• Aprill Brandon •
• Originally published January 20, 2009 at 12:23 a.m., updated January 20, 2009 at 12:23 a.m.

I have been running for nearly 30 years now and while it has been a journey filled with ups and downs, my passion for running is still alive and strong.

Fortunately, I have had the advice of great coaches, and I am an avid reader of all types of literature on the sport. I have only been sidelined with a few major injuries in the past 30 years, while meeting many of my goals along the way.

I pulled piriformis muscle during my first college cross-country season and am now dealing with another problem, plantar fasciitis. I attribute much of my injury-free running career to professional advice I have received along the way and to listening to my body and backing off when needed.

I came across a good article in Runner's World a few years ago that summed up some of the best tips on improving your performance while staying injury free.

Here are tips to help you get where you want to go in your running career, without sideling yourself with an injury.

Incorporate Tempo Runs

If you want to see your times drop, this is one of the best ways to help you achieve that goal.

Pete Pfitzinger, the top American finisher in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic marathons, learned about tempo running when he attended an Olympic development camp (run by exercise physiologist Jack Daniels) in 1985.

He explained the physiology behind tempo runs and why they are such efficient preparation for the distances I was concentrating on, the 15K through marathon.

Pftzinger attributed future successes in his road racing and fewer injuries along the way to tempo running.

"I had fewer injuries because I replaced some track work with tempo runs," he noted in the article.

Here's a workout he suggests if your focus is on races of 15K or longer.

After a warm up of 10 to 15 minutes, run for 20 to 30 minutes at a pace that is approximately 30 seconds slower per mile than your 5K pace.

Incorporate 'Easy' Days into Training

When you set up your training program, attention should be made to not having hard days back to back. I usually give myself a few easy days interspersed with my high intensity days.

The issue can become whether or not your easy days are truly easy. Easier effort days and recovery days are intended to allow your body some rest and recovery so that on the higher intensity days, your body is ready to go.

Matt Tegenkamp, American record holder for two miles, says keep your easy days easy.

While training for the 2001 World Junior Cross-Country Championships, Tegenkamp says: "I decided I needed to work that much harder to make the jump to the next level. Pretty much every day, it was push, push, push."

This mindset on training ended in negative results for Tegenkamp, as he spent much of the next few years sidelined with injuries. So make sure to keep easy days easy and make your long-run day a true baseline effort - feeling like you could run that pace all day long.

Make Speedwork a Component of Your Plan

A training plan set up the correct way is typically cyclic, including a base phase, strengthening phase, peak phase and a tapering/recovery phase. However, if you spend too much time during the off-season without any speed or interval work included, you may risk losing some of the speed gained over the previous racing season.

That is why Shalane Flanagan, the national 5k record holder, recommends doing speedwork year-round.

"My new coach, John Cook, had me start doing six or eight striders after almost every run, even in my base phase," Flanagan said.

This type of training is based on the mentality that your body will be prepared to run fast when it's time to enter into your speed and peak phases, which could help reduce the risk for injury.

Incorporate striders by taking half of your easy runs each week and end them with six to eight 80- to 100-yard accelerations, emphasizing quick turnover without straining.

Live like a runner

Deena Kastor, Olympic marathon bronze medalist, took this notion to heart after moving to Colorado to join her new coach, Joe Vigil. She tries to get off her feet and relax whenever possible and makes sure to get plenty of sleep.

If you are trying to reach your full potential as an athlete, you need to pay attention to all aspects of your life. That means plenty of sleep, avoiding substances such as nicotine and alcohol, and nourishing your body properly.

Take a Day Off Each Week

I have been doing this for several years now, and my previous coach even had me taking two days off per week during my Ironman training build up.

Kara Goucher, second-fastest American woman in the 10K and marathon debut time record holder, lives by this rule now, but didn't use to.

Four years ago, Goucher refused to take a day off in pursuit of meeting her mileage goals each week - this despite a lingering injury and against the advice of her friend and fellow elite runner, Suzy Favor Hamilton.

Goucher continued on, running to meet her mileage goals and ignoring her body's attempt to signal to her that she needed a rest day.

She ended up with a stress fracture in her hip and took off several weeks from training.

"If you're training pretty hard, you're almost always going to have something that's a little sore," says Goucher.

She suggests a day off per week and listening to your body, looking for indicators that something "isn't right."

She states, "Good indicators that you need to rest your body and take some time off include a sharp, localized pain that doesn't improve as your run progresses and any ache that alters your running form."

Some of us run for the pure joy of it and that is satisfaction enough. However, many of us are also striving for that next personal record or reaching that athletic goal that has us pushing our bodies like we never imagined possible.

Taking heed of what professional runners and their coaches have to say, as well as listening to the advice of health professionals who deal with running injuries, can only help us to further reach our goals and extend our lives as runners.

Missy Janzow writes a fitness and running column each week. She can be contacted at janzowml@yahoo.com.

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