Running with knee pain?

I have started the c25k program this week. Instead of just doing the 3 days a week I have decided to do each day twice, so do 6 sessions a week. So far I love it.

However, today I have knee pain. Nothing too severe, but hurts enough that I notice it up walking around. It didn't hurt when I was at work earlier today, but rather when I got home. It is possible that I was in an awkward position at work and that caused it to hurt. So my question is- what would you do? Take the day off from running or just run through the pain? I know it is not an actual injury.

Replies

unknown

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

You said you had more endurance, hence doing double the workouts...

unknown

You say you have good endurance: Did you used to run before you started the C25K? If not, suck it up and do the program the way it was originally designed. The reasoning is not because of cardiovascular ability, but muscular-skeletal ability. Running leads to injury, unless you take it super, super slow. Cardiovascular strength develops a lot faster than musclular-skeletar strength. If you increase your amount of running as the rate your cardiovascular system develops, you will literally frack up your muscular-skeletal system, or in lamens terms, your will injure yourself, then you won't be able to run at all.

This knee injury may be nothing, but it may be your body telling you that you're being an idiot and pushing yourself too hard. Been there, done that. I had knee pain from cycling. I ignored it. It didn't get worse, until I tried a new trail (mountain biking) and bam. My knees were out. I was basically bed-ridden for months and completely lost my ability to ride my bikes.

Don't make the mistake I made. Stop pushing yourself so hard and take it easy. The program gives you 3 runs every week for a reason. This isn't a race and you're not going to lose all of your weight or gain all of your fitness overnight. Rest>Stretching>Exercise. Get adequate rest before you run, always stretch, and then go for your runs. If you cannot do the first two, don't to the last.

unknown

it is just over training i know you want to push yourself and same here but maybe check you have good trainers and instead of doing 6 days running do three and three days swimming this helps your knee to heal and give u a good body shape but still pushing yourself.

Hope it gets better though!

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

See my previous post. You're over-doing it. The program was created with 3x/day for a reason. You will NOT get better at running faster by doing more. You will do the opposite. If you want to do more exercise, then don't run. Do something else.

unknown

TavistockToad wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

You said you had more endurance, hence doing double the workouts...

I did not mean double the workouts as doing two back to back, I meant doing 6 workouts a week instead of 3, repeating the 3 from they week. So doing w1d1 on Monday and Tuesday, w1d2 Wednesday and Thursday, w1d3 Friday and Saturday.

unknown

chivalryder wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

See my previous post. You're over-doing it. The program was created with 3x/day for a reason. You will NOT get better at running faster by doing more. You will do the opposite. If you want to do more exercise, then don't run. Do something else.

QFT

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

You said you had more endurance, hence doing double the workouts...

I did not mean double the workouts as doing two back to back, I meant doing 6 workouts a week instead of 3, repeating the 3 from they week. So doing w1d1 on Monday and Tuesday, w1d2 Wednesday and Thursday, w1d3 Friday and Saturday.

If you don't feel the workouts are pushing you enough because of your current level of endurance, try week 2 or 3, but doing it more often is just more likely to lead to injury. Resting between runs is important.

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If you can run more than c25k, why do c25k? Why not just run further 3 x a week?

Not sure where you got the idea I currently run. I have never been a runner and just starting c25k from walking everyday.

You said you had more endurance, hence doing double the workouts...

I did not mean double the workouts as doing two back to back, I meant doing 6 workouts a week instead of 3, repeating the 3 from they week. So doing w1d1 on Monday and Tuesday, w1d2 Wednesday and Thursday, w1d3 Friday and Saturday.

Horrible, horrible idea. Do the program as written. If you want more cardio, cross train with something else on your off days. Bike, swim, or preferably weights, etc.

unknown

Think of it this way:

In strength training, unless you're going for hypertrophy (which is an advanced thing to do - not for beginners), the general rule is 48 hours of rest between working the same muscles twice. This is because, when you do strength training, you are actually creating microscopic tears in your muscles - you;re literally ripping your muscles apart. The strength actually comes from when your muscles heal - the repair tissue adds extra tissue to your muscles, making them bigger.

