weak knees - any thoughts or advice?

[MatthewR]

hi everyone just wanted a bit of advice. I got up to week 7 a week ago but had a bit of a pain in my left knee, so stopped for the last week. Knee feels ok ish now so going to try and get going again today. Should I carry on where I left off or go back a week or two? Another think with the knees - I have been getting pain/strain in the ligaments at the inside sides of my knees. On off days I had been going swimming, and doing breaststroke with the frog leg foot action - I’m thinking that might have been the cause of the knee strain - any thoughts?

[TheRunningGardener]

Hi Matthew,

It definitely sounds like a good idea to have taken a bit of a break while you’re recovering from an injury. If you’re feeling up to it now, I’d honestly just see how it feels as you go, take it at a steady pace and make sure to stretch before and after running. Perhaps try where you’d got to, but slower, and if it feels too much then drop back a run (or a week) until it feels achievable.

I’m in week 8 now and had to take a couple of weeks off due to Achilles/ankle pain. It did take me a while to get back into it, in fact the first few runs were easily the worst, but now I’m managing 28 minutes. My breathing is good now so it’s the aches and pains that sometimes get me, something which didn’t bother me so much at the start when it was more the breathing that was worse.

[MatthewR Graduate in reply to TheRunningGardener]

thanks so much for the support and advice - I’m going to head out today and will try again but take it easy. I know what you mean about breathing, I don’t find it gets much easier for me ! I find it hard to actually get a deep enough breath, but hoping things will improve over time. Have a good week 👍

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

When you say your knee feels “okish”, does that mean you’re still getting pain? It’s best not to run in pain without seeing a professional who can reassure you that you’re not doing any damage to yourself. I’ve had knee issues recently and seeing a physio was the best thing I could have done. They identified issues at my hips and glute muscles that I wouldn’t have known about. Well worth it for me to get on the road to recovery!

Yours might settle but it’s worth thinking about seeking advice from a professional if it doesn’t. Adding strength and flex work is really important for runners to help your resistance to injuries. Perhaps have a browse over on the Heath Unlocked Strength and Flex forum for some suggestions on how to get started?

healthunlocked.com/strength...

Good luck to you!

[MatthewR Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

thanks so much for the advice - I’ll try and find out if there is someone local - where would I look ? A doctors? A sports centre? I know my weight has been an issue - and it has felt like a balancing act between jogging to lose weight and losing weight so that I can jog if you know what I mean. I ve had to go through a few strains with knees and ankles and used tubigrips for support. I tried swimming as a solution but breaststroke seemed to make the knees worse so will try again but just to front and back crawl. I jogged today and the knees held up with no pain, so hoping that they will be ok for rest of the week. Fingers crossed! Thanks again for the tips and ideas - I’m so glad to have began the C25K journey - can’t believe how far I’ve come.