TOP TIPS FOR RUNNERS 1 Look after your feet Avoid running in old/worn out shoes.  Wearing worn out shoes can lead to overuse injuries due to the loss of shock absorption, cushioning and stability that the shoes should provide.When to replace?Approximately every three to four hundred miles.  Mark your calendar or diary to let you know when you bought the shoes and keep a training log to record mileage.To properly look after your running shoes don’t wear them for anything other than running, let them air dry away from direct heat if they get wet and consider alternating between two pairs of shoes if you run very frequently.2 The “terrible toos”Too much mileage, too much intensity, too soon.  Whether a beginner or a seasoned runner, if you up the amount of running you are doing too quickly then you risk and overuse injury.  Aim to increase your weekly mileage by no more than 10% per week.3 Check your techniqueCommon technical faults are over-striding (this is when you take a long stride and land heavily on the heel of your foot).  This causes increased loading of the ankle, knee, hip and back.  Better to take a shorter stride with your foot contacting the floor directly beneath your body, this saves energy and prevents injury.Poor heel running technique.Many runners complain of joint pain experienced when going up or downhill.  Correct downhill form is to lean slightly forward and take short, controlled strides.  Don’t lean back, over stride or take big leaping steps but keep your shoulders slightly in front of you and your hips close to your centre of gravity.  Uphill running requires a different approach, you can lean forward into the hill but should do so from your hips, not your back.   It is particularly important to keep the chest open and look where you are going, not at the ground.  Keep your stride short and your arms swinging lower and shorter than when running on the flat.More……video proper running form4 Keep your shape This is a big one for back and neck pain sufferers.  Too much tension in the shoulders, poor arm swing and hunched upper back posture will reduce your capacity to breathe efficiently and make you slow down.  Free your arms, shake out any tension, let them swing front to back (not across the front of your body) and, most important of all, lift your chest and look out at the horizon, or at least a few metres in front of you, not at the floor.   This will open the chest and help you run with a nice, gentle, hollow shape in your lower back (neutral spine) placing work on the muscles of the hips not on your lower back.5 Hydrate yourselfWhen asked, “How much water do you drink?” most people answer, “Not enough”.  You cannot perform at your best without proper levels of hydration.  A simple way to tell how much water we need to drink is to measure our weight in pounds and halve it to get a figure which represents the number of fluid ounces of water we need every day.  When you are running, you should increase that amount by approximately a pint of water for every pound of weight lost through perspiration during the run.  An additional indicator is urine colour.  It should be a pale yellow or clear colour, the colour of  lucozade means you are dehydrated.6 Over trainingAs most running injuries are over-use injuries, give your body a rest week periodically where you run only 50% of your normal mileage.  Have a rest day after a hard run and cross train to help balance your muscle groups giving greater stamina, flexibility and stability.7 Get your muscles checked for balanced strengthLike all exercise, running places an increased demand on your muscles, you need to know that your muscles can respond to your request for extra effort strongly and efficiently.  If they can’t respond properly then you will to compensate by placing extra demand on other muscles and joints that can then become involved in an over-use injury.  Aching backs, hips, knees, ankles, shins, heels, muscles, tendons and ligaments can be caused by a lack of adequate muscle strength balance.  At Winchester Sports and Spine senior chiropractor, Mark Kennedy, uses muscles testing to identify weakness and imbalance and will show you what is causing it and, most importantly, how to correct it.  Good muscle balance equals good muscle function equals better running technique equals fewer over-use injuries equals improved performance equals more success!