When to stop with pain, when to push through it.

emmab0902

I am on week 2 of c25k doing it barefoot. Had a bit of a niggle on top of foot and inside same ankle, and has moved up to knee. This has happened in between last run 5 days ago and now. Had massage today and did next session tonight. The pain while running was probably a 1 or 2 out of ten so I am wondering if its just pain that can be worked through. Obviously I would stop if it got worse but surely you can't fold at every niggle???

xraychick77

depends..what is a niggle exactly?

and why barefoot? is this one of those fad things? we've been wearing shoes for over 10,000 years..plenty of time for evolution and adaptation..that being said. being barefoot and running could be causing stress fractures. since we started wearing shoes the bones in our legs have gotten smaller and less thick.

find a good pair of traditional running shoes and see if this helps.

emmab0902

Why barefoot? Because after reading the arguments on both sides I want to see if this is right for me! Thus far I have had less pain and feel better running than in my good shoes. This wasn't meant to be a debate on barefoot vs shoes as the question can apply to both running preferences equally.

jdjefferson

My criteria for running through pain has always been this: does it start to affect your gait in any way? If you find yourself running differently or if you are favoring a bit, I would stop. Also, does the pain go away or is it constant throughout? If it does not go away while exercising, maybe give it a short break. Pain that starts in one location (in this case, your foot) and manifests itself in another (your knee), can be symptomatic of something worse.
That said, since you are new to barefoot running, it is probably a product of a different running style. Try one session running your "old" way and see what happens.
BTW, I am not a doctor.

swordsmith

My view is PAIN is your body telling you that you are doing something to hurt it. Pain can lead to injury and injury can set your goals back days, weeks or months.

Now soreness is a different animal- if you are sore it just means your body is adapting to the new stresses being put on it and is building up accordingly.

As for you- is it really pain or soreness? if it is pain then make sure a 1 or 2 pain on a scale of 10 does not become 8 or 9 which it can become very rapidly.

As for barefoot running I had a friend who did that but kept hurting his feet. He has since gotten a pair of those shoes with the individual toes (forget what they are called) and he said it is a happy compromise for him.