Beginning c25K and legs are killing me, normal??

doriharvey

I am wondering if my experience is "normal" and how I might compare to others beginning to do this.

Background so you know my situation a little.

Yesterday was my fourth training workout. I am 5'7" with a BMI of 28, age 42 11/12th's (birthday in 20 days). I have been doing full body low impact aerobics that march and jog for 45 minutes to 1 hour regularly for a couple of months with little to no muscle issues in the past several weeks although I did have some muscle pain/ weakness starting the "walk" workouts. I have never been an athletic, but could walk briskly for an hour without problem most of my life and in my early 30's got into tae-bo basics, never having muscle pain or weakness. However about 5 years ago I was showing off in a softball game and ran like I knew what I was doing, I did have muscle pain and ALOT of weakness, I could not lift my leg up to put jeans on without picking it up with my hands for about one week. I did not stretch - did not know how at the time.... like I said never been athletic

I just started week 2 in the C25K program. I read about the importance of shoes so I went to the running shoe store yesterday, had a walk evaluation (I'm neutral with a slight outtie) and got a real pair of running shoes and socks. My joints do not hurt, only the muscles and only when I move them in certain ways and muscle weakness.

Yesterday I did week 2 of c25K and then power walked about 25 minutes following (approx 1 hour of movement). I went into this work out with slightly strained front thigh muscles that only hurt when I bent at the knee to reach towards the floor and I held my heel at my buttocks to stretch this area several times before beginning. Yesterday I felt some pulling in the upper thigh (groin area?) so when I started the warm up walk I stopped to stretch it a bit and kept going. I did occasionally feel the pulling while walk/jog but for the most part it did not hinder me. I also felt some uncomfortable stretching between my left ankle and knee, closer to the ankle and about 5 inches above - not in the calf muscles.

At this point in time I am thinking I am not stretching correctly after the workouts, but I am doing what I know to do for stretches. I did have a rest day between workouts and the legs were pretty sore, but not weak following my last workout. My actual knee joints, ankle joints, and hip joints do not hurt.... only muscles near these areas.

I frequently stretch after and between workouts doing the following:
1) standing hold each ankle and then touch the floor for a full back of leg stretch
2) keep the feet flat on the floor and lean forward towards my counter straight leg for a calf stretch
3) pull the foot up to the buttocks, lift up and stretch for a hamstring stretch.
4) sit on the ground and do the "butterfly" stretch.

During the walk/run I felt the muscles 5" right above my knees (more towards the inner leg) BIG TIME and some at the side of calf on the left side. After the run I did stretch doing what I describe above. Then I did shopping and found I walked slow, had weak legs with pain twinges above the left ankle, weak and sore front thigh muscles, and above the knee very sore and weak My husband noticed enough to ask if I was limping, I didn't think I was but I was slow and sore. I did continue to stretch a few seconds as I could without looking to strange while shopping.

At home I have a 6" foam roller, I did a roll down the front of my thighs to knee area with my arms / body in a push up form and OH MY STARS, it was painful ESP above the knees. Enough to make me scream, "OMS, I'm killing me". I forced me to roll over those most painful above the knee muscles for several seconds about three times before I couldn't take the torture anymore. The front thighs were painful but not like torture.

I used Pain Relief Cream liberally and really worked it into the muscles in my front thighs and the muscles above my knees. I also took a "back aid" med (tylonol and a dieuretic - not caffeine) that is to provide 8 hours relief. This morning I did not have much leg pain getting out of bed like I did the day before, but they feel weak. I do use my arms to lessen the weight on those muscles when I bend at the knee because they feel weak.

I have had a vericose vein surgery 11 years ago, it is inherited and I do have large a thick vericose vein that is visible and runs the length of my left leg on the outer side from the thigh through the calf. I know it is the same in my right leg, just not visible.

Besides stretching I am thinking maybe I need to use full leg recovery compression, but am not "in the know" about this and my 5K real life "coach" doesn't know much about the vericose vein either.

athenasurrenders

OK first off, I am not a doctor, etc etc, just sharing what I've found personally.

I believe that most of the time we know when something is wrong with our bodies. There's ouchy pain, and there's warning-something-is-wrong pain. I don't worry about sore and achy muscles after a workout - (though if it's so severe you're struggling to walk and dress yourself the next day, I'd suggest you're overdoing it) but I do very much worry about joint pains or twingy, stabby or crunchy pains which can be a sign of injury. Likewise, pain in just one side of the body can be a sign of injury, so go and get yourself checked out if that's the case. It is not worth hurting yourself and if you are injured, every workout could be making it worse.

There is a lot of debate about static stretching before a work out, the opinions seem to range from 'doesn't help much' to 'could make things worse'. You'll certainly get more benefit from them after your body is warmed up. Might be worth doing some research on that to decide.

I have found a big help for me has been yoga. I've added in 3-4 short yoga sessions per week and I feel it's strengthened my legs and core and just made me that bit more resilient to injuries. All my little niggling aches and pains have eased off. Just something to consider.

belgerian

I run on a regular basis and my legs always sore. Some of it is using your legs in a way there not used to certain muscles for stability and such just keep going sounds like its muscle soreness only it will get better ice helps also. Also a side note I did some squats for the first time after that for the next week my legs were so sore i could barly touch my thighs and walk up stairs. Just your body getting used to the activity slow and easy.

Ninkyou

I also felt some uncomfortable stretching between my left ankle and knee, closer to the ankle and about 5 inches above - not in the calf muscles.

This part was me last month with just walking. I fixed it by getting new shoes (cross-trainers, which are lower to the ground). My doctor said it was probably a case of too much too soon as well. Instead of going in and jumping right into it, to ease myself into walking, by doing XX amount a day and then the next day do XX amount, etc. She also told me to take some pain reliever. So with a combination of new shoes, easing into it and taking pain reliever, my pain is 100% gone. It was like the clouds lifting after a tornado.

Teardrop81

I run on a regular basis and my legs always sore. Some of it is using your legs in a way there not used to certain muscles for stability and such just keep going sounds like its muscle soreness only it will get better ice helps also. Also a side note I did some squats for the first time after that for the next week my legs were so sore i could barly touch my thighs and walk up stairs. Just your body getting used to the activity slow and easy.

I agree. Muscle soreness is definitely normal - everyone experiences some when doing activities to which the body is not accustomed. If it is severe enough to interfere with walking, I'd take it down a notch for sure. I've been running a lot recently but I haven't since Saturday. I can still feel some soreness from my activity Saturday (which was a lot more than normal). When I grab my foot from behind and pull it toward my butt, it's really sore. But the longer I hold it there, the more it stretches out and feels better. I do remember when I first started running regularly, there were times it hurt to get out of bed the next day. My legs would hurt from the top down. Movement was the only thing that helped. Heating pads feel good, too! Also, it helps to stretch in a hot bath after a hard workout.

I am also no doctor, but it does sound like normal stuff to me. There is some controversy surrounding static stretching cold muscles. Do some research yourself and see if you could be contributing to muscle soreness by actually stretching cold muscles too much before you run with static stretches. It doesn't seem to affect me negatively, but it might be different for others. DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is another thing to look up and be familiar with. Hope this helps!

doriharvey

Today I did a light walking workout (Leslie Sansone) slight soreness, not bad and then followed it with beginner yoga for leg pain........... yes, the yoga stretching, yes. I feel SO much better tonight and took no over the counter meds today for pain because I did not need to.

Thanks for all the suggestions.