Why Spring Is Prime Time for Running Injuries (And What Burlington Runners Can Do About It)

Every spring, the same thing happens at our clinic. The weather turns, the trails open up, and within a few weeks we start seeing a familiar wave of patients: runners who jumped back in a little too fast after a winter of reduced activity. I don’t say that with any judgment. I’ve done it myself. There’s something about a warm April day that makes five kilometres feel completely reasonable when you haven’t run consistently since October.

The good news is that most of these injuries are predictable. And if they’re predictable, they’re largely preventable. The most common running injuries we see this time of year are shin splints, plantar fasciitis, IT band pain, Achilles issues, and anterior knee pain. These are rarely the result of bad luck. They’re almost always the result of asking tissues to handle more than they’re currently prepared for.

The Real Culprit: Too Much, Too Soon

Here’s something worth understanding about the body: your cardiovascular system adapts faster than your musculoskeletal system. Your heart and lungs get fitter relatively quickly, which means you’ll feel capable of doing more before your tendons, muscles, and bones are actually ready for it. That gap is where overuse injuries live.
A useful guideline is what’s sometimes called the 10% rule: don’t increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% from one week to the next. It’s not a perfect science, and every person is different, but it gives you a rough framework for building gradually rather than spiking your volume all at once. The runners I see in the clinic in April often haven’t run much since November and are suddenly doing 25 to 30 kilometres a week. That’s a big ask.

The risk goes up even further when multiple changes happen at the same time. Increasing mileage while also adding hills, switching from treadmill to outdoor surfaces, and breaking in new shoes. Any one of those on its own is fine. Stack all four together in the same two-week window and your injury risk climbs considerably.

Shin Splints (Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome)

Shin splints, technically called medial tibial stress syndrome, are one of the most common running injuries we treat, and spring is peak season for them. The pain typically shows up as a dull ache along the inside of the shin bone, tender to the touch, and usually worst at the start of a run or afterward. In more irritated cases it can linger even at rest.

This condition develops at the point where soft tissue attaches to the tibia, and it tends to result from a combination of factors rather than one single cause. Rapid increases in training volume are the most common trigger, but limited hip mobility, certain foot mechanics, and previous injury history can all contribute. Research has also identified a higher BMI and reduced internal hip rotation as risk factors worth noting.

One thing worth flagging: shin splints and stress fractures can feel similar, and it’s important not to confuse the two. Shin splints tend to produce a more spread-out, diffuse pain, while a stress fracture usually presents with sharper, more pinpoint discomfort. If your symptoms are worsening rather than improving with a bit of load reduction, get it assessed. That’s not the time to push through.

IT Band Pain: What’s Actually Going On

IT band pain is another one that reliably picks up in spring. It typically shows up as a sharp or aching sensation on the outside of the knee, often getting worse the longer you run and particularly bad on downhills. It accounts for somewhere around 14% of all running-related injuries, so if you’ve dealt with it, you’re in good company.

For years this was called iliotibial band friction syndrome, based on the idea that a tight IT band was rubbing against the bone at the outer knee. More recent research has updated that picture. The pain is now thought to be related to compression of a sensitive fat pad beneath the band when the knee flexes past about 30 degrees. Why does this matter? Because it changes how you manage it.

Foam rolling aggressively over the painful area, for example, was a standard recommendation for a long time. But if the issue is compression rather than friction, adding more compression with a foam roller doesn’t make a lot of sense and can actually make things worse. The same goes for aggressive ITB stretching as a standalone fix. It might temporarily reduce symptoms, but it rarely resolves the underlying problem.

Effective management focuses on adjusting training load, gradually reintroducing the volume your tissues can tolerate, strengthening the hips and glutes, and modifying running mechanics where needed. A slightly wider step width and a higher cadence can meaningfully reduce the stress on the outer knee. Clinical treatment like soft tissue work, Active Release Technique, Graston Technique, or laser therapy can also accelerate recovery when combined with these approaches.

The “Just Rest and Stretch” Myth

This is probably the most common mistake I see with running injuries, and it’s worth addressing directly. When something hurts, the instinct is to stop running and stretch more. That approach might quiet things down temporarily, but it almost never fixes the underlying issue. The pain comes back as soon as training volume goes up again, sometimes within the first week back.

A better framework is load management combined with progressive strengthening. Rather than stopping altogether, the goal is to find a volume of running that doesn’t aggravate your symptoms and maintain that while you build capacity. From there, you increase gradually and deliberately. Strength work, particularly for the hips, glutes, and calves, is a consistent predictor of better outcomes across most running injuries, even when the exact cause isn’t perfectly clear.

You can’t go wrong with strong. I say that a lot, but it applies here as much as anywhere. Runners who invest in strength work alongside their mileage tend to stay healthier, recover faster when something does go wrong, and are less likely to deal with the same injury on repeat.

When to Manage It Yourself vs. When to Come In

Not every running injury needs professional treatment. Mild symptoms that respond well to a few days of reduced volume and some targeted strengthening can often be managed independently. If things are clearly improving within a week or two, you’re probably on the right track.

Where it makes sense to get assessed. If pain persists beyond two weeks, symptoms that are getting worse rather than better, anything that’s affecting your gait or causing you to compensate elsewhere, and any injury that keeps coming back. Recurrent injuries usually mean something in the underlying picture hasn’t been fully addressed. That’s that’s exactly what an assessment is for.

As always, this is not specific advice for any one person. Every case is different, and what works for one runner won’t necessarily apply to another. If you’re unsure, it’s worth a conversation.

Enjoy the Season : Build Into It

Spring running is genuinely one of the best things about living in Burlington. The trails along the lake, the longer evenings, the sense of getting back into a rhythm. It’s hard to beat. The goal isn’t to hold back. It’s to build into it smartly so you’re still running well come June, July, and beyond.

If you do find yourself dealing with shin splints, IT band pain, or anything else that’s slowing you down this spring, our team at Burlington Sports Therapy works with runners every day. We can help figure out what’s going on, put a plan together, and get you back out there. Give us a call at 905.220.7858 or book online.