Why Runners Get Injured

Dayna Player Robinson
1 day ago
3 min read

Why Runners Get Injured

(And What You Can Actually Do About It) 💥

If you’ve ever thought, “Why does something always start hurting when I’m finally getting consistent?” — you’re not alone.

Most running injuries don’t come out of nowhere.

They follow patterns.

And once you understand those patterns, injuries start to feel a lot less random and a lot more preventable.

Let’s break it down in runner language.

The Real Reason Runners Get Injured: Load vs. Capacity

Almost every running injury comes down to one thing:

Your body is being asked to handle more than it’s currently capable of handling.

That “load” isn’t just mileage. It includes:

How far you run
How fast you run
How often you run
How hard your efforts feel
Hills, terrain, shoes, and surfaces
Life stress, sleep, fueling, hydration

Your capacity is what your body brings to the table:

Strength
Running history
Tissue tolerance (bones, tendons, muscles)
Mobility
Recovery habits

When load > capacity, something eventually gets cranky. That cranky tissue is what we call an injury.

Training Errors Are the #1 Culprit

The most common reason runners get injured isn’t bad shoes or bad form — it’s doing too much, too fast, too soon.

This can look like:

Jumping mileage quickly because you “feel good”
Adding speed workouts before your body is ready
Running hard too many days in a row
Letting long runs creep up too aggressively

Here’s the sneaky part: Even if your weekly mileage doesn’t look crazy, big jumps in a single run (especially the long run) significantly increase injury risk. You don't want to jump your long run by more than 10% from week to week. Research says.

Your cardiovascular system adapts faster than your tendons and bones — which is why you feel ready before your body actually is. Research says.

Most Running Injuries Are Overuse Injuries

Running injuries are rarely from one bad step. They’re usually from repeated stress without enough recovery.

Every run creates small amounts of tissue breakdown. With proper recovery, your body repairs and gets stronger. Without it, that breakdown stacks up until pain shows up.

Common overuse injuries include:

Knee pain
Shin splints
Achilles pain
Plantar fascia pain
Hip and hamstring issues

Pain is often your body’s warning light, not a sign that something is “broken.”

Your Running History Matters

Newer runners — or runners returning after time off or injury — are at higher risk, even if they’re fit from other activities.

Why?

Because running is repetitive. Your bones, tendons, and muscles need time under running-specific load to adapt. Research says.

Also important: If you’ve been injured before, your risk of re-injury is higher — not because you’re fragile, but because the tissue may not have fully rebuilt capacity yet.

Strength (or Lack of It) Changes Everything

You don’t get injured because you’re “weak.”You get injured because your tissues can’t handle the demands you’re placing on them yet.

Strength training increases:

Tendon stiffness (a good thing)
Bone density
Force absorption
Running efficiency

Without it, your running load stacks faster than your body can keep up.

Recovery Is Not Optional

This is the part runners love to skip.

Sleep, nutrition, hydration, and rest days are not “extras.” They’re what allow your body to adapt.

If your life stress is high, your recovery needs go up — even if your training stays the same. Running through fatigue doesn’t make you tougher; it lowers your capacity.

So How Do You Lower Your Injury Risk?

Here’s what actually works:

✅ Keep most runs easy

✅ Progress mileage slowly and intentionally

✅ Avoid sudden spikes — especially long runs

✅ Add strength work to increase tissue capacity✅ Respect rest days (they’re part of training)

✅ Listen to early warning signs instead of pushing through them

Injuries aren’t random.

They’re a message that load and capacity are out of balance.

When you train with that in mind, you stay healthier, run longer, and enjoy the process a whole lot more.

Final Thoughts: Why the Injuries

If you want help figuring out where your personal load–capacity balance is off, that’s exactly where individualized training, assessments, and strength work make the biggest difference 💪🏽🏃‍♀️