How to Run Safely

With care, jogging and running can be safe and enjoyable. The main rules are familiar: Start slowly, build up gradually, alternate harder and easier work outs, and listen to your body. Here are a few additional tips:

1 - Wear good shoes. Buy shoes specifically designed for running, not walking. Change your shoes every 300 to 400 miles; even if they don’t look worn, they will have lost crucial cushioning and support.

2 - Don’t run on uneven or slanted surfaces. Find the most forgiving surfaces available; asphalt is softer than concrete, packed dirt or grass better still.

3 - Don’t increase your distance by more than 10% a week even if you feel terrific.

4 - Vary your pace.

5 - Always warm up with stretching exercises before you start out, then walk and jog before you run. Don’t try to sustain a rapid pace; instead, slow down and coast from time to time. And always slow down to a walk at the end of your run.

6 - Be careful on hills. Going up hills requires lots of extra effort; expect to slow down and lean into the hill. Don’t try to sprint down; to avoid injury, shorten your stride and hold back. Remember the old runner’s motto: Uphills train, downhills maim.

7 - Unless you are entered in a race, don’t race. And even in a race, remember there is always someone faster (also smarter, richer, thinner, and better looking; that’s life). Know your limits and stay within them to avoid injury. As usual, Shakespeare got it right, “Too swift arrive as tardy as too slow” (Romeo and Juliet).

8 - Follow simple rules for safety, hydration and weather.

9 - Do extra stretching for the muscles and tendons of your legs, especially your hamstrings, calves, and the others at the back of your legs. Running makes these muscles strong, but also tight.

10 - Don’t run through pain.

Even with precautions, many runners develop ammation, strains and sprains that produce aches and pains in tendons, muscles or ligaments. Most are mild will resolve with time and treatment. But the sooner you take care of running woes, the sooner you’ll be back on the road, which helps your heart and metabolism without harming your joints.