Is this a sensible plan?

[Saralexis]

I did my first run after graduating c25k and extended it to 32 minutes running. I was thinking that I'd tack on two minutes a week (running every other day) until I can do 5k (I'm now at about 4.5 of running). Then keep doing 5k till I feel like 5k is no big deal before maaaybe pushing on to 8 or 10k using some sort of program similar to c25k. Does that sound gentle and sensible?

An extra factor is that I was diagnosed with chondromylasia patellea as a teenager, my knees have been fine other than the odd twonge and I'm hoping the slow start and being careful about how I run (I have inserts for my shoes to correct over-pronation) has built up my muscles to support my kneecaps properly. I haven't had any pain other than the odd bit when I mis-stepped off a kerb and it's not bad, what I have had is increased sensitivity in my knees between runs, as if I can feel the blood moving in them.

If I'd never had problems with my knees then I wouldn't have thought twice about anything I've felt- I'm just really enjoying running and really hoping that I'm not going to suddenly have to stop.

Ive run every other day for nine weeks and I'm not experiencing any pain (except a little and rarely), I hope I'm not storing up any problems.

[Rainbowsmurf]

Hi Sara. Sounds like a plan but what's the issue with your knee caps? (Little rusty on my medical terminology.)

[Saralexis in reply to Rainbowsmurf]

The cartilage behind my kneecaps softens and the bones rub together which hurts.

[runswithdogs Graduate10]

Sounds like a good plan. Are you intending to keep two runs per week at 30 minutes and extending one run into a long run? That's the approach I took and it worked well for me.

Some weeks you may want to take a break from increasing to allow your body some additional time to adapt. After an overuse injury in June I'm wary of pushing too hard. With your knee issues it's worth taking a little extra time to reach 10k. You'll be there before you know it.

[Sharonb9999]

I got to 10km by doing 2 shortish runs in the week (no more than 5km each time) then adding 0.5 to 1km to my weekend long run. If I didn't fancy adding anything for a week then I didn't. I can now do longer runs in the week - 7kmish each and about 10km on the weekend. I'm not fast in any way but I can keep a constant pace which now means I can build up a bit more distance. I think it's important to pay attention to how you're feeling. If you don't fancy doing a longer run on some days then don’t - just do what you can. If you try and force it you risk injury and/or not wanting to run.