FRUSTRATED...HELP...Running advice

jgnatca

Walk, two feet on the ground. Run, one foot on the ground.

7lenny7

lmaharidge wrote: »

First of all, you're technically not running, you're jogging, which is the worst thing you can do for your joints, muscles, and soft tissue. You need to pick up your pace and get at least a 150-180 step per minute going. Even if you only go a mile, you'll thank me later.

Secondly how is your form? A lot of what you're describing can be due to poor form alone.

My advice would be to switch your shoes out if you have been in the same pair for 300 miles, pick up he pace and do some sprint drills

If you jog my memory, THEN you are jogging. If you slow your pace, you are still running.

I'm curious to find out why you think running at a slower pace is the *worst* think you can do for your joints, muscles, and soft tissue. Even if you believe that running at a slow pace is bad (and I certainly don't), would beating your knees with a baseball bat be worse? Or dropping large stones on your pinky toe? Or letting angry black bears feast on your quads?

Ok, I'm getting silly, but so are the two points I'm picking on.

_Waffle_

7lenny7 wrote: »

lmaharidge wrote: »

First of all, you're technically not running, you're jogging, which is the worst thing you can do for your joints, muscles, and soft tissue. You need to pick up your pace and get at least a 150-180 step per minute going. Even if you only go a mile, you'll thank me later.

Secondly how is your form? A lot of what you're describing can be due to poor form alone.

My advice would be to switch your shoes out if you have been in the same pair for 300 miles, pick up he pace and do some sprint drills

If you jog my memory, THEN you are jogging. If you slow your pace, you are still running.

I'm curious to find out why you think running at a slower pace is the *worst* think you can do for your joints, muscles, and soft tissue. Even if you believe that running at a slow pace is bad (and I certainly don't), would beating your knees with a baseball bat be worse? Or dropping large stones on your pinky toe? Or letting angry black bears feast on your quads?

Ok, I'm getting silly, but so are the two points I'm picking on.

As long as I keep my hamstrings I can still run.

mwyvr

You want to be careful of Segways...

_Waffle_

suzu_2

[/quote] I have never ran before and read your post.
I have a treadmill and would prefer to start with it before I venture out. I have tried a couple of times but can't even run for 30 seconds [/quote]

I'm offering a suggestion - look in your area and see if you have a runners club (or even a sporting goods store) that offers a beginners running class. Our area has a great program that does interval training the right way. Slow incremental increases in the ratio of Run:Walk each week until you wake up one day and discover you are really enjoying this. This is really a great way to train and progress. Our program has some excellent and experienced coaches that run with the group and help teach pacing and form. I will be 61 this year and had never run before starting this program either. Never thought I could!! Now my run days are something I look forward to.

mwyvr

^^^ this! Getting together with a running group (a running store, community centre, YM/YWCA, etc) is always worthwhile for new runners. Many of the groups in our city bring in guest speakers, have short lectures on useful topics ranging from stretching to form to gear. Running can be a great social activity too.

ScreeField

lmaharidge wrote: »

First of all, you're technically not running, you're jogging, which is the worst thing you can do for your joints, muscles, and soft tissue. You need to pick up your pace and get at least a 150-180 step per minute going. Even if you only go a mile, you'll thank me later.

Secondly how is your form? A lot of what you're describing can be due to poor form alone.

My advice would be to switch your shoes out if you have been in the same pair for 300 miles, pick up he pace and do some sprint drills

I totally understood what you were trying to say (it's a relief to see I'm not the only person who thinks one word and somehow manages to type another).

I'm going to suggest you meant a low/slow stride rate is hard on joints *because* it is sometimes linked with a longer stride length. To fix the problem, runners are coached to "pick up the pace" or speed up their turnover (stride rate) which is thought to naturally shorten stride length.

Some new runners (or runners who have difficulty with injuries) may have a longer stride length than necessary. Over-striding means landing too far out in front of your body which puts more stress on the leg joints (and knees). Knee injury can result.

Going downhill can exacerbate the problem where people often over-stride. Downhill can have a compounding effect on the knee from the over-striding and the slope (longer fall). Running downhill requires a much shorter stride (I like to repeat: "fast feet" to myself when I run on big downhill slopes). Going uphill, some runners naturally tend to under-stride (which is easier on the knee) and, just like over-striding downhill, there's a compounding effect from the shorter stride and the incline (shorter fall). Except, on the uphill slope, the compounding effect is a reduction in impact [read: benefit]. Having a preference for uphill can be a sign of over-striding. Although, there's a bit more to it.

As one posted above, tight hips and weak core can also play a role. Tight hips exacerbate the problem because the leg swings like a pendulum from the hip when you run, and if you have tight hip flexors, the back swing is limited. That can contribute to over-striding, which can contribute to knee problems. The muscles that stabilize this area are core and hip. Weak core/hip muscles are a contributing factor of anterior knee pain, Achilles tendinopathy, and proximal hamstring strain in runners.

By quickening your stride rate, you may naturally shorten stride length, and therefore place less strain on the knee with impact. As a rule of thumb, it is suggested a mere 10-20% reduction in stride length improves impact enough to prevent stride length related injury. As little as 3 to 5 inches for new runners. This is a common theme among runners--I don't claim to have invented the theory. Because there's quite a bit of research on it, it's easy to find drills for quickening rate, stretches for flexors, etc. My own check for keeping length and rate correct is "soft feet" -- if I'm pounding the pavement, I'm doing it wrong.