Running News Daily

You've probably heard of the RICE method when you twist an ankle or tweak a knee: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. It's ubiquitous for a reason, and yet emerging research is showing us that soft tissue injuries are a lot more complex than originally thought. By using methods like RICE for soft-tissue injuries, you may actually be doing your body more harm than good and delaying recovery. 

It might be time to try a different approach.

But first, what constitutes a soft tissue injury? They're extremely common in runners, with some of the most ubiquitous being:

Almost all runners will have experienced these at some point. But if RICE isn't the best protocol, what do we do? Here's the good news: 

A new acronym has been developed alongside this new research, and while it might be a mouthful, it could also boost your recovery more effectively than RICE-ing. Introducing: PEACE & LOVE. 

Remember, this advice is for soft tissue injuries only. If you feel you may have sustained a more serious injury, like a fracture, seek immediate medical attention.

Here's the breakdown:

P- Protect 

Immediately following a soft tissue injury, the single best thing you can do is take a load off. Restrict movement as much as you can for 1-3 days, depending on how bad the injury is. This reduces the risk of reaggravation and increased tissue bleeding. However, the timeframe is critical here. Research shows that prolonged rest following an acute soft tissue injury actually compromises tissue quality and strength, so don't veg out on the couch for two weeks straight or you'll inhibit blood flow and mobility necessary for proper healing.

How do you know when you should stop resting? Follow your pain. As the injury becomes less painful, gradually return to weight-bearing exercise. 

Take Action: Protect your injury by avoiding movements - particularly those that cause increased pain - in the first couple days after injury. 

E - Elevate

While there is limited evidence to support elevating an injured area as an effective recovery tool, it's low-risk and easy, plus it helps with "P" above. Bringing the injured area above the level of your heart can assist interstitial fluid (fluid found in the spaces around cells) flow out of the injured tissue. 

Action Plan: Elevate the limb higher than the heart using something comfortable to rest it on, like a pillow, cushion, or the arm of your couch. 

A - Avoid Anti-Inflammatories (Ice & NSAIDs)

Using ice and anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) after an injury is a common practice to reduce swelling and pain. But there is actually very little high-quality evidence that supports the use of ice in treatment of soft tissue injuries, and increasingly more research that says don't. 

Our bodies are smart, and the natural inflammatory process will support our tissues healing. By stopping or reducing this inflammation using external means like ice or medication, we are impairing our body's own healing. This, in turn, can impact our long-term tissue healing and possibly cause your injury to last longer. Natural inflammation will go down on its own as the body's protective instincts calm down.

Action Plan: Allow your body's natural inflammatory response for the first 48 hours. After this time period you can take anti-inflammatories. 

C - Compress

A better way to reduce swelling is by intermittently using mechanical compression with a wrap, bandage, sock, or tape. Again, this serves the double purpose of also helping reduce movement. Just make sure you don't restrict movement to the point where you can't move the joint through its full range of motion. 

Take Action: Use a compression bandage to reduce swelling, but do not wrap it so tight you get pins and needles or numbness. Compression can be used within comfort range throughout the day, however should NOT be used overnight. 

E - Educate 

Take time to learn about your specific injury. A physical therapy assessment will help you get reliable information and advice, and prevent similar injuries in the future. Ask your physical therapist about realistic recovery times and exercises to progressively load your injury while you recover. This will help you grade expectations and get you back to running as quickly as you can.

Action Plan: Active recoveries in soft tissue injuries often have the best outcomes. Seek advice from a medical professional and try to identify the causes of the injury and best exercises to strengthen the area.

L - Load

It is widely known that when you go to the physical therapist you usually get prescribed exercises - that's because most of those exercises are specifically designed to repair damaged tissues by gradually increasing the demands placed on them. This is known as mechanotransduction: the physiological process where cells sense and respond to mechanical loads. The goal should be to increase the amount you are doing progressively, without increasing pain. This will help the tolerance of your tissues (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) return to normal. 

Action Plan: Listen to your body and let your pain levels help you progress back into normal activities. 

