here are seven common training mistakes that can tip that balance.
1. Doing Too Much, Too Soon
Your body is remarkably good at adapting to training, but adaptation takes time. A sudden increase in weekly kilometres, long-run distance, or training frequency can outpace your muscles, tendons, and bones’ ability to recover.
The well-known 10% rule (don’t increase weekly mileage by more than 10% per week) is a reasonable guideline, but it’s far from a hard rule. Current evidence suggests that the biggest culprit is often increasing your long run too aggressively.
Try this: Progress your weekly long run gradually, aiming for increases of around 5–10% when things are feeling comfortable.
2. Training Too Hard, Too Often
Hard sessions are where fitness is built, but only if you recover from them. If every run feels like a race, fatigue accumulates, performance plateaus, and injury risk can increase.
Many successful runners naturally follow an 80/20 approach: around 80% of training at an easy conversational pace, with only 20% performed at higher intensities. It might feel too easy at first, but that’s often the point.
Try this: If you can’t comfortably hold a conversation on most of your runs, you’re probably running too hard too often.
3. Poor Training Scheduling
It’s not just how much you train, it’s when you train.
Long runs, interval sessions, races, and heavy strength training all place significant stress on the body. Stack too many of these sessions together and you may never fully recover before the next one begins.
For example, following a Sunday long run with hard intervals on Monday often means you’re asking tired legs to work even harder, which may increase your injury risk.
Try this: Separate demanding sessions with an easy run or a rest day whenever possible.
4. Neglecting Recovery
Training creates the stimulus. Recovery is where the adaptation happens.
Sleep, nutrition, hydration, and occasional lighter training weeks allow your body to repair and become stronger. Massage, stretching, hot or cold therapy can all feel helpful, but they shouldn’t distract from the fundamentals.
Including deload weeks during your training blocks can allow for natural recovery to take place and allow the body to adapt to the stress being put on it.
5. Chasing the “Perfect” Running Form
Running technique matters, but there isn’t one perfect style that suits everyone. Large changes to your running form are rarely necessary and can sometimes create new problems.
One aspect worth considering is running cadence (steps per minute). A very low cadence may increase loading through certain joints, therefore for some runners, an increase can reduce that stress.
Try this: If your cadence is consistently below around 160 steps per minute, consider increasing it gradually by just 5–10% over several weeks. Most GPS watches already measure cadence, making it easy to track.
6. Skipping Strength Training
Running is essentially thousands of single-leg hops. Strong muscles help absorb those repetitive forces, while stronger tendons and bones are generally better equipped to tolerate training loads.
Strength training has also been shown to improve running economy, helping you use less energy at the same pace, and also reduce injury risk.
Try this: Two or three 15–20 minute strength sessions each week can make a meaningful difference while fitting around your running schedule. Look to include lower limb strengthening, plyometric work and mobility training.
7. Under-Fuelling Your Training
Training is only half the equation. Your body also needs enough fuel to adapt.
Eating too little, particularly carbohydrates around key sessions and enough protein throughout the day, can slow recovery, reduce performance, and make training feel harder than it should.
Ask Yourself:
- Am I eating enough before long runs and harder sessions?
- Am I replacing fluids lost through sweat?
- Am I consuming enough calories for the amount of training I’m doing?
The Takeaway
Running injuries rarely come down to one mistake. They’re usually the result of several small factors accumulating over weeks or months.
If you’re dealing with a persistent niggle, don’t just ask, “Where does it hurt?” Also ask, “What has changed in my training?”
The answer is often found in your training habits rather than the injured tissue itself.
At Quay Health, our physiotherapists and osteopaths work with runners of all abilities to identify the factors contributing to pain, optimise training, and develop practical management plans that keep you running stronger, longer, and with fewer interruptions.
Author: Luke Dunmore – Osteopath
References
Figueiredo, I. (n.d.). The influence of running cadence on biomechanics and injury prevention: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(440572).
Gallant, T. L., Ong, L. F., Wong, L., Sparks, M., Wilson, E., Puglisi, J. L., & Gerriets, V. A. (2024). Low energy availability and relative energy deficiency in sport: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 54, 111–135.
Correia, C. K., Machado, J. M., Dominski, F. H., de Castro, M. P., de Brito Fontana, H., & Ruschel, C. (2024). Risk factors for running-related injuries: An umbrella systematic review. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 13(6), 793–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.04.011
Schuster Brandt Frandsen, J., Hulme, A., Parner, E. T., Møller, M., Lindman, I., Abrahamson, J., Sjørup Simonsen, N., Sandell Jacobsen, J., Ramskov, D., Skejø, S., Malisoux, L., Bertelsen, M. L., & Nielsen, R. O. (2025). How much running is too much? Identifying high-risk running sessions in a 5200-person cohort study. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 59(17), 1203–1210. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-109380
