C25K-- how did you deal with pain?

mellenorris

Looks like you've made the right call to wait on running until you can treat yourself to some proper shoes! We've got a place called Runner's Roost out here - I love it! They looked at how I run, and recommended shoes to me accordingly. It made a WORLD of a difference!

My running shoes are well spent at this point in time, and I need to wait a bit before I can treat myself to some new ones. I've stopped running until I've got good shoes back on my feet - and I'm sticking to jogging in intervals with strength training, or the elliptical good luck!

nellyett

I started C25k a few weeks ago too and started to get a pain in my hip. I took a couple of days off and did week 3 twice as I didn't feel that I could push any harder until the pain went away.

Well I did my Week 4 Day 1 this morning, and I can't believe that I completed it! It probably looked like I was doing more of a bouncy walk than a run for the 5 minute intervals, but I could care less!! haha

I still have the occasional 'twinge' in my hip, but I listen to my body and back off a bit when I need to.

Laurie061273

I'm not able to run yet, so I walk the whole time. I try to do a fast paced walk and actually succeeded in walking 2 miles in 30 minutes. This is a first for me! A few more times and I will start adding the jogging and see how I feel after that. Had I gone right into the jogging, I would have quit right away because it's so discouraging how far out of shape I am. Now I can walk a mile at lunch and still have something to eat!

asteria82

Someone told me when I started running (July 2011) on this website actually that the first mile SUCKS! Your body fights it, your lungs rebel, etc. Once you run through the "pain" (and I mean in the "my legs feel like lead" way) it is easier. I started last July..never ran a day in my life. (I was always "sick" in school the day we had to run laps...heheh) Now I have run multiple 5k's and two half marathons! It gets easier. Also...on a side note..one thing that was hard for me was that everyone told me that the weight would "Fall off" when you start running but it didn't right away. I was pretty discouraged the first couple of weeks but after week 6, it did start falling. Stick with it and keep tracking your calories! Good luck! (p.s. a REALLY great source of support for me was the C25k facebook page!)

Dan_Lifts

If you are having shin splint issues, here's a pretty thorough discussion of causes/prevention/treatment.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/322021-help-with-your-shin-splints

RBXChas

As for where to buy shoes, I do not recommend major retailers (Athlete's Foot, Foot Locker, Champ's, ****'s Sporting Goods, etc). Reason being, most people who work there don't know enough to fit you properly, and they often do not carry some of the best brands of running shoes.

I know a lot of people are loyal to their Nike/Reebok/Adidas/Asics/Saucony/etc shoes, which is great if that works for you, but it took my going to a specialty shoe store to find out how much better it gets!

I asked around and found out about a couple of small, local stores that would help me find proper shoes and inserts. Yes, they are more expensive than the more recognizable brands, but it's worth it to be comfortable and less likely to injure yourself.

I couldn't decide between Brooks and Newton. The Newtons were pricier, especially because they required additional orthotics, but they last longer than Brooks. I finally decided on the Newtons and ended up ordering them online for much less (runningwarehouse.com) with the needed orthotics.

Proper running socks are also a good piece of equipment that a lot of people don't consider. I like Balega socks because they make me feel like I am running on clouds. My feet stay comfy during my runs and are dry afterwards. They are a little thick and a bit expensive, but they also have a line called Zulu, which is less expensive but just as good, in my opinion. They are made in South Africa, which is kind of neat. Runningwarehouse.com and Amazon carry them, or you can usually get them at the same place you'd get properly fitted for running shoes. I have never been able to find them at the big retailers.

Good luck!

v70t5m

Have you thought about starting barefoot or in minimal shoes?

It works for some.

Training barefoot almost guarantees you won't overdo, because your soles are not up to long distances.

Barefooting enthusiasts say your foot is perfectly able to adapt to terrain much better without shoes than within ... and there is a lot of scientific support for how we change our running style when we dump the shoes (for the better or worse is left to each individual to deide).

Good luck. Listen to your body.