Ankle pain on treadmill but not on the road. What am I doing wrong?

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dearvienna
dearvienna Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Whenever I try and use the treadmill, I get this awful sharp pain in the front of my ankles down into my feet. I read online that it's commonly caused by going too fast or having the incline up too high. Well, I'm unfortunately experiencing it at speeds as low as 2.5mph and an incline of 0%. I don't experience this pain though when I walk on the road, but the weather isn't very forgiving right now. I really want to continue my progress with c25k, but at this rate, I won't ever make it out of week 1.

Are there certain stretches I should be adding? Am I stepping wrong? I was thinking that they might be shin splints, but it's so far down on my ankle and into my foot.

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  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Is it on the inside or outside of your feet?

    Which shoes do you wear?

    Do you have flat arches?
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Shin splints can send pain down into your foot. Mine hits me right on the arch of my foot the worst. But if you can walk on the road without pain, I doubt that's it. Are you wearing the same shoes for both?
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    I have some similar actually that I've discussed with my physical therapist.

    The treadmills absorbed the shock of you differently than the road and there's actually a small bounce back.
    I worked further on my ankle mobility and I'm mostly pain-free on the treadmill now (since I told her living in Maine with half marathons coming up, that avoiding the treadmill wasn't going to happen).

    Also, when I had a slower cadence and longer stride, I had more pain in my ankle on the treadmill since I was heel striking, I've worked hard the last few months to shorten my stride, quicken my cadence, and I'm more of a mid-foot striker now.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Shin splints usually hurt more after or at the beginning of a run than during, so this doesn't sound like shin splints. I'd assume it's a foot-strike difference -- instead of hitting mid-foot, you might be striking up on the balls of your feet, possibly because you're a bit afraid of going off the back on the treadmill. Maybe allow yourself to drift a little further back on the treadmill, so you have room to get your feet a little more out in front on the strike?
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    You're in Georgia. Run outside.
  • dearvienna
    dearvienna Posts: 6
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    Is it on the inside or outside of your feet?

    Which shoes do you wear?

    Do you have flat arches?

    The pain is on the outside. Right now I am just wearing regular ol' Nikes that I got at a sports store. And nope, no flat arches.
    dubird wrote: »
    Shin splints can send pain down into your foot. Mine hits me right on the arch of my foot the worst. But if you can walk on the road without pain, I doubt that's it. Are you wearing the same shoes for both?

    I am wearing the same shoes for both.
    hill8570 wrote: »
    Shin splints usually hurt more after or at the beginning of a run than during, so this doesn't sound like shin splints. I'd assume it's a foot-strike difference -- instead of hitting mid-foot, you might be striking up on the balls of your feet, possibly because you're a bit afraid of going off the back on the treadmill. Maybe allow yourself to drift a little further back on the treadmill, so you have room to get your feet a little more out in front on the strike?

    I can definitely try moving back a bit. I do believe that I tend to hove near the front.
    SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »
    You're in Georgia. Run outside.

    Because you know, nobody lives off of a road without sidewalks and a speed limit of 65mph. I'd rather not die when my apartment has a lovely gym within a 2 minute walking distance of my apartment.
  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
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    I have the same issue on the treadmill, and I haven't really found a way to fix it. It seems less severe when I slow my pace, but it sounds like you've already done that. You may want to consider different shoes. I have one pair that I use strictly for treadmill runs because they seem to help my ankles the most.

    If you truly want to continue with C25K (and you should!!), perhaps you could find a safer area to run outdoors and drive there. If you continue to push through the pain on the treadmill, you will likely end up with injuries that prevent you from progressing through your program.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    dearvienna wrote: »
    Whenever I try and use the treadmill,

    Thats your problem right there. Run in the real.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »
    You're in Georgia. Run outside.

    Because you know, nobody lives off of a road without sidewalks and a speed limit of 65mph. I'd rather not die when my apartment has a lovely gym within a 2 minute walking distance of my apartment.

    1. Grab your keys
    2. Get in car
    3. Drive to city/park
    4. Run your miles
    5. Drive home
    6. Repeat as necessary

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