Take the same philosophy to your running/walking. When you are running, you are actually doing little bits of damage to your body. Do it once, your body wouldn't notice much because if you give it sufficient time to heal, 48 hours like to program suggests, you'll be fully healed before your next run.

However, if you go again and again and again, you do not give your body sufficient time to heal, therefore you add little bits of injury on top of little bits of injury. Over time, it adds up, until you start feeling pain. Then, if you keep pushing, the injury will get so bad, something will fail and you are literally fracked.

So.

Stop running, start the program over again, only run as the program tells you to.

If you don't, you'll be running into a world of hurt.

If you need something to do, to add more exercise, and you don't have any money: Find some cinder blocks laying around your home. Anything heavy would actually do. Pick them up, then put them down. Boom. Free exercise. Not glamorous, but people in tight budgets can't afford to be glamorous.

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

I am not doing the rest days as suggested because I already have some mild endurance

The point is not your aerobic endurance, but the physical adaptations of the muscles and connective tissues.

Notwithstanding that I note that you've now clarified your original question, suggesting that this isn't actually running related. It may be, it may not be. As you're determined to overtrain then there's a high likelihood that you'll injure yourself at some point, and it'll be very difficult to tell what the cause has been.

As I mentioned upthread, the knee is a complex joint. It may be that you've exposed an incipient injury, it may be that you've done something that could turn into an injury if you run on it, or it could be that you've got nothing to worry about. No way for the rest of us to tell given the scant information.

Personally I only run four days a week. That's good enough for a 55 minute 10K this morning and a sub 2 hour half marathon. I also cycle and swim now and again, both of those hep to mitigate the injury risk.

unknown

Rest is as important to physical training as the activity itself. Take care of yourself. Patience

unknown

girlviernes wrote: »

Rest is as important to physical training as the activity itself. Take care of yourself. Patience

I know

but I don't tend to be patient lol.

One more question for those who run or are doing c25k: would it be worth it to see how much I can run continously before restarting (going to go back to day 1 to follow program the right way as you all suggested) to test my stamina? Not sure if I'm explaining that clear enough.

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

I have started the c25k program this week. Instead of just doing the 3 days a week I have decided to do each day twice, so do 6 sessions a week. So far I love it.

However, today I have knee pain. Nothing too severe, but hurts enough that I notice it up walking around. It didn't hurt when I was at work earlier today, but rather when I got home. It is possible that I was in an awkward position at work and that caused it to hurt. So my question is- what would you do? Take the day off from running or just run through the pain? I know it is not an actual injury.

Elphie, take the day off.

Make sure you have some good running shoes (if you have not already done so). Do you have Fleet Feet or Dick's Sporting Goods in your area? They measure runners for shoes for free, but first they measure for stride. If you're on a budget you can give that information to them so they don't try to sell you the most expensive shoes.

Good job too! I'm really proud of you!:)

unknown

If you are injured, take a break. It's that simple.

As for your pain, it isn't uncommon for runners new and experienced to develop pain in and around the knees, hips, and calves. Read up on running pain symptoms and stretching.

I know from my past if I start developing tenderness in the outside edge of my knee, and if the pain feels more pronounced walking down stairs or running down hill, that I've managed to let my Iliotibial Band (often referred to as ITB) become overly tight. It reaches from your buttocks down to the knee and isn't an obvious one to detect.

For me ITB related pain can almost always be completely avoided by doing proper, regular stretching. Ditto with hip flexor pain. If I do the stretching, and am not over-training, I'm good to go.

Take a day off and instead of running spend the time researching these things and trying to identify what your knee is trying to tell you. Ask away here too.

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

girlviernes wrote: »

Rest is as important to physical training as the activity itself. Take care of yourself. Patience

I know but I don't tend to be patient lol.

