it’s crucial that you put as much care and consideration on your recovery as you do your workouts.

Here are some common running mistakes that can compound the stress you’re placing on your body.

This post originally appeared onStrength Running.

Flash back ten years ago: I was tearing through 80 mile weeks as a cocky 19 year old.

Butdisasterwas right around the corner.

I really had no idea what I was doing.

The “little things” that help you stay healthy were an afterthought.

You often don’t get the personal attention that you get with a private, 1-on-1 coach.

So I ran myself into the ground.

I reached 90 miles per week and then was forced to recover (slowly) from IT band syndrome.

This was after chronic Achilles tendinopathy ruined my spring track season.

Later that year I’d have a string of other injuries.

I was locked in the injury cycle and had no idea what to do.

It was frustrating; I thought I was doing everything right.

My marathon time improved to 2:39 and I’ve since won a marathon andWarrior Dash.

I tell you this so you know that I was fragile and prone to overuse injuries.

Since then, I’ve been working with runners to help them do the same.

The adaptation process takes longer than you thinkmonthsin most cases.

And if you don’t respect that process you’ll break down and get hurt.

There needs to be recovery time built in to every training plan.

Muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments are tissues thatbreak down with use.

Don’t treat your legs like components of a machine.

I love that I’m able to talk with runners all the time.

My diagnosis was a stress fracture but I’d really like to run my local 10k this weekend.

Can I do it?

My weekly mileage is seven and my goal race is the New York City Marathon in eight weeks.

I could be your cheerleader and tell you that running is all cuddles, kittens, and rainbows.

But it’s not.Running is hard.

It’s a contact sport between you and the ground and it can cause some serious damage.

I attempt to help people become a better runnerhealthier, faster, stronger, and free of injuries.

Sometimes that means being brutally honest.

And many of you are wildly impatient!

Good runners think long-term and put in the work month after month.

And it amazes me when long-time readers admit that they never do their strength work.

One of the things that I’m know for are the strength routines that help runners stay healthy.

TheStandard Warm-upandITB Rehab Routineare two of the most popular.

Understandably, there are a lot of questions about what to do.

What are the specific exercises I should do for my specific injury?

How often should I do the exercises?

How many reps of each one?

Can you show me a video of the routine?

Is there a text version of the instructions?

Stick to the Standard Warm-up before your run and the ITB Rehab Routine andStandard Core Routineafter your runs.

Let’s admit it: the sport that we love is pretty repetitive.

It’s just running, all the time!

But by introducing more variety into our training we can cut this cycle and reduce that repetition.

And you’re able to manipulate all of them.

Did your foot start hurting when running paved hill repeats in yourNewtonsyesterday?

Then today wear a different shoe on trails and keep the terrain flat.

Reduce the repetition and you’ll be able to reduce your injury rate.

It’s worked for me and has helped thousands of runners just like you.

Or so many people think.

Surprisingly, many runners are running too fast during training and aren’t recovering properly between workouts.

Fatigue is then carried into a long run or faster workout, causing a mediocre performance.

Every run during the week is a moderate effort.

There are no very hard days and certainly no easy days.

When I started working withSarahthis was one of her mistakes.

What Sarah didand you should toois to make your hard days harder but your easy days easier.

What do those numbers mean?

Simply put, reduce the moderate days andmake more of your runseasy!

Keep these common blunders in mind and you’ll be better off.

You aren’t a machine and shouldn’t over-exert yourself all the time.

Get his latest coaching advice and free injury prevention coursehere.

Image adapted fromwhiteisthecolor(Shutterstock).

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