A Beginner's Guide To Injury Free Training For Endurance Running Events

If your goal is to compete in an endurance running event one of the best things you can do is to stay injury free, so your training isn’t impaired or interrupted.  

Your running technique can have a significant impact on how your body stands up to training. In this guide for recreational runners we’re going to take a look at injury minimising running techniques for distances over 10km, for both training and racing.  

In this guide we’ll cover  

• Training Intensity 

• Preparation Time 

• Posture 

• Gait and Stride 

• Cadence 

• Foot Strike 

When you have a goal in mind it’s tempting to go at it all guns blazing at a much higher intensity than is good for you. You actually need to ease into it and give your musculoskeletal system (ligaments, tendons, muscles) time to build its blood supply and get used to the new load that’s it’s being asked to support.  

The 10% and 80/20 rules are a handy way to make sure you don’t overload yourself and hurt something. 

Don’t increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% each week. So if you run 10km a week in the first week, don’t run more than 11km in the second week, and so on. 

Run 80% of your kms at an easy perceived effort or ‘conversation pace’ where you can talk normally to a running partner. Only 20% should be at medium or hard pace. So if you run 10kms in one week, 8k should be at an easy pace and on 2ks at high intensity. 

You might have heard of Tempo running. Tempo is at the higher end of the intensity scale for endurance training – around 75% to 80% of your maximum heart rate. You might be able to say a sentence, but not hold a conversation. Calculating your actual individual max heart rate is impossible without doing an anerobic threshold test in an exercise lab, but there are average numbers you can use as a rough guide based on your age and gender.  

Training for a half marathon generally takes 14 to 20 weeks for beginners, while experienced runners can prepare in 8 to 10 weeks. A sensible training plan gradually builds up your mileage with 3 to 4 runs per week to safely build endurance and prevent injury. Being a fit biker or swimmer or hiker will help a lot as you’ll already have some aerobic fitness.

Training for a full marathon is a little longer. If you’re starting from a zero base as a runner you might want to make that 20 to 26 weeks or even more depending on your level of fitness to begin with. By contrast, experienced runners aiming for a fast time might ramp up their training over 12–16 weeks, and at a higher intensity.  

Imagine you are being pulled upright by from a string attached to your forehead – you're standing tall, chin up, and looking head. Then the string is snipped and you relax into a nice relaxed upright position. You’re inclined very slightly forward but not bent at the waist. Being bent will construct your chest and make your breathing shallow and inefficient. 

Now consciously relax your lower jaw, neck, shoulders and arms. Carry your hands low around tummy button height and imagine you’re holding a potato chip or feather lightly in your hands. A tight grip will transmit tension all the way up into your head. Your elbows are bent at 90° and relaxed.  

Your gait should be narrow, as if you’re running along a white line marked on the road. Keep the length of your stride short. Your feet should stay more or less under your hips, and they should just be skimming over the ground to minimise jarring impacts. In the Hawaiian Ironman its known as the Kona Shuffle. Too long a stride will increase the forces transmitted through your knees, which is never good. Lifting your feet too high wastes energy and is jarring. 

Aim for a quiet stride. If you’re getting a loud scuffing sound from the soles of your shoes you’re probably lifting your feet too high, you’re creating too much impact, and your stride isn’t efficient. 

A higher number of steps per minute than you might think is more efficient and less jarring. Aim for a cadence of around 165 strides per minute to keep your stride nice and short short. Shooting your feet out in front of you might feel like you’re going faster, but it actually slows your cadence, has a braking effect on your forward motion, impacts your knees, and is inefficient for distance running because it wastes energy.

If there’s a topic in endurance running that gets more debate than foot strike I’d love to see it. Foot strike refers to where your foot first makes contact with the ground. There is Heel Strike, Midfoot Strike, and Toe Strike. While opinion among runners varies, all the actual scientific research says one thing – the vast proportion of runners are naturally Heel Strikers, and there is nothing wrong with it!

Heel strike is when the heel contacts the ground first, transferring weight forward through the midfoot and forefoot. This pattern is considered biomechanically efficient at low to moderate speeds and requires less energy than other strike types. But unless you keep your stride short and low, heel striking also produces higher impact forces at initial contact . 

In a midfoot strike, the middle portion of the foot lands first, allowing load to distribute more evenly across the heel and forefoot. While it offers a more even distribution of impact, midfoot striking is not more efficient than heel striking and puts stress on the ankles.

A forefoot strike involves landing on the balls of the feet with the heel lightly touching the ground or hovering. This style is characterized by shorter ground-contact times and is good for sprinting or steep inclines. Despite these benefits, forefoot striking places a high load on the calves and Achilles tendon, which can lead to muscle fatigue and strain over long distances. 

A 2020 review in Sports Medicine found there is no evidence that switching from a heel strike to a mid or forefoot strike reduces injury risk or improves running economy. The authors also reported that non-rearfoot strikes increases loading on the ankle and calf, even though it may reduce some force at the knee. 

 There are lots of running events to train for throughout the Southern Lakes and Outside Sports is closely involved with many of them. On our staff we have passionate endurance runners ready to help you get the most from every km of training, and to perform your best on race day. And we’re sponsors and supporters of the world famous Routeburn, Motatapu, Race Tekapo, Shotover Moonlight Marathon, and other events.  

Check out our stores at Te Anau, Queenstown, Wanak, and Tekapo for New Zealand’s best range of premium brand road and trail running shoes.