Struggling with knee pain carry on with W5 Run3 or go back?

[MarkyB1967]

I had been going great guns on weeks 1 to 4 but 2 weeks ago whilst doing W5 Run1 I finished with crippling pain in one knee, I took 10 days off following all of the RICE procedures, and then went and did W5 Run 2 on Wednesday, so rested for 3 days now. Whilst not completely painless it only took a day for any signs of pain to disappear. I am planning on running tomorrow but nervous about the jump from 8 minutes to 20 with my gammy knee if I try W5 run 3. Wondering if I should repeat W5 or am I just making excuses to myself for not doing the 20 minutes run?

[wilkint01]

Have you had your trainers fitted by someone who can review your gait and perhaps see if your over/under pronate. Wrong shoes can give you all sorts of pain

asics.com/us/en-us/pronatio...

[MarkyB1967 Graduate in reply to wilkint01]

Thanks for the reply wilkint01 Not when I first had the knee pain no but after doing a bit of reading I found several articles on Gait analysis and pronation so since then been and had my gait analysed and now I have a shiny new pair of Asics trainers that I have used once on my run on Wednesday.

I think my best bet is probably to go and aim for Run 3 and see what happens if I'm still duffering to the point that I can't run I probably need to see a GP.

[wilkint01 in reply to MarkyB1967]

I'd go for run 3 in that case , I bet your knee still hurts from the old injury in old trainers. Give knee a chance to rest - walk around a lot in new trainers and I bet you'll be fine . Good luck

[MarkyB1967 Graduate in reply to wilkint01]

Thanks! I think you were spot on with the pain being caused by the older injury, gave it a whirl this morning and come through with no pain whatsoever. . . . . Chuffed to bits!

[nikkiwabit Graduate]

I would say that while there are twinges in the your knee, to keep going gently. If it was not pain free, I would not increase yet. I will repeat what I have said in other post, that RICE has been superseded by MICE. Which means movement rather than rest. So keep the joint active but not too much weight bearing. Do some easy quads exercises too. I don't get the feeling that you are making excuses as you have kept going. You don't say if anything happened to give you the pain in the first place but if it persists, get it check, just in case there is a meniscus (cartilage) tear or something.

[MarkyB1967 Graduate in reply to nikkiwabit]

Thanks nikkiwabit, I went out and did it this morning with no problems and no pain whatsoever, I had no idea about RICE be ing superceded, but I've always thought the complete rest bit didn't make much sense, I will certainly take the advice in future!

[Rignold]

If there is something wrong with your knee that causes crippling pain then you need to see a Dr. You have it spot on there.

If it has recovered enough for you to run 16 minutes with a 4 minute walk break and not cause you any pain, though, why do you think the extra 4 minutes are going to cause a relapse? Everyone has nerves about W5R3 and it sounds as if you are letting your Gremlins use the knee as a rod to beat you with.

Knee pains are very common in the early stages of the programme. I recall I had to take a couple of weeks of around W4 and was very nervous about whether it was the end of my running for good. I was doing a lot of walking in my work on a daily basis and it took ages to go away completely. Knee pain tends only to come in the 'sharp and agonising variety' and it can be quite immobilising. However, barring acute injury or exposing some old problem, it is usually temporary and a matter of strengthening the muscles above and below to withstand the demands of your new activity.

Since doing the programme, apart from one incident where I sustained an acute injury, I have had no issues with my knees at all. they are better and more youthful than they were before I started running.

I do also take a high dose of quality fish oil everyday for joint health, and of course I do lots and lots of skwaats. Skwaats are the answer to almost everything.

Best of luck with W5R3. Remember slow and steady. Remember to warm up properly beforehand - and not just the 5 min walk - do some squats and lunges to get those knees moving properly.

[MarkyB1967 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

Thanks Rignold, It turned out I had no cause for concern with the knee it held up with no pain whatsoever and the dreaded W5 R3 is now behind me, I think the pains were just a combination of a much older injury complaining about being stressed after years of little or no excercise and taking to the road in trainers that really weren't up to it.

I have to say I did take one nugget from your reply that helped imensely, I presume I like most people stress about the the W5 R3 run because you go from an 8 minute continuous run to a 20 minute one which seems like a huge jump. The reality is the running time as you point out is only 4 minutes more and put like that seems much more manageable and very effective for banishing Gremilns!

Thanks again!