After my fab parkrun of 29 minutes something, I ended up with such sore knees that I could barely walk down a gradient without having to walk sideways. The pain lasted about three months.
Lesson to self stop been so competitive !
With a friend of mine who has ran half marathons in the past but now has certain medical conditions which mean hardcore running is a thing of the past for her, we decided to try couch to 5k *again*. Neither of us had ran for almost a year.
We use a local nature reserve with good mixed soft terrain. We have massively enjoyed it so far.
Running out doors and running with someone is infinitely more fun. Because the pair of us have issues with our knees we are not trying to push faster and faster. It is great to see our cardio totally cope and thrive on our efforts, without us pushing. This means we can run and hold a conversation.
This is important. I remember the first time I tried couch 2 5k. I was 21 stone, on a treadmill. I hated every second of it, but I was determined. It required 100% of my attention to not pass out!!!
Back to today. Week 4. I don't remember it been such a leap! We seem to be running substantially more than the previous week but it was *enjoyable*.
As I've said we both have weakness issues so before we run we do knee strengthening and it band stretches.
No knee pains so far! If I remember correctly it kind of kicks in around eight minutes. I'll find out in week 5!!!
Just like the first time though, it's an amazing feeling as you see your capabilities expand every week. I can do today what I could not do two weeks ago!
So my recommendations!
1) get off the treadmill, it's a soulless miserable experience.
2) find a running buddy who is incapable/unfit as you are!
