I have soreness and pain with running, is massage therapy the solution?
Answer: Manual Physical Therapy combined with exercise for flexibility, and movement re-education can get you running healthier and faster again!
Longer term think about your training routine especially around appropriate rest (sleeping enough?) and rest between runs, intensity of runs, ‘cross training’ outside of running including stretching, core or possibly some running specific strength work.
We frequently find that when this kind of soreness continues there are some running form issues along with some tight areas muscles and joints that are root causes. Frequently poor movement at one's ankles, hips and trunk along with core strength are present. Massage therapists can work on some of the tight muscle stuff but start to think about the other pieces as well.
We are big fans of some of Danny Dreyer’s Chi Running exercises and form videos to help. www.chirunning.com. You might also consider a professional evaluation at some time. Most bodies have some old injuries that healed well enough not to hurt anymore but have lagging stiffnesses that can arise when we work to accomplish new goals. These stiffnesses or inefficiencies mentioned above are quite changeable at any age and allow us to start growing younger by getting healthier in these weak links.
--- Revolutions in Fitness Staff
