I started running again a little while back and my knee started hurting so I stopped.
It’s been two months now, and I still get pain sometimes just walking, so I haven’t tried running.
The doctor couldn’t find anything. Is this just my 49-year-old body not being happy?
I wasn’t running that far, about 3 km. I’m not overweight and no in terrible shape.
One knee or both?
Any previous knee or leg injuries?
Likely causes:
You’re 49 and restarting-break-in pains, no worries.
Shoes-how old/are they real running shoes?
Running on a crowned road-make sure you run so each leg has time on the “downhill” side.
Weak quads-squats in the gym or bodyweight squats/one leg squats.
Just my right knee. Never had any knee or leg injuries before. I strained an ankle before, but this is different.
I’ve always been fairly fit for never really trying, so it’s a bitch to find out that my body isn’t young again. I remember deciding once to start running again after a long break and I started off with 3 km just to take it easy. of course, that was when I was in my 20s 
Real running shoes, well fitting and not that used.
the road is flat and not crowned. The distance is half one direction and back, so they both got a good work-out, even if there is some irregularity.
I just tried one leg bodyweight squats. Thank you very much for finding another way of letting my body tell me I’m not as young as I used to be.
Yesterday, I finished the last session of C25K. I started the program on August 12 and it took me 47:34 to complete 3.37 miles at an average pace of 14:06 min/mile. By September 13, I completed 3.44 miles in 39:19 at an average pace of 11:25 min/mile.
For most of the duration of the program, I took every other day off, but did not take two days off at the end of the week, so my ‘weeks’ are six days long. During the first few weeks, I was also walking with my husband adding to my total mileage. This extra mileage and fewer rest days may have contributed to muscle fatigue and tendinitis (?) that benched me for two weeks in mid-September. When I started back up on September 30, I repeated weeks four, five and six.
By October 18, I had finished the sixth week for the second time and ran/walked 3.22 miles in 31:20 at an avg pace of 9:44 min/mile. Finally, as of November 9 and my last 30 minute run. I completed 3.63 miles in 32:51 for an avg pace of 9:02 min/mile, which includes 2:51 minutes of walking or slow jog recovery.
I feel enormous progress as a result of the C25K program. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve learned how to pace myself at the beginning so that my pace in the second half of the run is consistently quicker. Throughout the program, I’ve also learned how to determine my level of exertion based on how I feel and can pretty much figure out how much I’ve got left in the tank and how far it will take me at any level of exertion.
From the very beginning, I’ve focused quite a bit on form and learning how to run efficiently and with lesser strain on my body. As a result, I transitioned from a built-up, cushioned running shoe to zero-drop ‘barefoot’ running shoes (Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas) and a midfoot strike, short strides and quick turnover. I’m currently running very comfortably without pain in any part of my body. I attribute the foot injury in September to overtraining as well as errors in form due to the transition in foot position.
Yesterday, my husband took some video of my form, so I could get a better look at it:
One, two, three, and four. The first one is a section that I struggle to keep going during, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the crappy sidewalk, or it’s a long barely perceptible climb, or I’m fatigued or all of the above. The second one is running downhill but there’s an uphill section at the end of it, so I’m either trying to recover a little in preparation for the uphill or I’m taking advantage of momentum to make up some time. The third one is the last part of the uphill section and I’m just about ready to speed up again after slowing down on the steeper lower end. This hill used to kill me and I couldn’t run it, even slowly. Now, I just chant to myself to regulate my breathing and heartrate, so I can run the whole way. The last one when I say “20 seconds,” I’m at the end of the 30-minute run interval (heard the 30-second alert in my ear) and right after he stopped filming, I gunned it to the bell, even though I was pretty fatigued. Drained my energy in that burst and got my HR up pretty good, too!
I still have work to do, though. I’d like to improve my cadence overall and my body position when I’m fatigued. I notice that my shoulders drop and my back rounds when I’m tired. I’ll keep on working on both my speed and endurance by incorporating track speed workouts and weekly long runs. I’m looking at the Furman University FIRST training programs. I’d also like to incorporate more cross-training with biking and swimming as soon as I can get a bike and access to a pool. I have been doing to some strength training and core conditioning in between run days, however.