O - Optimism

In the clinic, I always preface this with "I know this sounds silly but . . ." because patients tend to ignore this portion of the PEACE & LOVE talk. But compelling research shows that how you think and feel about your injury plays a big role in how you recover! Expecting a poor outcome, catastrophizing, or being overly fearful has been associated with longer recoveries from soft tissue injuries. Feeling optimistic and motivated - while staying realistic - will not only help you keep up with your physical therapy exercises, but it may also make your healing process even more efficient.  

Action Plan: Be positive and confident in your recovery. This will optimize your results! Remember that these types of injuries are almost never the cause for long-term breaks from running.

V - Vascularization

Increasing blood flow to the affected area with pain-free aerobic activity has been shown to accelerate recovery and improve function. However: listening to your body's reaction and progressing gradually is critical. More pain in this case does not equal more gain. 

Action Plan: Choose aerobic activities that are pain-free (walking, stationary cycling, swimming, jogging, rowing, etc.) and integrate them gradually into your routine, only in amounts that cause no pain.

E - Exercise 

As shown above, many of the widely accepted interventions for soft tissue injuries have a poor evidence base. Not this one! Strong evidence shows that exercise aids in treatment of soft tissue injury. It can also reduce the risk of a recurring injury by improving strength, mobility, balance, and proprioception (the body's own spatial awareness).

Again, it is important to seek a physical therapist's help when choosing exercises to achieve optimal strength and mobility as you recover. 

Action Plan: Build your mobility, strength, and proprioception back up progressively during your recovery by slowly returning to exercise.

The Takeaway:

Being a freshly injured runner can be scary, upsetting, annoying, and confusing. Instead of reaching for the ice immediately, lead your recovery with PEACE & LOVE: unload the area, listen to your pain, keep a proactively positive mindset, and seek a physical therapist to begin reloading your tissues and expedite healing. Following these new protocols will help you heal faster and get you back to the trails sooner. 

Kristen Kennedy holds a BSc in kinesiology from Dalhousie University and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Montana. She currently practices in the UK, specializing in sport physical therapy with a focus on running. Kristen has been a yoga teacher to athletes for six years and is co-founder of "Made By Movement," an online yoga, Pilates, and mobility studio.

Most Olympic marathoners spend their youth focused on running. They join track clubs, compete in national championships, and pursue the sport from an early age.

Julia Mayer’s journey was very different.

Today, Mayer is Austria’s marathon record holder, a multiple national record holder on the roads, and an Olympian. Yet for much of her athletic life, running was not her primary sport.

For 16 years, she played soccer.

Then she discovered something that would change her life.

“I noticed that I was really fast in the fun runs and that it was really, really fun,” Mayer said when reflecting on her transition from soccer to distance running.

What began as curiosity quickly became a passion. She eventually made the bold decision to leave soccer behind and focus entirely on running. It was a move that surprised many people around her, but Mayer believed she had found her true athletic calling.

The decision proved to be the right one.

Within a few years, Mayer developed into one of Europe’s top marathon runners. Her steady improvement carried her from local races to the international stage, where she began rewriting Austria’s record books.

She now holds Austrian records in the marathon, half marathon, and road 10K. Her marathon best of 2:26:08 established her as the fastest female marathoner in Austrian history. Her performances in the half marathon and 10K have further cemented her place among the country’s all-time great distance runners.

Her rise culminated with qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Competing in the Olympic marathon represented the realization of a dream. On one of the most challenging marathon courses ever used for the Olympics, Mayer ran courageously against the strongest field in the world and finished 55th in her Olympic debut.

Behind the scenes, success has come through extraordinary dedication. During marathon preparation, Mayer trains twice a day and covers approximately 200 kilometers, or 124 miles, each week. The workload demands discipline, patience, and a deep commitment to continuous improvement. 

What makes her story especially inspiring is not simply the records or the Olympic appearance.

It is the fact that she found her greatest talent later than many elite runners.

