How do I prevent common running injuries?

Alternate between different surfaces — road, treadmill, trail, and track — rather than running exclusively on one. Each surface loads your body differently, which helps prevent overuse of specific structures.

Schedule at least 1-2 complete rest days per week with no running. True beginners should run no more than 3 days per week with a rest day between each run.

Use a simple framework: run through mild muscle soreness (3/10 or less) that warms up and decreases during the run. Stop immediately for sharp pain, pain that worsens as you run, pain that causes limping, joint swelling, or any pain rated 5/10 or above.

Perform foot and ankle strengthening exercises 3 times per week: towel scrunches, "foot doming" (short foot exercise), calf raises (both eccentric and concentric), and ankle alphabet circles.

Before each run, do 5 minutes of dynamic warm-up: leg swings (front-to-back and side-to-side), walking lunges, high knees, butt kicks, and arm circles. Save static stretching for after the run, if at all.

Perform hip and glute exercises 2-3 times per week: single-leg squats, clamshells, glute bridges, and side-lying hip abduction. These take 15-20 minutes and require no equipment.

Never increase a single run by more than 10% beyond your longest run in the past 30 days. This is more important than the traditional "10% weekly mileage rule," which research has shown doesn't actually prevent injuries.