Cautiously optimistic?

[JoP61]

Hi all you motivators

Had a setback after W3R2 - knee pain that couldn't be ignored and wouldn't go away for a few days. So I took a week off. Spent quite a bit of time on this forum reading about everyone's successes and feeling envious.

I went out this week with some trepidation and completed W3R3! Somewhat to my surprise! And 2 days later the knees feel fine. So am planning to try W4R1 tomorrow - nervous about the step up to 5 minute runs, but cautiously optimistic. So many of you say it can be done that I have to give it a go!

This is a remarkably helpful and positive forum, and my progress so far is in no small part due to you lot.

So pats on backs all round! I'll let you know how W4R1 goes........

[Razouski]

Sorry to hear about your setback, but well done for listening to your body and giving it a rest when needed. It might be worth doing some exercises on your rest days to strengthen your legs and knees. Rignold has some really good advice about squats (or skwaats as he calls them), and there are also the Strength and Flex podcasts on the NHS website that you could use - nhs.uk/Livewell/strength-an... .

If you are doing exercise on your rest days just make sure it's low impact.

Another thing to bear in mind if the knee pain happens again is your running shoes. Lots of people have found that investing in a good pair of running shoes has helped enormously with their joints - if you really get the running bug having gait analysis done and advice on which shoes will suit you best might be worth considering.

Good luck for tomorrow's run. Take it slow and steady and you will be surprised at yourself.

[JoP61 Graduate in reply to Razouski]

Great advice, thanks! I've been doing the knee strengthening exercises - I'll take a look at the skwaats!

Also looking at getting the gait analysis done.

Will definitely be taking it slow and steady...

[Millsie-J Graduate]

Glad that knee is doing ok! You are doing great, one third of the programme done already! 👍🏼

[JoP61 Graduate in reply to Millsie-J]

Wow - one third done! I didn't think of it like that. Still a long way to go though.

Thanks for the encouragement!