In a sport where athletes are often identified at a young age, Mayer’s journey serves as a reminder that potential does not always reveal itself early. Sometimes it takes years of experience, a willingness to try something new, and the courage to follow a different path. 

The former soccer player who once chased a ball across a field is now chasing history on the roads of Europe.

And according to those closest to her, her best performances may still be ahead.

For runners of every age and ability, Julia Mayer’s story delivers a powerful lesson: it is never too late to discover what you are capable of.

From soccer player to Olympian, her journey proves that remarkable achievements can begin when least expected.

Megan Keith produced the performance of her career in Oslo on Thursday night, shattering one of Scotland’s longest-standing distance running records and cementing her place among Britain’s greatest female 3000m runners.

The 24-year-old clocked a sensational 8:28.35 over 3000m, breaking the Scottish outdoor record that had stood for nearly four decades. In doing so, Keith eclipsed the previous mark of 8:29.02, set by Scottish legend Yvonne Murray back in 1988, ending a record reign that had lasted 38 years.

Keith’s breakthrough run was more than just a national record. The performance also propelled her to third on the UK outdoor all-time list, placing her behind only two of Britain’s most celebrated distance runners — Paula Radcliffe, who leads the rankings with 8:22.20, and Laura Weightman, whose 8:26.07 remains the second-fastest outdoor mark by a British woman.

The significance of Keith’s achievement is amplified by the calibre of athletes she now joins in the record books. For decades, Murray’s mark stood as one of Scottish athletics’ most untouchable records, surviving generations of elite competitors. Keith has now succeeded where many outstanding runners have fallen short, announcing herself as one of the leading distance talents in British athletics.

Her time also compares favourably with the best performances produced indoors. Olympic medallist Laura Muir ran 8:26.41 indoors in Karlsruhe in 2017, underlining just how exceptional Keith’s outdoor effort in Oslo truly was.

The run continues a remarkable rise for the Scottish star, whose progression over recent seasons has transformed her from a promising prospect into a genuine force on the international stage. Running with confidence and composure against elite competition, Keith demonstrated both the speed and endurance required to challenge the very best in Europe and beyond.

With the World Championship season gathering momentum, Keith’s record-breaking display sends a powerful message. Not only has she etched her name into Scottish athletics history, but she has also established herself as a serious contender in one of the sport’s most competitive events.

In Oslo, Megan Keith did far more than break a record. She ended a 38-year wait, climbed into the upper echelon of British distance running, and delivered a performance that may prove to be a defining moment in her career.

British middle-distance talent Phoebe Gill took another significant step forward in her return to top form, producing a determined victory over 800 metres at the Meeting de Marseille in France on Wednesday.

Competing in challenging, wind-affected conditions, the 19-year-old demonstrated both resilience and composure as she held off a late charge from Switzerland's Veronica Vancardo to secure the win in 2:00.81. Vancardo finished just three hundredths of a second behind in 2:00.84, underlining the fiercely contested nature of the race.

While the margin of victory was narrow, the result represented another encouraging milestone for Gill as she continues to rebuild momentum following her injury setback. The young Briton showed impressive race awareness and strength in the closing stages, maintaining her advantage despite the difficult conditions that made fast running a challenge throughout the evening.

The Marseille triumph adds to a growing body of evidence that Gill is steadily progressing toward her best form. Earlier in her comeback campaign, she clocked 2:01.50 for 800m in Bydgoszcz before demonstrating her versatility with a strong 4:05.53 performance over 1500 metres at the BMC Grand Prix meeting in Trafford.

Those performances have highlighted not only her improving fitness but also her ability to compete across multiple distances as she carefully builds her season. The Marseille victory now provides further confirmation that the European junior star is moving in the right direction.

Gill emerged as one of Britain's most exciting middle-distance prospects through a series of breakthrough performances as a teenager, earning widespread recognition for her fearless racing style and remarkable maturity. Injury temporarily interrupted that upward trajectory, but her recent results suggest she is steadily rediscovering the form that made her one of the sport's brightest young talents.

