age, joints and jogging

SallieBeige

Not sure where to post this or what kind of advice I could expect but ......

I took up running about 6 months ago, and am quite surprised at my progress (although it pales into insignificance when seeing what "real" runners can do)

My stamina has come on well (can now jog for an hour at a slow pace) but ... my joints are not doing well and I really don't think it has anything to do with the rate / pace of my run or progressing too fast etc. And, yes, I stretch carefully before and after exercise, have had my feet tested and wear the right shoes, and never run early in the morning when injury is apparently more likely.

I think it is more to do with aging as the aches, and difficulty in moving my hip were there before, and I have always had funny knees.

Some advice says ... joint problems ... stop running
Other advice says ... exercise is good for you and will help fix some of those problems.

As I would rather not give up (I feel a LOT better as a result of this exercise) - does anyone have any advice about how I could preserve / extend my running life-span?

Jessica68

Your progress is great!

I think it could be our first year at running is usually achy, this is now my 2nd year and I feel I'm not suffering as much as last year. BUT i do know I had to get fitted at a running store for the right shoe and it truly made a huge difference in my pains. Now when I begin to feel some leg pains it always seems to go away immediately after I've run in a new pair. My old ones wear down pretty quick since I'm a heavy runner or basically its because I tend to shuffle more. I need to change my shoes about every 3-4 months. But I was also doing longer distance last year than this year. So far they are lasting me a little longer but I could also be running with better form so they may not be wearing down as quickly.

Just read where you do have the right shoes but maybe they are wearing down quicker as what happened to me my first year due to shuffling.

Joint Juice / glucosamine. You can give this a try.

Are you running too far too often? I have short runs during the week of an avg of 3-4miles each and a long run on Saturday..an avg of 6miles. So I dont have All long runs. I do take ibuprofen before a long run.

You say JOINTS so I'm guessing its only maybe your knees & ankles?

momocurti

Try one of those foam roller thingies for your hips and knees. They really help! And I agree with Jessica re: shoes. "They" say to get new shoes every 300 miles, so depending on how much you are running you could need new shoes more frequently than you think!

Keep up the great work though!

SallieBeige

Thanks for that advice. I will look for a rollerie thing - and try to run a bit less distance and a bit more often.
As the pain is also in my hip I am a bit worried that I am somehow wearing out.

I shall try and be patient, and hope my body responds like Jessica's .... perhaps it will calm down.