A bit of a blip: I had severe pain on both sides... - Couch to 5K

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A bit of a blip

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I had severe pain on both sides of my right knee for several days after my last run - W5R2 for the second time (I'm treating each of the runs in W5 as a week), so I went to my GP and a sports physiotherapist, both of whom said that I have arthritis, and that perhaps I should take up cycling or swimming instead. My lovely physio however is a committed 10K runner, so gets the addiction thing, and suggested: stopping at W5R1 (forever !), running twice a week, and running on soft surfaces (+ all the foootwear/exercises advice that I've seen on this site).

However, I would really like to persevere with this programme if I possibly can - in some way or other, so I would be grateful for any thoughts ?

Re soft surfaces - I have a park run course literally over the road from where I live, but when I run, I walk past it to a park that has a tarmac path around it. I find the grassy park very muddy and slippery and lumpy, and I don't know how the park runners cope with it without twisting ankles and/or sliding. ?

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6 Replies
LiisaM profile image
LiisaMGraduate

I had pain around one knee and just by chance, had to stop running for a little more than a week because of snow and because my son was home from college and interrupted my running schedule. I noticed that when I started up again, (which I did very slowly,) that my knee was no longer bothering me. I'm taking it easy, having only run twice now.

Also, have you tried turmeric? Look up turmeric on the Internet; you may find that it helps you. I notice the difference in general when I take turmeric or when I don't. I put a little more than half a tsp into a daily smoothie. Turmeric is a spice found in Indian curries, if you haven't heard of it. Here are a couple of links: nutritionfacts.org/video/tu... nutritionfacts.org/video/tu... and do a search for turmeric here: nutritionfacts.org This M.D. doesn't make any money off of anything, in case you might wonder. He just posts for public health and people donate to support the site.

misswobble profile image
misswobbleGraduate in reply to LiisaM

I think all is not lost

I had joint problems but am much better now having lost a load of weight and given up alcohol. Less pressure on my joints now

I had trouble with me knee early on into the programme. I rested it but it hurt when I ran and it hurt when I didn’t. So I decided to see if I could run it off and I did. As I kept running my knees got stronger. They are fine now

C25k is gentle, and done slowly, so shouldn’t present too much of a problem i’d Say. I am not a doctor though. My doctor is a real dose of cold water about my running, and would rather I sat at home gobbling statins 😠 🙄

I love to run on my local country park with it’s softer paths. The forest floor trail is lovely if you can find it. Years of pine needle composted down is great to run on 😃

Good luck 💪👍

in reply to misswobble

Thank you misswobble for your encouragement ... hee hee - I think my doctor comes from the same school of thought as yours, and he is charming but very young and at one point he said "at your age ..." with a slight grimace !!

I could (and will) lose a few pounds too, and thinking about it, there is a forest trail nearish to me - I would have to drive there, but it might be worth it.

Happy running

in reply to LiisaM

Thank you for your reply LiisaM, and VERY interesting and persuasive link about turmeric - I shall definitely give that a try. (I love the name Zard-choobag!) And a longish rest is a good idea too, I think.

Happy running!

Gillma profile image
GillmaGraduate

I am not a doctor but I have got a slightly arthritic hip - I was told by an orthopaedic surgeon to wait till it got worse and then get an artificial hip . A lovely sports Physio with arthritic knees who regularly does triathlons and mountain biking read my x-Ray and thought otherwise: he gave me some running lessons as that was what I wanted to do. This was all about 5years ago and my hip is very much better - weekly Pilates helps a lot. It took me till last spring to embark on C25k and graduating felt very fine as did a post-grad park run where I ran all the way. My hip was fine .

I found the original physio’s ‘can-do’ attitude very helpful. I have since moved. I am slow and very careful and have another excellent sports Physio on speed dial!

By the way, i do favour the springy turf paths on the South Downs.

Thank you Gillma - all that makes a lot of sense, particularly Pilates. Strangely, my physio takes classes, but didn't suggest it and I didn't think to ask ! Duh. I shall go back to her. And yes - springy turf sounds ideal. I need to do some homework and find a way around all this. I'm not ready to give up yet - a bit of persistence seems to have worked for you.

Many thanks again - kind of you to reply.

Happy running.

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