With each race, the signs of progress become increasingly evident. Winning in difficult conditions and under pressure from a quality field is often a stronger indicator than a fast time alone, and Gill's latest success demonstrated exactly those qualities.

As the summer season gathers pace, the Marseille victory offers another confidence boost for the British teenager, whose return continues to gain momentum. If her recent progression is any indication, Gill could soon find herself back among the leading names on the European middle-distance circuit. 

The NCAA Track and Field Championships delivered a moment few could have predicted as Ja’Kobe Tharp produced one of the most astonishing performances in the history of sprint hurdling, rewriting the record books in spectacular fashion.

Competing in the opening round of the men’s 110-meter hurdles, the Auburn star stunned the athletics world by clocking an incredible 12.75 seconds, becoming the first athlete ever to break the 12.80-second barrier. In doing so, he eclipsed the long-standing world record of 12.80 set by Aries Merritt in 2012, a mark that had stood as one of the sport’s most revered achievements for more than a decade.

What makes Tharp’s breakthrough even more remarkable is the scale of his improvement. Entering the championships, the defending NCAA and U.S. champion had recorded a season-best of 13.05 seconds. Yet under the brightest spotlight, he unleashed a performance that exceeded every expectation, slicing an extraordinary 0.26 seconds from his personal best in a race that instantly became one of the greatest ever run.

The achievement sent shockwaves throughout the track and field community. While Tharp arrived in Eugene as one of the leading contenders for the NCAA title, few envisioned a performance capable of redefining the limits of the event. Instead, the American hurdler delivered a race for the ages, combining flawless technique, explosive speed, and impeccable rhythm from the first hurdle to the finish line.

The historic run not only secured his place in athletics history but also transformed the outlook of the championship. With the world record now in his possession, Tharp advances to the final as the overwhelming favorite, carrying momentum that could make an already unforgettable weekend even more extraordinary.

For years, the 12.80 barrier appeared untouchable. On a stunning day at the NCAA Championships, Ja’Kobe Tharp proved otherwise, producing the kind of performance that reminds fans why sport remains so unpredictable. In a matter of seconds, he turned a routine qualifying round into a landmark moment that will be remembered for generations.

The world record no one saw coming is now a reality—and Ja’Kobe Tharp is the man who changed history.

A new chapter in middle-distance running may have begun in Oslo after American teenager Cooper Lutkenhaus produced one of the most remarkable performances of the season, narrowly defeating reigning Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a thrilling men's 800m contest at the Diamond League meeting.

The 17-year-old sensation shocked a world-class field by crossing the finish line first in a race that came down to the smallest of margins. After an intense battle over the final metres, Lutkenhaus held off Wanyonyi by just one hundredth of a second, producing a dramatic finish that left the packed stadium in disbelief.

From the opening lap, the pace was relentless as the leading contenders positioned themselves for a fierce showdown. As the athletes entered the home straight, Wanyonyi appeared poised to unleash his trademark finishing kick. However, Lutkenhaus refused to be intimidated, matching the Olympic champion stride for stride before producing a perfectly timed lean at the line to secure a historic victory.

The result marks a breakthrough moment for the young American, who continues to establish himself as one of the brightest talents in global athletics. Defeating an Olympic champion at a Diamond League event is a feat many athletes spend entire careers pursuing, yet Lutkenhaus achieved it before reaching adulthood.

For Wanyonyi, the narrow defeat does little to diminish his status as one of the world's premier 800m runners. The Kenyan once again demonstrated his exceptional class and competitiveness, pushing the race to a world-class standard and forcing his young rival to deliver the performance of a lifetime.

Beyond the result itself, the race offered a glimpse into what could become one of the sport's most exciting rivalries in the years ahead. With established stars and emerging talents now pushing each other to new heights, the men's 800m continues to evolve into one of athletics' most captivating events.

On a memorable night in Oslo, the spotlight belonged to Cooper Lutkenhaus. At just 17 years old, he stood toe-to-toe with an Olympic champion and emerged victorious, announcing himself to the athletics world in spectacular fashion.