Painful legs

[Bandyock]

Hi, I’m new, pushing 60 and trying to get fit. It’s been a long time coming! I’m on week 2, my legs are painful during the jog and between jogs. It’s been a real effort and not at all enjoyable. A friend told me about cold shower on my calves which I tried today and which actually has helped. Any other advise would be much appreciated. I don’t want to give up

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on welcome to the forum.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on pacin, minimising impact, stretching after every run and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Enjoy your journey.

[Hidden]

Welcome on getting started and showing determination to keep going.

You are building new running legs and it takes time for your muscles to adjust to the extra work being asked of them. A few leg aches is not unusual and stretching properly after each run should help you. There are some good post-run stretches on the NHS website and I use these after each run: nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/h... .

I struggled with sore calf muscles/legs and a fellow forum member suggested Epsom bath salts for a post-run bath - it worked wonders!! Massage your calf muscles whilst they are still warm after your bath; that really helps too.

If you feel you need to stretch before your run, try these: runnersworld.com/training/g...

I started doing them part way through C25k and now do them religiously before each run because they really made a difference when I felt the warm up walk wasn't quite enough.

I hope this helps you Bandyock and your legs start feeling more comfortable soon. 😊

[Bandyock in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou so much. I’ll get some Epsom salts and do those stretches 👍