Run Fast, Run Forever Presented by Lever Movement
Episode 8: 80% of Runners get Injured Every Year, Can We Change That?
Guest - Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards, PT Clinician & PT for Atlanta Track
Each year, 80% of runners face injuries. Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards, the head physical therapist for the Atlanta Track Club, addresses this high incidence of running injuries. She brings a wealth of experience, from authoring books and conducting pivotal research to hosting her own podcast and running a specialized PT practice for runners and triathletes. She also introduces RunSource, an app designed by her company, FastBananas, to transform runners' approaches to training and recovery.
Dr. Kate emphasizes the holistic care provided at the Atlanta Track Club, where her holistic approach extends beyond treating physical injuries, considering athletes' mental and emotional health. She details how the club's integrated team of dietitians, psychologists, and chiropractors works together to prevent overtraining and boost performance by prioritizing the overall health of each athlete.
By discussing the risks of following popular fitness and diet trends without considering individual needs, Dr. Kate stresses the importance of expert guidance. She points out the benefits of using heart rate variability (HRV) tracking as a tool for monitoring training loads and preventing overtraining. Her clinical use of the Lever system is particularly beneficial for postpartum athletes and those recovering from stress fractures or managing tendinopathies. The system, an essential part of injury recovery prehab, allows athletes to train effectively while minimizing injury risks by offloading some of their body weight.
Dr. Kate reminds runners to listen to their bodies and adjust their training schedules accordingly. She stresses the importance of rest, recovery, and not being rigidly tied to training plans.
Quotes
- “Runners getting injured hasn't changed in 40 years. The same amount of runners are getting injured all of the time. And no matter what happens from a shoe standpoint, or what happens in terms of like the coolest technology out there, or that we're tracking this, we're tracking that, nothing has changed. I believe that nothing has changed because we haven't really looked at the athlete from that holistic view.” (08:31 | Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards)
- “You have to know what overtraining is, what it looks like and what impacts it. I would say the No. 1 thing is stress, whether it's mental, emotional or physical.” (12:04 | Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards)
- “80% of runners are injured and it's happened for 40 years and nothing has changed. All of the things that I've seen with the track club in the last three years and seeing the resources that they've had that have really helped them, I thought, ‘Why can't everybody have these same resources?’ And a lot of the people that are experts in the field are unavailable to most people, because we're too busy. We've got a zillion projects going on, we're booked out, or we're too expensive, and you can't get in to see us. So I decided to say to all the experts I know, ‘Hey guys, let's get together, create this app and give this information to people.’ So maybe we have a chance to start decreasing this trend of getting injured and help people reach those performance levels that they want without getting injured because you can't be a high performer if you end up injured.” (17:12 | Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards)
- “What's really cool about the lever is that you can add that mileage, get that time on the ground, but it takes you away from that line a little bit, which is what I like.” (26:26 | Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards)
