Injury worry

[Woody_53]

My partner has started the program, so I went back to the beginning to keep her company. We have just finished week two, and she has pain on the inside of her knees. She is physically fit, swims a lot, and we walk a lot. She used to suffer with plantar fasciitis and is worried about triggering a recurrence of the condition. Any suggestions?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Get her to read the guide to the plan healthunlocked.com/couchto5... in respect of dealing with injury, minimising impact, stretching after every run and strengthening exercises.

Knee pain is extremely common for new runners, caused by impact on legs that are not used to it. It is not normally linked to plantar fasciitis.

Good quality running shoes fitted after a gait analysis will also reduce the impact.

[Woody_53 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you. The non essential shops here have reopened so we will try to find a running shoe shop.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

Make sure she reads the guide to the programme.

She may be pushing too hard to keep up with your stride or over striding, trying to match your longer stride. She should be landing on her striking foot directly below her body or just slightly forward. Over striding really puts pressure on the knee.

If she is definitely not over reaching then some knee strengthening exercises might be useful although given you say you both walk "a lot" it is more likely to be pushing too hard or stride length.

Encourage her to lead so that you are following her pace, even going single file so she can find her own stride and pace. Everyone, even similar heights and leg lengths, has their own natural run stride.

Post run stretches will be really important for her, especially heel drops and raises to keep the fascia supple.

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[Woody_53 Graduate in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Thank you. We will try the suggestions.

[Speedy60 Graduate]

nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/k... are good. They helped me when I started out. 👍

[nowster Graduate]

My uneducated guess would be overpronation. Getting a proper gait analysis done would be best.

Second best would be for you to run behind her and observe what's happening to her ankles and knees during her strides. Ideally the whole leg and foot should be working together in a roughly vertical line as viewed from the back.