How to Prevent Injuries During Your Taper Runs

Have you ever had injuries occur while you are tapering before a race? Or little aches and pains that were not there even when you were running harder? Sometimes it is hard to tell why these injuries and pains occur but there are ways to prevent them and help them to heal faster when they are incurred.

Massaging is the main focus. Massaging helps relax the muscles while pulling blood to that area. Good blood flow keeps your muscles from cramping as much and helps keep them loose to prevent pulling or strain.

A massage can practically be given to any part of the body. For runners, there are certain places that take more impact than others. We will focus on those areas because they are more prone to get injured during your taper.

Try to massage your glutes out. Sometimes this can be difficult but you can do it by laying on your stomach. This can be awkward if someone walks in on you but if you get a chance to do it, then do it! The glutes take a lot of impact when running and are likely to tighten up when you start to taper your run. You can also use your body weight on a tennis ball or another round object to help work out the stress. This is a nice massage if you have a significant other to do it for you, then you do not have to worry about someone walking in on you.

Are your feet tightening up to? They have adjusted themselves to running a certain amount at scheduled times. Since you change up your run when you taper, it is likely that you might get some cramping in your feet. You can rub your feet out with your hands or use a tennis ball again. Your significant other can help out with this massage to (if they can look past all those running calluses).

Now let's focus on those legs. Your quad and your hamstring might encounter problems. Since these muscles really carry the weight forward, they tend to work extra hard. When you taper, you are slacking off on how hard you work them. You do not want them to get tight during your taper so rub them out. The tennis ball would help with your hamstrings, it might be a little hard to use on your quad though. Either way, you can rub these muscles out with your hands.

It never hurts to use IcyHot or an equivalent. This will help loosen up your muscles and keep them ready for your race day. Have fun with it and stay healthy!