Training for the Steamboat Classic: Managing Common Running Complaints

In June 2025 I ran the Steamboat Classic 15K here in Peoria, finishing in 1:11:17. It is a good race and a genuine step up in distance for a lot of people who enter it, which is exactly why the spring brings a predictable set of complaints through the clinic.

Here are the ones that come up most in a 15K build, and what usually helps.

Almost all of it is a load problem

The overwhelming majority of running complaints are not caused by your gait, your arches or your alignment. They are caused by asking tissue to do more than it is currently conditioned for, usually because something changed.

When someone tells me their calf started hurting three weeks ago, the useful question is what happened four weeks ago. More miles, a faster session added, hills introduced, new shoes, a move from treadmill to road, or two weeks off followed by picking up where they left off.

Shin pain

Diffuse aching along the inner shin that warms up during a run and aches afterwards is usually load-related and settles with a temporary reduction in volume and impact, plus a slower build.

What is not that: a sharply localised spot on the bone that you can cover with a fingertip, hurts to press, and is getting worse rather than better, particularly with night pain. That pattern can indicate a bone stress injury and needs assessment rather than perseverance.

Achilles and calf

Classic pattern: stiff and sore for the first few minutes of a run and first thing in the morning, easing as you warm up, worse the day after a hard session.

This generally responds to load management plus progressive calf strengthening — heel raises, built up gradually, done consistently. Stopping running entirely often is not necessary or helpful; reducing the aggravating component while continuing to load the tendon in a controlled way usually works better.

Knee pain

Pain around or under the kneecap, worse on stairs, hills and after prolonged sitting, is the most common presentation. Same principles: reduce the provocative volume, keep what does not aggravate it, build hip and quadriceps strength, and reintroduce hills and speed gradually.

Low back and hip

Often shows up in people who have increased mileage while also sitting at a desk for most of the day. The running is the visible trigger; the eight hours of sitting either side is part of the picture. Both usually need attention.

What I would do in the last month before a race

• Stop adding volume. The fitness is already banked; the last few weeks are for arriving healthy.
• Do not introduce anything new, not shoes, not a new session type, not a new surface.
• Judge a niggle by how it responds the next morning, not by how it feels during the run.
• If something is genuinely worsening week on week, get it looked at rather than hoping it holds.

Where chiropractic care fits

Honestly? It is one part, and not the biggest. Hands-on care can help with comfort and movement and can make it easier to keep training in a modified form. What actually resolves an overuse complaint is the load management and the strengthening.

I would not tell you chiropractic care speeds up healing or prevents injuries, the evidence does not support either claim, and you should be skeptical of anyone who tells you otherwise. What I can do is help you work out what is going on and what to change.

More on how that is assessed on the sports and overuse injuries page.