What causes running injuries?
Most running injuries are overuse injuries. Running repeats the same motion thousands of times on every run, so a small gap between the load you put on a tissue and the load it is ready for adds up quickly. A jump in mileage, new hill or speed sessions, a change in shoes, or coming back too fast after time off are common triggers. Strength, mobility, and running mechanics decide where that extra load lands, which is why two runners on the same plan can end up with very different injuries.
Runner's knee is pain around or behind the kneecap that flares on hills, stairs, squats, or after sitting with your knees bent. The joint under the kneecap gets irritated by repeated load, and weak hip muscles or a foot that collapses inward often change how the kneecap tracks. Calming the knee while strengthening the hips and thighs usually settles it without a long break from running. Read more about hip and knee pain.
IT band pain is a sharp or burning pain on the outside of the knee that often shows up at a predictable point in a run and eases when you stop. It is commonly linked to hip weakness, a sudden jump in mileage, or a lot of downhill or cambered-road running. Stretching alone rarely solves it. Hip strength and a gradual return to load do most of the work.
Shin splints, medically called medial tibial stress syndrome, cause aching along the inner edge of the shinbone. They are common in newer runners and after a quick increase in training, when bone and the tissue around it are loaded faster than they can adapt. Pain that becomes sharp and pinpoint on the bone, hurts at rest, or hurts when you hop on that leg should be checked for a stress fracture before you keep training.
Stiffness at the back of the heel, or sharp pain under the heel with your first steps in the morning, are two of the most common running complaints. Both involve tissue that has been overloaded, often alongside tight or weak calves. They usually respond to progressive calf and foot strengthening, and longer-standing cases may be a fit for shockwave therapy. See plantar fasciitis and tendinitis and tendinopathy for more.
Pain on the outside of the hip, in the groin, or deep in the buttock can come from irritated tendons around the hip, the hip joint itself, or the low back. Strength in the glutes, which control your pelvis on every single-leg landing, is a frequent factor. Groin or hip pain that gets worse with every run or makes you limp should be assessed promptly rather than run through.
Too much, too soon is the classic cause. A sudden jump in weekly mileage, adding speed work and hills at the same time, or racing without a proper build-up can overload tissues that were fine at lower volumes. Adjusting the training plan is part of treatment, not an afterthought.
