Running has gotten quite popular in the last few years. It’s great cardio, you can get a lot of fresh air, meet new people and it isn’t a contact sport so there is less opportunity to injure yourself.
The one essential to jogging are your feet, therefore you should spare no expense in the protection of your feet if you want to enjoy a long and fruitful running regimen.
Follow the suggestions below to reduce wear and tear on your feet so that you can run for as long as you’re able.
Proper terrain
The first step is to avoid running on concrete or any hard surface like blacktop or tarmac. These hard surfaces are unyielding on our feet and are often one of the causes for injuries.
Try to run on natural roads or on grass, there is less impact on your feet when running on natural roads. Also impact travels up your legs and affects your ankles, knees, hips and lower back. Running on concrete or hard surfaces can cause injuries to those body parts as well.
Proper equipment
Proper protection begins with the proper gear. You need the correct kind of running shoes to make sure you’re running optimally and not doing damage to your body.
A lot of running shoes on the market have patented technologies to protect your feet but that doesn’t mean that you can pick a pair out willy-nilly.
Have your feet checked out by a podiatrist or a running coach so that they can help you pick out a pair that will suit your running style and your feet.
Sock it to ‘em
Always wear athletic cotton socks when you run. Not only does this help reduce the impact on your feet, it also keeps you from getting blisters and keeps the inside of the shoe hygienic and clean. It is important that you do not have holes in your socks so change them as often as needed.
Work your way up slowly
When starting out, you shouldn’t immediately go for the longest run; your body needs to slowly adjust to the new exercise routine.
You need to break in your body to the kind of running you want to do by slowly building up endurance and a running pace.
Start with fast walking and then move up to walking half the distance. When you feel your body getting stronger and more used to the running regimen, that’s the time to challenge yourself to go faster and longer.
Alternate running days
It’s a bad idea to run everyday because your body doesn’t get the chance to recover from strenuous runs. Try to run on alternate days so that your body gets a day to recuperate from any pains you got from the previous day’s run.
When you take care of your feet you can run further and faster without fear of injuring yourself. The best part of keeping your feet safe during runs is that you will have a longer period of exercise to keep you fit for life.