Twelve million French jog along the developed coasts, along the towpaths or through the cities, savoring the virtues of serotonin, this hormone of happiness delivered after the body has adapted to the effort. Four times as many as twenty years ago, according to the Running Barometer 2022, they launch themselves with the fervor of the converted, put on compression sleeves, put their mobile phones on an armband and the bottle on their belts, feed on smoothies and vitamins refreshments, measure your efforts with a heart rate bracelet and follow the path with a GPS watch.
“A lot of people use running to get in shape, but I would definitely recommend getting in shape to start running” – Irene Davis, Running Biomechanics Expert
With more than 850 million euros in annual turnover – twice that of football, according to Union Sport & Cycle, a trade association representing the commercial sports sector – the French market for shoes, textiles and running accessories is rub the soles: thanks to its new equipment, any quiet runner (and who, by definition, jogs) becomes an ambitious runner (who runs more intensely).
But, very often, these meteors of macadam or sand get hurt by overestimating their abilities. “I literally found myself with a muscle wandering around my calf because I hadn’t warmed up enough in the dead of winter”, explains Beryl Brianceau, 28 years old, an athlete since childhood. Figures differ from study to study, but most agree that between 30 and 50% of runners are concerned each year. “From the age of 40, it drops like flies”looked around Ahmed, 41, a former compulsive runner, obsessed with his speed, struggling to recover from a herniated disc.
“A lot of people use running to get in shape, but I would definitely recommend getting in shape to start running”said recently, in a kind of Copernican revolution in running, Irene Davis, an expert in the biomechanics of running at the University of South Florida (News from New York, May 13, 2022). In Montmartre, a Parisian mecca of lifting and stairs, Perrine Blétry, an osteopath, receives at least one runner a day: “There are mainly posture problems: knee and ankle pain, tendinitis, the most well-known of which is windshield wiper syndrome. [inflammation de la bandelette fibreuse qui s’étend de la hanche au tibia]. Not forgetting sprains and fractures related to changes in terrain, roads in poor condition and inadequate footwear. »
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