Every runner gets injured at some point. Estimates on how often runners get injured vary, depending on which study you read. In any given year it is estimated that your risk of getting injured is somewhere between 20 and 80%. Many studies settle on an estimate somewhere in the middle, around 50-60%. Now, don't quote me on the math here as statistics are definitely not my thing, but doesn't that mean in any given year each runner has a 1 in 2 chance of getting injured? And that we can expect to get injured every other year? That seems like a lot!

It certainly seems that way on the ground. Every runner I talk to usually has some sort of niggle that they are hoping won't get any worse, or they are just getting going again after some time off due to injury. Personally, I was ravaged by injury in my first 5 years of running. So what causes running injuries? According to a 2014 study, most runners attribute injuries to “not stretching,” “excess of training,” “not warming up,” “lack of strength,”  ... “wearing the wrong shoes.” ...“not respecting the body's limitations” and “foot-type changes.” (Saragiotto 2014)

So are they right? Are these the things that actually cause running injuries?

My guest today is Dr. Jason Tuori. Jason is a Physical Therapy Resident at The University of Rochester, NY. He is a Board Certified Sports Clinical Specialist and a USA Track & Field certified running coach. Jason is also an avid runner, competing regularly in distances ranging from 800m to the marathon. More than this, Jason is a self-confessed running nerd. He has gained a reputation for getting into the weeds of running-related research and joins me on the show today to help us understand what the current science actually says about running injuries. If we can figure out what causes running injuries, perhaps we'll be better equipped to avoid them!

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