Advice...

[MrsKatir917]

So, I'm super sad because my knees are still hurting me today and I don't think I will be able to run this week, but I'm not sure. When should I just push through and when should I take a break? I've been down all day because I have done so well working out the last 2 weeks (finished we 2 on Saturday). I've been very consistent with my cross training and running and I don't want to lose that. I also don't want to get a serious injury! Any opinions? I'm so new to running!

[AncientMum Graduate]

Personally, I'd err on the side of caution, take some ibuprofen, apply some ice and wait until they feel better. It may just be the result of lots of unfamiliar exercise, but I wouldn't risk it for the sake of a few days rest. Good luck.

[Hidden]

Do you have good shoes? That seems to be the cause of a lot of problems for new runners...

[LadyP33]

What cross training do you do? I found that if I try and do run and spin for example, my knees got really bad. Stopped spin for the last couple of weeks and knees are good to go!

[Mummyrunner]

Hello i can remember being in the same predicament in week 2/3 my knees killed me! I rested an extra day and then carried on, it just seemed to disapear once i got going. However you need to do whats right for you- only you know your body! Id second curlygirly - good trainers definately make a difference. Best of luck

[Rignold]

If it is discomfort, press on. If it is pain, stop.

You are training to get fit for the rest of your life, a few days here or there will make no difference in the overall scheme of things.

I find that when my joints are giving me gyp, non-impact cross training is great to keep my fitness levels up - theses things are different for everyone I suppose, but unlike LadyP33 I find no conflict at all between Spin and running, other than my thighs aching a bit if I am doing long runs and the hour spin sessions.

Proper running shes are are must though.

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Are you doing lunges? I know we're advised to do them but they do put pressure on the knees and I've given them up.

The same thing happened to me. My knees hurt very badly after week 3, so much so that I did the rest of the programme on the treadmill and only went outside after I graduated. Looking back I think it was just the new exercise my knees didn't like as I've had no problems with them since. But they hurt like mad at the time so I so sympathise with you.

The only thing I can add to the advice already given is to get a foam roller. It hurts but really helps "iron out" tight muscles but wait until your knees hurt a little less!

Be patient, you will get out there again and your knees will be even stronger!

[Hidden]

STOP. Then when you have stopped, do a few simple things...take Ibuprofen [if you are OK with it]; if you have a bike, take-up gentle cycling with a cadence of no less than 80; use RICE as needed; listen to your body when you start running again, and finally, get a gait analysis done when you are better.

Good luck, keep at it and I want to see a grad badge by your name in the future.

[Tomas Graduate]

I think Rignold is spot on when he says "If it is discomfort, press on. If it is pain, stop. "

This running thing is new to your body. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be a walk in the park. It will hurt a bit, and there will be new aches and pains in muscles you had completely forgotten you had. So for gentle aches and discomforts, the best bet is to push on and get those muscles built up so that your body stops aching. But if it's more than just discomfort, then obviously you shouldn't push your body further than it can do. The trick is knowing the difference, and sadly that isn't always easy when we don't have any recent experience to compare against.

[dylan321]

Please please buy new trainers and rest until the pain has gone. I had the same problem but ignored the pain, as a result I was in so much pain I couldn't run for three weeks! I was gutted and nearly gave up. I did the knee excersises shown on the nhs website, and eventually starting running again and completed the programme. I now run 3 times a week for 30-35 minutes, but I learnt the hard way..listen to your body and buy a decent pair of trainers!...good luck

[MrsKatir917]

I do have shoes that I was fitted for at a running store last spring (don't know how many read my story, but I had started C25k last spring and got to maybe week 7 or 8 and found out I was pregnant, so I stopped). I probably need new ones, but don't have the money just yet. I really feel like it was the cross training, not the running that did whatever to my knees. I have been doing Jillian Michaels workouts on my off running days, so that entails a lot of squats and lunges. I try so hard to have good form, but I'm so uncoordinated that sometimes I think I'm doing something right and something is a little off. I say it's these workouts only because I injured my knee doing a similar workout probably 5 + years ago (not JM) and the pain was so bad that I could hardly climb stairs. It was pain below my knee cap, after researching online, I'm wondering if it was tendinitis? This pain started out the same way, but hasn't escalated to that point and is now just a consistent ache in my knees that feels almost like growing pains. I did push through my workout Saturday and even took a 2 mi walk with my hubby and son that evening too and felt so much better on Sunday. Then yesterday came and it wasn't better at all. It's definitely not a muscle ache- that I can push through, and honestly, the pain isn't severe enough that I couldn't push through this (gingerly lol), but I don't want to risk further injury. Thanks for the advice!

[GoogleMe Graduate]

It does sound as though you might be going at your overall fitness regime in a more driven fashion than your body can take. With the running it is probably easier (although for some not easy) to go at your own pace, which is possibly slower than anything you would previously have considered to be running.

[useitorloseit Graduate]

I've got really dodgy knees, and I had to take several weeks out at the beginning of the programme. While I was waiting to get back to running, I researched exercises for strengthening knees, hips etc, and did these too. Then when I got back to the running, I strapped the knees (cheap Velcro device from SD). Touch wood, I'm at W8 now and no knee problems. I think when your legs have been as inactive as most of us who start this programme, we ask too much of them too soon. Can you run on grass? That got me through Weeks 1-5, by which time my legs had got over the shock!