I'm a sports physiotherapist in Haarlem and have worked with runners for fifteen years. On this site I share what I explain in my practice every week.
Read what I tell runners
Most runners who come to me have done too much too soon. That's not weakness, that's enthusiasm. My job is to get them going again and explain how to prevent a next time.
What I say in the treatment room, I write down here. That way you can read it again, and someone I'll never meet benefits too.
The three topics I get asked about most.
Your fitness improves faster than your tendons and bones. So a session can feel fine while your body isn't ready for the next step yet.
If you're tired in a way that a rest day doesn't fix, skip a session. That makes you stronger, not weaker.
Stiffness that eases within ten minutes is usually no reason to stop. Pain that gets worse as you run, or that changes your stride, is.
If in doubt, walk home. One missed session costs you nothing. Running on through an early injury often costs you weeks.
After a few weeks off you've lost more than you think. Start at half of what you used to do and alternate running with walking.
Give yourself as many weeks to come back as you were away. It feels slow, but it's the fastest way back.
This page gives general information and does not replace treatment. If a problem persists, have it looked at.
Every Monday morning Claude looks up last week's news and puts it here, with the source. I don't have to do a thing.
Sports doctors see a peak in overuse complaints around this time every year among people who have just started. Building up more gradually turns out to be the main advice.
Example item. On a real site the source and a link appear here.
A new study compares shoes with a lot and a little cushioning. The difference in injuries turns out to be smaller than manufacturers suggest.
Example item. On a real site the source and a link appear here.
Coaches are more often adding two short strength sessions a week. Runners who keep that up drop out less often.
Example item. On a real site the source and a link appear here.
Iris can't code and has no web designer. She asked Claude, in plain language.
Claude writes and builds. Waterbloom makes sure the site lives at its own address and that the news refreshes itself every week, even if Iris doesn't log in for a month.
Build something like this