Are you training for your first road race and feeling the pain in places other than your muscles? One of the most common complaints among new runners is ankle and knee pain, and while many factors contribute to pain in the joints (biomechanics, weak quadriceps, previous injuries, worn-out shoes or improper fit, weak tendons...), the most common causes can be nipped with a few tweaks of your form.

1. Take a chill pill. Okay, not literally, but try to relax. Running is a great way to reduce stress, but don't run stressed. Every few minutes during your run, try to notice where you feel tight or are carrying tension. Are your shoulders creeping up toward your ears as the miles pass? Release the tension and roll your shoulders back and down, as though you're tucking your shoulder blades into your back pockets. I often carry tension in this area, and focusing on spreading the distance between my shoulders does wonders to alleviate tightness in this area.

2. Don't strike the ground with your heel first. Rather, aim for mid-foot, which will help reduce the amount of stress to the ankles and knees by keeping your feet underneath you as you land, rather than in front of you.

3. Lean forward from the ground up. When I tell runners to lean into their run, the first thing they do is hinge at the hip. A better cue would be, "fall into your run." By hinging at the ankle joint, you give gravity a chance to assist you. Let it. By leaning forward into your run, your legs will naturally land underneath your hips, right where they belong.

4. Zip it up. Imagine zipping up your pants. Notice how your lower pelvis is drawn in toward your spine? Good. Now try to maintain that level of contraction in your lower abdominals while you run. Right off the bat you'll notice a slightly faster pace. You can thank your core for that extra boost of power!

5. Keep your chest open and your eyes forward. I was always told to keep my eyes on the ground about 6ft in front of my feet. Not only was this an extremely boring way to run - after all, it isn't much fun to look at the pavement - it also forces you to run with slumped shoulders, creating misalignment of the skeleton and over time, a whole slew of mechanical problems. By opening up the chest and running tall, the impact of each foot strike is absorbed by your skeleton, rather than the individual joints, beginning with the ankles. Imagine increasing the distance between your chest and pelvis as you run, literally lengthening your core.

Finally, give it time. Changing running technique will take focused practice. Try dedicating 5-10 minutes of every run to improving your form, then gradually increase this "form focused" time by 5-10 minutes every week until one run every week is dedicated to maintaining ideal form. Those aches and pains you experienced early on when you were a novice runner should gradually disappear. With practice, you can avoid injury and run pain free for many miles (and years) to come!