Question for the runners.

I actually run every other day, walk and bodyweight exercises on the off days... i had read in one of dsjohndrow's blog (gotta name-check dave, he's been pretty busy lately ) that it's a good idea to give those muscles a rest... also - the jump from 15 minutes running to 30 minutes running is pretty significant - if you still want to run every day, you might want to build up more slowly (15 --> 17 -- >21, etc.).

either way - welcome to the club!

I am by no means calling myself a "runner", but I do run at least a 5K five days a week. I had to build to that though....I get sore also, and I take a rest day. It is amazing how much better I perform after 1 days rest. You will have to find what works best for you though. Don't push it if it gets uncomfortable.

I always try to have a rest day inbetween running, sometimes I'll get two run days together but then I'm not running any more in distance or time than I'm already used to if that happens. Why not add some strength training on your rest days (if you're not already doing this), it will strengthen muscles that support your joints which will help with your running and help to prevent injury. Build up your running slowly, if you haven't already heard of couch to 5k have a look into that - a slow build up with your running helps to prevent injury too

I run 5 days a week-but not consecutively. My max is 3 in a row before I need a day off (4 sometimes if I will be taking the following 2 days off). 5 days a week is ok, but try spacing them out a little and/or cut back to 4 days until you are more comfortable.

From what I understand, the actual building of muscle and strength and what not occurs during rest and not the actual activity (the activity is what creates the need for the building). If you're not resting enough between runs, you're not getting all the gains that occur during rest. You're just stressing your body and running it into the ground.

i've heard you are supposed to take a rest day in between running to avoid issues with your knees (unless you're training for an event). i run at most every other day, on the same days that i weight lift, and then do yoga/cycle/turbo kick/etc on the alternate days.

I AM a runner. Been one long enough that I don't have trouble upping mileage, even re-starting running at 5 miles a day.

I run 5 days a week (often in a row). I do light cross training the other two days because I just get itchy sitting still. Right now I'm averaging about 30 miles a week but it's increasing for an upcoming race.

The 10% is a myth (runnersworld and coolrunning both have decent articles on this). The most important thing is to listen to your body. The trick is not just listening to it, but understanding what is says. Your body is telling you something, and you've heard it (fabulous!) but now you need to figure out what it's saying...

When you say you are "sore" is it general, total body soreness? Or is it specific things, like knees, hips, ankles, back? Just joints, or muscles too? Hurts all the time, or when you make specific movements?

If it's overall, everything general kind of soreness, and it eases off when you have rest days, consider running 3-2 or 2-3 instead of 5 on 2 off. (so W-W-R-W-W-W-R where w = run, r = rest). It just might be that you need to break up your rest days. If it's only been a week or two, and the soreness doesn't make you limp or limit your non-workout activities (i.e. you can still move like a normal person), just keep going. If it's continually getting worse, interferes with your normal movements (you move like a 100 year old person), or it's been longer than about two weeks at the new distance, it's time to change the plan.

If it's specific pain, it might be due to form or shoe issues. Knee, ankle, hip, and back pain in particular will start to raise their fugly heads (sometimes all at once) around the distances you're putting in each week if you've got the wrong shoes, have poor form (it's harder than you think), or if you don't stretch out properly (dynamic stretching, at least after running).

Asymmetrical pain is often indicative of an actual injury - so if one knee hurts, or one side hurts, go see a sports medicine doc.

A little soreness isn't the end of the world - even increasing pain, sharp pain, pain that interferes with life won't be the end of your running, if you address it early and vigorously.

I run every second day - each week consists of three 5km runs and one 10km run.

I run 6 days a week and am often a little sore somewhere.

Whenever you increase either the duration or intensity of running some soreness is pretty normal. as your body adapts to the new distance the soreness will go away. That should happen pretty quickly, in a week or two.

In another observational study, researchers tracked over 52,000 people for 30 years. Overall, runners had a 19 percent lower death risk than non-runners. However, the health benefits of exercise seemed to diminish among people who ran more than 20 miles a week, more than six days a week, or faster than eight miles an hour. The sweet spot appears to be five to 19 miles per week at a pace of six to seven miles per hour, spread throughout three or four sessions per week. Runners who followed these guidelines reaped the greatest health benefits: their risk of death dropped by 25 percent, according to results published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Just read this today under Active.com site. It is a good article!