Starting running with past injury

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Cati321
Cati321 Posts: 35
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone :) are there any seasoned runners out there? How about not so seasoned? I just started running again, after struggling to do so for most of my teens/early twenties. I have hypermobility in my knees and ankles so they get achy very easily with the impact. At the moment, just focusing on pain management as my guideline, but tell me:

What is the proper way to run? Everyone seems to have their own ideas, about form, shoes (had them fitted by an ortho at least), and how to get started without injuring yourself. Sometimes I think that I'm not that special since running seems to injure most people at some point :P but if anyone can help avoid that, please do!

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  • Girlg0yle
    Girlg0yle Posts: 131 Member
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    I fall into the category of not so seasoned. I started running last year and hurt my knee...turns out my gluts were weak...So I strengthened them and started again. Next was tendonitis in the top outside of my foot. Now I am just following the advice of PT on how to mend the tendonitis and starting back running very slowly. All of the articles I've read for new runners says not to increase your weekly distance by more than 10% and to just build up slowly to avoid injury or re-injury. So with crossed fingers that's what I'm doing...so far so good.:smile::smile:
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    Start slowly with short distances ...... Listen to your body and at the first signs of injury .. back off for a bit (R.I.C.E) and maybe mix it up with other Cardio (Cycling?)

    Take care.
  • emblu
    emblu Posts: 272 Member
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    Start slowly with short distances ...... Listen to your body and at the first signs of injury .. back off for a bit (R.I.C.E) and maybe mix it up with other Cardio (Cycling?)

    Take care.
    All the above except not the c in R.I.C.E. compression isn't recommended anymore as it pushes the fluid to other areas and can cause problems (I was told this on my last trip to A&E, rugby related not running lol)
    I know a lot of people running with various knee issues and it doesn't stop them. Listen to your body and remember rest is key.............. Oh and to have fun :)
  • Jlennhikes
    Jlennhikes Posts: 290 Member
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    I was running injury free for about six months, and then upped my mileage training for a half marathon. Out of nowhere, I first felt some IT band pain on one side, took a week off, and then when I went back, i was having pain in both knees that fit the description for "runners knee."

    My solution has been getting new shoes (slight stability), working on quad and glute strength, and adding in abductor/adductor machine reps to try to stabilize the knee action. I'm back to running, but I do keep it slow. I'm also using a shorter stride on hills (up and down) and trying to keep better alignment with my hips (basically standing up straighter). If I feel pain/numbness, I slow it down. I've been able to add distance and hope to be back to where I was in a couple weeks.

    I wasn't able to run while it was daylight today, so I hit the treadmill, and I was surprised how easy it was on my knees. Not sure why since my outdoor route is pretty flat, but it's worth trying if you're having a knee problem.

    There's a lot of info online, and based on the tips I picked up, this has worked for me. Best of luck!
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    Start slowly with short distances ...... Listen to your body and at the first signs of injury .. back off for a bit (R.I.C.E) and maybe mix it up with other Cardio (Cycling?)

    Take care.
    All the above except not the c in R.I.C.E. compression isn't recommended anymore as it pushes the fluid to other areas and can cause problems (I was told this on my last trip to A&E, rugby related not running lol)
    I know a lot of people running with various knee issues and it doesn't stop them. Listen to your body and remember rest is key.............. Oh and to have fun :)

    O.K thanks for the update mate :-)
  • Girlg0yle
    Girlg0yle Posts: 131 Member
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    I wasn't able to run while it was daylight today, so I hit the treadmill, and I was surprised how easy it was on my knees. Not sure why since my outdoor route is pretty flat, but it's worth trying if you're having a knee problem.

    There is quite a bit more give when you run on a treadmill so less impact which is good for people with injuries if it is difficult running on hard surfaces
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
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    I'm very far from an expert about this, but I started jogging in May after a long period of being very sedentary (basically not exercising since high school). My muscles were very weak and my ankles and knees would hurt every time I tried jogging. I cut back on the jogging and focused on gaining some strength in my core and legs (I was doing 30 day shred by Jillian Michaels, but now am doing pure strength training), and it helped a LOT. It was probably around a month or 6 weeks where I didn't jog at all, but when I tried again for the first time after all that, there was no pain whatsoever, and it was much easier as well.

    I don't know if any of this applies to you, but gaining some strength really helped me a lot.

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