Finally... the answer to that question....

[mfamilias]

I went for a lovely run this morning. As I am not Mo Farah, I had the privilege of seeing all the beautiful autumn colours in the vineyards, feeling the happy vibes, and majorly riling Gary the Gremlin, who was (of course) intent on doing other things this morning. He trailed along behind me for the entire run, pulling his shorts out of his bum and wailing that he needed the loo and wanted to go home.

On finishing our "nearly-8-K", Gary nose-dived into his armchair, sniffed and informed me that all this exercise would lead me down the slippery path of self-destruction, and that my mother would be proved right when my knees finally gave in after all this torture.

So is running really bad for your knees? We've all heard it said ominously by non-runners, at least once. Off we went on a trip around Tinternet (spot that Peter Kay reference there) and I found a report about a very interesting research paper (real science as opposed to Facebook "90 year-old granny transforms herself into five year-old child with a bunch of bananas and a pot of Dulux" science). The researchers didn't set out to study runners, but saw that part of their sample group had run regularly or continued to do so. They expected to see damage to their knees, but actually discovered the complete opposite: runners are less likely to suffer from knee osteoporosis. Gary is sulking. The article is here: runnersworld.com/general-in...

As for me, I feel like I'm the Hobnob of the running world.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZkO-oru...(Not working as expected?)

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate]

Now we know! Haven't read the article yet but had heard something similar. And more or less experienced it myself - my knees feel in better shape since I started running than they did before. Because they're being used the cartilage is being oxygenated better and can regenerate better. Might also have something to do with the 40 lbs of blubber I'm no longer carrying around😈

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to JaySeeSkinny]

They do say that it's probably not just the running, but also the benefits of lower weight through regular exercise.

[pollyp1 Graduate]

I agree with everything JaySeeSkinny says. Thanks for sharing.

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to pollyp1]

The magic of running: eat, run lose weight then keep it stable

[pollyp1 Graduate in reply to mfamilias]

Even more magic of running - it just smooths everything out for me - one of the things that tipped me into trying was reading two references in as many days to the research that it helps, rather than hinders, knees. After 25 odd years of aches and pains following a high speed high impact car crash I feel sooo much better!

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to pollyp1]

Thant's fantastic! I bet you're glad you chose to read up on running that day rather than finding a recipe for triple choc chip cookies to eat in front of the telly. I often wonder what makes us decide on one thing rather than another - the implications can be life-changing

[pollyp1 Graduate in reply to mfamilias]

Immensely so. Interestingly I was reading about osteo-arthritis as I recall, and then a friend knocked my other argument (I'm to old) out of the court by telling me that she had entered the 2017 London Marathon and she's four months older than me. And then I was walking in torrential rain in the woods, and the chap in front of me, who was was dressed just like me - in jeans, work boots and a mac - was RUNNING (very, very slowly) and I thought 'if he can do it, so can I'. And I started then and there, counting minutes in my head (I knew of c25k and the idea of intervals but had not yet listened to any podcasts). And I totally fell in love with it. It's helped with weight loss and kept me sane. - Something to do with when the student is ready the teacher appears!

[roseabi]

Lol Gary the Gremlin

Yes, we all have excellent knees and no excuses!

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to roseabi]

Gary is a star - Oldfloss drew him!

[roseabi in reply to mfamilias]

I found the drawing - awesome!

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Good article Mfam and an interesting outcome. I've not seen the one about "90 year old granny..........." but it must be true as it's on Tinernet 😊

Delighted to see that Gary is still sulking ☹️

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to Irishprincess]

Nor have I, but there are a lot of other things that are just as impossible