Injury Prevention - Overuse Injuries

I am feeling my training miles this week.  My overall energy level is low and I am having a tough time hitting a fast pace.  I pulled way back this morning and thought about injury prevention.  When I got home, I Googled "overuse injuries" and found a great article.  You can read its entirety here, but I thought I'd share a few key points:

WHY DO OVERUSE INJURIES OCCUR?
The human body has a tremendous capacity to adapt to physical stress. In fact, many positive changes occur as a result of this. With exercise and activity, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments get stronger and more functional. This happens because of an internal process called remodeling. The remodeling process involves both the break down and build up of tissue. There is a fine balance between the two and if break down occurs more rapidly than build up, injury occurs.

WHAT FACTORS ARE USUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERUSE INJURIES?
Training errors are the most common cause of overuse injuries. These errors involve a too rapid acceleration of the intensity, duration or frequency of your activity. A typical example is a runner who has run several miles three times a week without any problem. That runner then begins advanced training for running in a marathon, running a longer distance every day at a faster pace. Injury or break down is inevitable.

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT?
Treatment depends on the specific diagnosis. In general, for minor symptoms, cutting back the intensity, duration or frequency of the offending activity brings relief. Adopt a hard/easy workout schedule and cross train with other activities that allow you to maintain overall fitness levels while your injured part recovers. This is very
important for treating the early symptoms of overuse injuries.

CAN OVERUSE INJURIES BE PREVENTED?
Most overuse injuries can be prevented with proper training and common sense. Learn to listen to your body.  Remember that “no pain, no gain” does not apply here.

At this point, I do not feel that I have any injuries, but if I keep pushing the pace that's where I'm headed.  As the article points out - it's a fine balance.  I may not hit every pace goal, every day, but if I'm at the start line on June 3rd without injuries my chances for a strong marathon will be much greater.