Anyway, I just wanted to brag a little that I’ve graduated and I’m a happy, healthy runner, now. I’m actually just as surprised that I completed a nine-weeklong endeavor as that I can run for 30 minutes straight and I want to keep doing it!
Congrats on finishing and becoming hooked.
A few thoughts.
Your cadence is fine, I counted it at around 180 which is what almost all runners do-world class or beginner.
You actually are still landing slightly heel first-no problem there, you’re not over or understriding. A midfoot landing will come naturally as you gain speed.
You do bounce a bit-focus on a spot and see if you can run and keep it level. It will take some time and practice to adjust your form.
Increasing your overall mileage/long run and training regularly will increase your speed more than speed training. Interval work will increase your speed temporarily but the adaptations the body makes do not last.
It’s a training technique for racing not general fitness.
Posture as you fatigue is helped by strength training of the shoulder girdle and the core-don’t neglect the obliques, they help control any rotation of the torso.
Paying attention to your posture helps as you can make yourself run taller when you fatigue.
You’re ahead of the game in that you are aware of your exertion and capacity to maintain a pace, many runners never learn that.
I’m in W8 and am planning on running a 5K on Thanksgiving Day.
What should my training schedule be between Nov. 19, when I’ll finish W9, and Nov. 25, T-Day?
Just what you’ve been doing. Ease off a couple of days before but don’t go inactive.
If this is your first 5K I would presume you’re only concerned about finishing, not racing.
Thank you, thank you, runner pat, for your valuable input. First off, are you sure I’m heal striking first, because it sure doesn’t feel like it and I’ve gone through a lot of effort to avoid that. At the start of this program, I tried very hard to not allow my heel to ever touch the ground and I think it resulted in landing too far forward, which seemed to cause some pain in my forefoot. Since benching myself for top of foot pain that was never adequately diagnosed (clinic doc said it was PF, primary doc and I disagreed), I stopped trying to force my gait forward and discovered that when I’m running naturally, I feel my midfoot, just behind the fourth and fifth metatarsal head hit the ground first, with my heel gently resting on the ground shortly after impact. That’s certainly what it *feels *like and I keep looking at the vids trying to determine if I’m actually landing on the heel or it’s just really close to the ground when I land midfoot. It’s hard to tell. I’ll try to get some better vids uploaded.
As to the bounce, I’ve reduced it quite a bit with shorter strides and I don’t have a lot of lift in my feet after turnover, which I think helps, but I can’t seem to figure out how to reduce it further. I just figured that increased speed would reduce it further. I have been trying to focus on running smoother, but I wonder if my physique (a significant amount of weight and movement in my bust) tends to work against me. I really would like to bounce less because even with a very compressive sports bra, I feel it and it’s not comfortable and it makes me a little self-conscious.
Are you familiar with the FIRST training plans? The plans incorporate 3 days of running plus 2 days of cross-training. The running days are broken down to 1 day of track repeats, 1 day of tempo training, and 1 long run per week. I would assume the cross-training contributes more to general fitness that in turn improves agility, efficiency and endurance for running. To me, as a novice, it sounded like a well-rounded mix of different types of training. What are your thoughts?
Thanks again for your input. Hope this discussion provides current and future C25K graduates more food for thought as to what comes next.
I’m a big proponent of cross training. Unless you’re a competitive college runner or better, cross training is a great way to keep up aerobic fitness while reducing high impact stress on the body. Doubly so for those who are starting running later in life and didn’t have a childhood building the bones, ligaments and tendons to handle the stress.
don’t worry about your footplant. I think there’s too much emphasis on midfoot running even for paces too slow to benefit. As long as you don’t force a stride length or footplant style, you’ll be fine. As I said, you don’t appear to be over or understriding.
A midfoot plant requires more foot strength and conditioning than a heel- first plant.
Your plant does not look extreme, your heel is landing first but your foot is almost flat.
I looked at the FIRST website, nothing new or out of the ordinary there. I still wouldn’t do track work on a regular basis unless it’s a mild effort to stay a little prepared for racing inbetween seasons.
Tempo runs are a mainstay for runners and contribute greatly to continued improvements.
Correct! Finishing is the goal. That and finding an appropriate turkey hat to wear.
Thank you, by the way, for letting this turn into the “Ask runner pat” thread! 
