Prevent Injuries

Doesn't everyone hate being injured? Sometimes, there are things you can do in order to prevent getting injured. When I was training for my very first half marathon, I got injured. I had trouble with my knee(s). My quads weren't strong enough to keep my knee cap in place, so it (mainly my right) would move sided to side. I was in so much pain, I ended up seeing a doctor (I hate going to the doctors). The sports specialist told me that I needed to work my quads and get them stronger. If I had just been working out my quads more, I'd be fine.

She gave me this pamphlet and told me which workouts to do in order to get them stronger. I make this part of my normal workout routine. If I'm running, I'm working my legs, too. I'm also stretching a lot more and spending time really listening to my body and seeing if there are any unusual pains. If there are, I look up to see what I need to do to stop it and prevent it from happening again. 

Because I love running so much, and I never want anything to effect my training (in a bad way) again, I include injury prevention workouts and a ton of stretching (like yoga) in my workout routines. 

How do you prevent injuries? Tonight I'm walking some stairs, legs weights and a hour long yoga class!