One more question for those who run or are doing c25k: would it be worth it to see how much I can run continously before restarting (going to go back to day 1 to follow program the right way as you all suggested) to test my stamina? Not sure if I'm explaining that clear enough.

NO!

Just start over again.

Pushing yourself to see just how far you can go, if you're already experiencing pain, could injure you in a way that will force you to quit running.

unknown

SLLRunner wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

I have started the c25k program this week. Instead of just doing the 3 days a week I have decided to do each day twice, so do 6 sessions a week. So far I love it.

However, today I have knee pain. Nothing too severe, but hurts enough that I notice it up walking around. It didn't hurt when I was at work earlier today, but rather when I got home. It is possible that I was in an awkward position at work and that caused it to hurt. So my question is- what would you do? Take the day off from running or just run through the pain? I know it is not an actual injury.

Elphie, take the day off.

Make sure you have some good running shoes (if you have not already done so). Do you have Fleet Feet or Dick's Sporting Goods in your area? They measure runners for shoes for free, but first they measure for stride. If you're on a budget you can give that information to them so they don't try to sell you the most expensive shoes.

Good job too! I'm really proud of you!:)

Already decided to

. I ended up doing some yoga instead.

I think my sneakers are pretty decent, but not 100% sure, so will definitely look for better ones (and get fitted).

Yes, there is a dicks and sports authority nearby. My budget has some wiggle room lol, I just can't do the gym right now because it's a pretty expensive monthly fee. And TY!

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

One more question for those who run or are doing c25k: would it be worth it to see how much I can run continously before restarting (going to go back to day 1 to follow program the right way as you all suggested) to test my stamina? Not sure if I'm explaining that clear enough.

You are getting lots of advice, so I don't want to confuse you more, but I'm honestly not sure what the point of starting over is. The program eases you into running, but lots of people start running in other ways or skip ahead if they already run some. I'd start back where you are if you feel comfortable with the runs (as it seems you do) and just take your off days and listen to your body.

(Nothing wrong with starting over either, but I think that's overkill.)

unknown

lemurcat12 wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

One more question for those who run or are doing c25k: would it be worth it to see how much I can run continously before restarting (going to go back to day 1 to follow program the right way as you all suggested) to test my stamina? Not sure if I'm explaining that clear enough.

You are getting lots of advice, so I don't want to confuse you more, but I'm honestly not sure what the point of starting over is. The program eases you into running, but lots of people start running in other ways or skip ahead if they already run some. I'd start back where you are if you feel comfortable with the runs (as it seems you do) and just take your off days and listen to your body.

(Nothing wrong with starting over either, but I think that's overkill.)

I am onlu on day 2 so restarting wouldnt be so bad

unknown

elphie754 wrote: »

girlviernes wrote: »

Rest is as important to physical training as the activity itself. Take care of yourself. Patience

I know but I don't tend to be patient lol.

One more question for those who run or are doing c25k: would it be worth it to see how much I can run continously before restarting (going to go back to day 1 to follow program the right way as you all suggested) to test my stamina? Not sure if I'm explaining that clear enough.

I'm just finishing up training for my first half marathon - the big event is this Saturday, eek! - and I ended up doing a lot of tweaking with the program I was following. I'm only doing 2 runs now (one shorter, one longer) and yoga 2-3 times a week. The program calls for 3-4 runs a week, strength training (optional) and stretching.

The reason I made the changes is I was feeling pain in a variety of places (outer left hip, left thigh & arch of left foot) and I knew my body needed me to back off.

The various aches are definitely still present, and I'm gonna get this half done and then back way off for a while and let myself recover.

The reason I mention this is to be yet another person that says follow the training plan as best you can! If you want to exercise on the off days, that's fine, but make it something that's easier on your body. A long walk and some yoga, maybe a bike ride. You have to work up to running constantly that much - your body NEEDS the opportunity to restore itself, and even more so if something feels tweaked, even if it's just from sitting funny at work.

I would say start with day 1, and follow the program as it's intended! Give it a few weeks and see how you're doing.

~Lyssa