Twelve million French people run in short strides on the developed coasts, along the towpaths or in the cities, tasting the virtues of serotonin, this hormone of happiness delivered after the body has adapted to the effort. Four times more numerous than twenty years ago, according to the Running Barometer 2022they launch themselves with the fervor of a convert, put on compression sleeves, slip their phone into an armband and their bottle on their belt, eat smoothies and vitamin soft drinks, measure their efforts on a heart rate monitor bracelet and stay the course at using a GPS watch.
“A lot of people use running to get in shape, but I would definitely recommend getting in shape to get into running” – Irene Davis, running biomechanics expert
With more than 850 million euros in turnover per year – twice as much as that of football, according to Union Sport & Cycle, a trade association which represents the commercial sports sector – the French market for shoes, textiles and running accessories rubs the soles: thanks to its brand new equipment, any quiet jogger (and who, by definition, jogs) passes for an ambitious runner (who runs more intensively).
But, very often, these meteors of the macadam or the sand hurt themselves for having overestimated their capacities. “I literally found myself with a muscle that was wandering in the calf because I hadn’t warmed up enough in the middle of winter”, explains Beryl Brianceau, 28, a sportswoman since childhood. The figures differ according to the studies, but the majority of them agree on the fact that 30 to 50% of runners are concerned each year. “From the age of 40, it drops like flies”observed around him Ahmed Tarzi, 41, a former compulsive runner, obsessed with his speed, who is recovering with difficulty from a herniated disc.
“A lot of people use running to get in shape, but I would definitely recommend getting in shape to get into running”said recently, in a sort of Copernican revolution in jogging, Irene Davis, an expert in the biomechanics of running at the University of South Florida (New York TimesMay 13, 2022). In Montmartre, a Parisian mecca for elevation and stairs, Perrine Blétry, osteopath, receives at least one jogger a day: “There are mainly posture problems: pain in the knees and ankles, tendinitis, the best known of which is windshield wiper syndrome [inflammation de la bandelette fibreuse qui s’étend de la hanche au tibia]. Not to mention the sprains and fractures related to changes in terrain, bad roads and unsuitable shoes. »
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