The number and severity of running injuries appears to be constant from year to year. Approximately 80% of all runners receive an injury during the year! In reality, the number may be increasing because of a greater number of runners.
Most running experts attribute the increase in rrunninginjuries to lack of attention to the basic guidelines such as not increasing distance by more than 10%, begin all runs gradually and so on. But is this the real reason? From my experiences in working with hundreds of runners I believe the answer lies in too much reliance on other runners!
Ordinarily, relying on other runners and their experiences is good practice. But, when the other runner knows little about running or the causes of running injuries, especially in regard to running form and strength of the muscles involved, they may hinder the runner more than they may help the runner.
For example, when runners write in seeking help for their injury in running forums, other runners relate their experiences and how they partially or fully resolved their problem by changing running shoes or using orthotics etc. The injured runner seeking advice thanks the runners and state that they too will try these fixes.
One or two runners usually respond to the injured rrunner by stating that they should have their running technique analyzed to see if the problem is in their running form. Or they may recommend a strength training program specific to the injury or a particular running form (technique) to overcome their running injury. I have never seen one of these suggestions taken seriously.
But yet all running injuries are due to either improper technique or insufficient strength or endurance of the muscles specific to the technique. Following up by having technique analyzed or doing some strength exercises however, usually takes these runners out of their comfort zones. Because of this they would rather take the easy path in the hope that it will get them well. In many cases the fix works for a while but then they have the same problem reoccurring. It never really goes away.
To substantiate these statements it is only necessary to look at the technique (form) used by the majority of long-distance runners. They use a heel first touchdown even though it has been shown (proven) time and time again that such a landing leads to running injuries either to the foot, ankle, knee, or even the lower back. But yet they do not modify their running technique. Is there any reason for this?
For more information on running injuries see Explosive Running