Just wanna pop in to say that I hit an unofficial personal 10K record last night at my local (well, 50 miles away, but it’s the closest one) running’s club’s monthly fun run.
Previous two 10Ks: 1:09, 1:06
Last night: 1:04
And I felt great, could have kept going! I’d fallen out of training but am gearing back up and want to keep going outside through winter.
The club is great. I met up with a woman I’ve been chatting with on Facebook who’s also new to the group, and we sat and yakked over the free tacos & beer (OK, we both had water) after the race. The other club members were pretty cool too, nice folks. Looking forward to more events with the group.
Also, I’d stopped at the running store to pick up some night gear (reflective stuff, blinky lights, etc) and splurged on one of these. Can’t miss me in the dark, boy howdy! (Also got a headlamp with front and back lights and a little magnetic blinky too.)
ETA: Next up: A 5K on Thanksgiving morning, a 15K the following Sunday, and a 5K with hubby the Saturday after that.
Well done! Good luck Thanksgiving morning.
Excellent job. And good on you getting visible. I cringe when I see(barely) runners out after dark with nary a bright thing on 'em.
I’m a safety girl. I mentioned the jacket to a friend yesterday, and she said, “Oh, and it’ll be good for hunting season too.” I said, “Are you crazy? I don’t run out here [on my local rural roads] during hunting season! I drive to town to run that week.” Sheesh!
To be honest, i really don’t know people run after dark. I can’t do it.
It’s not that i go around bumping into trees and light poles and cars; it’s more that the lack of contrast makes it difficult to see cracks and holes and other deformities in the sidewalk and the road. I tried running after dark a couple of times, and almost sprained my ankle coming down badly into depressions that i couldn’t see properly.
That’s what the headlamp is for. And really, for most of this particular run, we were in downtown and residential areas with streetlights. I imagine you would also pick your route in the daytime and go for a path where you know the pavement is smooth.
But there was one section that went along the lake and then through a park. The lakeside route was dang near pitch black. The first time I went through (for my 10K, I ran the 5K route twice because it was easier to follow than the circuitous 10K), there were other runners and I felt pretty secure. Second time through, I was the only one. Not running through there by myself, no way nohow, not with muggers and pervs hiding in the bushes. So I doubled back through the residential stuff and approximated the distance (it was mostly rectilinear, so easy to do).
Scarlett, that is fantastic! Congratulations!
I’m also looking at headlamps and visibility gear for morning runs now that it’s still dark at 7am. This is the headlamp I’m looking at. Which one do you have?
Yesterday, I decided to see how fast I could run an 8K because my friends have been encouraging me to sign up for a race. There’s an 8K turkey trot on Thanksgiving. My GPS running app never alerted when I finished the 8K, so I just kept running until I couldn’t run any further. Ended up running 15km in 1:22:15. I have no idea how I did that since that pace is faster than my 5K pace. I must be holding back or something. Also, I started out the first mile at a very slow pace (10:18) and finished the last mile at a very fast pace (6:39). I had a negative split of ~2:45/mile for the second half of the run.
I think I might consider running the half at Christmas. It’s five weeks from today. Is that too aggressive?
Brown Eyed Girl, I’m going to say I suspect the accuracy of your GPS app. Based on your paces on finishing C25K that you posted upthread, the time for a 15K is way out of whack. Tripling your longest run at faster than 5K pace is just not possible. Also your last mile is much faster than McMillians predicts for a single all out mile even if the 15K time was accurate.(7:22 predicted.)
If you remember the route you ran, mapmyrun can give you the true distance or use Google Earth.
GPS can be a valuable tool but you should look into dedicated devices such as the various Garmin units. The one i use on my handcycle is dead on and very consistent.
I was supposed to do a half marathon today but I came down with a cold. I was hoping all Sat I’d feel better but this morning I had a sore throat and congestion so I decided not to do it. After sleeping a few more hours, I felt better but now it’s too late since the run started at 8:30am. I’m really disappointed that I missed it and I can’t help wondering if I would’ve felt better if I gave it a shot.
Borderline in this case but the only way to know is in hindsight. If you had run the race and you were coming down with might have been a minor cold, you would have made it much worse and maybe lose weeks of training.
I’ve usually tried to err on the side of caution(not always successfully, either).