Dr. Max Gomez: Preventing Common Running Injuries

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As the New York City Marathon approaches thousands of runners are getting into major training mode.

As the workouts gets tougher injuries can become more common, CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez reported Friday.

Nichole Naranjo, 34, learned the hard way that she needed to take each workout in stride and pay attention to her body.

"I went to the doctor and he said it looks like I have a torn labrum," Naranjo said.

After weeks of running in pain Naranjo said she found out that she needed hip surgery to repair the injury. The surgery meant that she would have to sit out for three months and put training for the marathon on hold.

"I wanted to push myself, but I had to stick to the program. I had to stick to the phases," she said.

Physical therapist Tak Fukunaga runs a free running clinic at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He said he deals with a lot of injuries to runners gearing up for races.

"We see a lot of foot and ankle injuries, tendonitis, knee pain to runner's knee, hip and back pain," he said.

Many runners do not ease into their training programs, some don't have the right footwear, and many do not realize the importance of down time, Fukunaga said.

"I think the most underrated part of running is rest. Rest is probably what gets overlooked a lot of times," he explained.

Naranjo said she learned about the importance of stretching to prevent injury. She said she took her time and built up her endurance and mileage and will be ready to cross the finish line in November's marathon.

Running shoes can be expensive, but skimping on shoes can be a prescription for injuries. If your shoes feel like they have worn out or lost their bounce they should be replaced and should generally be replaced every 400 to 600 miles, Gomez reported.

This year's marathon will be held on Sunday Nov. 3.

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