Training Errors in Runners: It’s Not Always About Running Too Much
When a runner gets injured, one of the first explanations they often hear is:
“You did too much, too soon.”
Sometimes that's true. But it's also a bit of an oversimplification.
Training errors aren't just about running too many kilometres. Changes in intensity, frequency, terrain, recovery and even the amount of time you spend on your feet can all significantly alter the demands you're placing on your body.
A better way to think about running injuries is to consider the relationship between training demand and your current capacity to tolerate that demand.
Here are some of the most common training errors I see in runners.
1. Increasing Weekly Mileage Too Quickly
This is probably the most obvious one.
You might go from running 20 km per week to 30 km, then 40 km shortly afterwards because training is going well.
Your cardiovascular fitness might cope perfectly well with this increase, but that doesn't necessarily mean the rest of your body is ready.
Bones, tendons, muscles and joints all need time and repeated exposure to adapt to running load.
This is particularly important when returning from a period of reduced training. You might still feel like the runner who comfortably managed 50 km per week a few months ago, but your current physical capacity may be different.
2. Increasing Intensity Without Changing Mileage
Weekly distance isn't the only number that matters.
Imagine you've been running 40 km per week predominantly at an easy pace. You then keep your mileage at 40 km but introduce intervals, a tempo run and a faster long run.
On paper, your weekly mileage hasn't changed.
But your training certainly has.
Faster running can place different and potentially greater demands on the body. This means a runner can significantly increase their training load without adding a single kilometre to their week.
When assessing an injury, it's therefore important to ask not only "How much have you been running?" but also "How have you been running it?"
3. Changing Too Many Things at Once
This is one I see frequently.
You decide you're going to take running more seriously, so within a couple of weeks you:
Add another running day
Increase your long run
Start interval training
Add hill sessions
Increase your gym training
Individually, each change might be completely reasonable.
The problem is that they don't occur individually.
Your body experiences the combined demand of everything you're doing.
If you're going to progress your training, it can therefore be useful to avoid dramatically changing several variables simultaneously.
4. Ignoring Time on Feet
We often measure running almost entirely in kilometres.
But 10 km doesn't represent exactly the same training exposure for every runner.
Someone completing 10 km in 40 minutes experiences a different total duration of repetitive loading compared with someone completing the same distance in 70 minutes.
Neither is inherently better or worse.
It simply means that time on feet is another useful measure of training load, particularly for newer runners and those building towards longer distances.
This becomes especially relevant during marathon training, where long runs can represent a substantial amount of continuous loading even when they're completed at an easy intensity.
5. Suddenly Adding Hills
You haven't changed your weekly mileage, so why has your calf or Achilles suddenly started hurting?
Take a look at the terrain.
Adding hills can substantially change the muscular demands of running.
Uphill running can increase the demand placed on the calf complex, while downhill running introduces its own loading demands as the body repeatedly controls landing and deceleration.
This doesn't make hills dangerous. They're a useful part of training.
But like speed and distance, they're another training variable that needs to be introduced progressively.
6. Increasing Running Frequency
Going from three runs per week to five doesn't just increase your mileage.
It also reduces the amount of recovery time available between running sessions.
A runner completing three relatively large sessions may tolerate their training differently from someone completing the same weekly mileage across five or six days.
Again, there isn't a universally correct running frequency.
The important question is whether your body is currently prepared for the frequency you're asking it to tolerate.
7. Returning Too Quickly After Injury or Time Off
This can be particularly frustrating because your previous training becomes your reference point.
Before your injury, you ran 50 km per week.
So when you feel better, 50 km per week feels like "normal".
But your previous capacity isn't necessarily your current capacity.
After several weeks away from running, some of the adaptations associated with regular training will have reduced.
Returning to your previous training immediately can therefore create a large spike in demand.
Instead of asking:
"What was I doing before?"
It can be more useful to ask:
"What am I currently prepared for?"
8. Under-Recovering
Training load is only one side of the equation.
Your ability to recover from that training matters too.
Sleep, nutrition, psychological stress, work demands and other physical activity can all influence how well you recover between sessions.
You might tolerate a particular training week perfectly well when you're sleeping eight hours per night and work is relatively quiet.
The same training could feel very different during a stressful period with poor sleep and long working hours.
This doesn't mean stress or poor sleep automatically causes injury. Rather, they're pieces of the wider picture that are worth considering when looking at training and recovery.
So, What Is the "Right" Amount of Running?
Unfortunately, there isn't a magic number.
You may have heard of the 10% rule, where runners are advised not to increase their mileage by more than 10% each week.
While this can provide a simple framework, the human body isn't quite that predictable.
A safe progression for one runner could be inappropriate for another.
Training history, current fitness, previous injuries, running frequency, intensity, terrain, strength training and recovery all influence how someone responds to increases in training.
Instead of obsessing over one percentage, think about the overall change in demand you're placing on your body.
Running Injuries Aren't Always "Overuse" Injuries
This is why I don't particularly like the term overuse injury.
Sometimes the problem isn't that someone has used their body too much.
They may simply be underprepared for a particular demand.
Running is how we build the capacity to run.
Strength training is how we build strength.
Hills help us become better at running hills.
The goal isn't to avoid loading the body. It's to expose it to enough load that it adapts, while giving it sufficient opportunity to recover.
Managing a Running Injury
If you develop pain during a training block, the answer isn't always to completely stop running.
Instead, it can be useful to identify what changed before the symptoms appeared.
Was it your mileage? Speed? Long run? Hills? Running frequency? Gym training? Recovery?
Once you've identified the likely change in demand, training can often be modified while rehabilitation focuses on rebuilding the capacity required for your goals.
At Dunmore Osteopathy in Chatswood, I work with runners experiencing running-related injuries and help identify potential contributing factors within their training.
Rather than simply focusing on where it hurts, the aim is to understand why that area may have become overloaded and what needs to change to get you back to running confidently.
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