Couch to 10K—Injury Prevention
Week 2
16th—22nd January 2017
We’re going to start off this weeks article with some expert advice from our headline sponsors Central Health on
injury prevention. Keep reading after to find week 2 of training advice from coach Andy…...
Couch to 10K Injury Prevention
Having made the fantastic decision to enter the Central Health Derby 10K, it’s time to get your training schedule
underway!
Getting going in the winter can be tough and it’s a time when you’re vulnerable to injury, especially if you’ve not
done much exercise in the past or have spent some time out of training.
So to get you off to a great start, here are some tips from Kevin Huffington at race sponsors Central Health to
help you prevent any early niggles or injuries from taking hold:
1.Warm Up Thoroughly
This can be as simple as wearing the right gear for the right weather conditions, but do always remember to incorporate Dynamic Stretching in your warm up. Dynamic stretching, rather than static stretching, is the advisable way to stretch pre-training. An example of a dynamic stretch for the hamstring (the muscle at the back of the
thigh) would be to hold on to something, raise one leg and then, keeping the upper body straight, swing the leg
through forwards to backwards for a count of 10. Do this for each leg – one at a time of course!
2. Have a Good Training Plan!
Building up activity at a sensible pace is key to long-term success. Following the Central Health Derby 10k
Couch to 10k plan will help greatly! Too much, too soon is dangerous and if your muscles get tired and tight due
to sudden high intensity training you become very vulnerable to injury.
3. Post Activity Stretching
Remember to statically stretch post training. This helps get rid of toxins and muscle waste -products that can
increase the delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS), which can lead to excessive tightness and biomechanical
changes that make you susceptible to injury.
4. Don’t Run It Off!
If you experience any hint of any injury or pain, don’t be tempted to try and ‘run through it’. Conversely, it may
also not be appropriate to stop training completely. It may be that you reduce the intensity of the exercise and
implement all of the tips above until you can complete your training symptom free again.
If you try and run through any injury pain, or your get repeated pain post training, then you will typically make
the condition worse. Again, always reduce the intensity of your training and rebuild symptom free. If your symptoms are ongoing, which can include up to 24 hours post training, and you struggle to shake them off then it’s
time to seek further advice and assistance from your physio.
Couch to 10K—Injury Prevention
Week 2
16th—22nd January 2017
5. Sports Massage
During your Couch to 10k training, you might find a maintenance Sports Massage helpful, once every month and
maybe even once every 2 weeks as your activity starts and increases. Put simply, Sports Massage deals with pain
and can help to prevent future injury, and the treatment provides many other benefits which can be found here
Good luck with getting your Couch to 10K training regime underway and we hope the tips above will help you to
make a smooth and pain free start!
Article compiled by Kevin Huffington, Lead Physiotherapist and Clinical Director at Central Health.
Central Health is the headline sponsor of this year's Derby 10K and provide all race entrants with exclusive
offers, including a free consultation and discounts off further appointments leading up to race day. Find out more
by visiting www.centralhealth.org.uk
Couch to 10K Training Plan
Week 2
16th—22nd January 2017
Hopefully you were able to complete Week 1, and without any adverse effects. The plan for Week 2 involves
three training sessions again, spread throughout the week with at least one non-running day in-between each of
them.
The amount of running begins to increase and, from now on, one session will generally be longer than the others.
Ideally this longer session should be done on a day where you have more time and can relax afterward, e.g. at the
weekend or another day you’re not working.
Week 2 Recommended Training Sessions
Session
Warm Up
Main Session
Cool Down
Total Time
1
5 minutes brisk
walking
Run 1 min, walk 1 min: twice
5 minutes walking,
gradually reducing
pace
32 mins
5 minutes brisk
walking
Run 1 min, walk 1 min: twice
5 minutes walking,
gradually reducing
pace
28 mins
10 minutes brisk
walking
Run 1 min, walk 1 min
10 minutes walking,
gradually reducing
pace
45 mins
2
3
Run 2 mins, walk 2 mins: five ti mes
Run 2 mins, walk 2 mins: four ti mes
Run 2 mins, walk 2 mins: five ti mes
Run 3 mins
Remember these sessions are for beginners who are new to running or have not done any running for a number
of years. If you have the fitness to run for longer or take shorter walking breaks, it’s okay to do so but we don’t
recommend exceeding the total workout time.
On the other hand, if you are struggling to complete all of the sessions or find that you have a lot of stiffness
afterwards, don’t panic. At this stage, it’s okay to reduce the amount of running in favour of more walking. Alternatively, you could replace one of the sessions with another form of aerobic exercise, such as cycling or swimming. The most important thing at this stage is to regularly be doing at least 30 mins of some form of aerobic
exercise.
Couch to 10K Training Plan
Week 2
16th—22nd January 2017
At the end of each running section you should be breathing fairly hard but not gasping for breath and unable to
talk. If you are gasping or need longer to recover before the next running section, set off at a slower speed and
try to pace yourself in the next effort.
As we mentioned last week, there are no prizes for speed at this stage of base training. The objective is to
strengthen your bones, develop the right muscle fibres and improve the efficiency of your heart at working your
aerobic system. Going too fast can actually slow this process down, as well as increasing the chances of an injury,
such as muscle tear, which could put you on the side-lines for weeks.
Preventing injury is really important for obvious reasons and is something that you’ll hear more about in future
weeks. In the meantime, we recommend that you get into the habit of doing some gentle stretching exercises at
the end of each training sessions. Some guidance on this can be found here: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/
Pages/how-to-stretch-after-a-run.aspx
Good Luck!
Article written by Andy Brooks, a member of Shelton Striders Running Club and UK Athletics licensed Coach
in Running Fitness. You can read more about Andy’s experiences here www.peakrunning.co.uk/meet-ourcoach or visit Shelton Striders website www.sheltonstriders.org.uk.
Don’t forget, all runners can also access fantastic offers from our headline sponsors Central Health, including a
free consultation and discounts off further appointments leading up to race day. You can read more here
www.centralhealth.org.uk/chartered-physiotherapists/news/derby10k/.