Aching knees

[zulu]

I'd love to get some advice, since I am very much a running newbie.

I've always enjoyed running but I'm finally in a place post-baby where I might be able to do it consistently. I went running two times this week (treadmill at the gym). I'm running between 30 min and an hour, in 10-minute intervals with walking in between. What I found was that while both times the running was fine, afterwards my knees ached, enough that going down stairs I had to slow my pace quite a bit. Kneeling is when I can feel it the most. My knees also felt a bit warm to the touch, suggesting some inflammation. And then, I think because I was positioned wrong, I got this...cramp? It felt like my knee went out of alignment somehow, and was quite painful for a bit before it just faded away.

I was wondering if this is normal and I can do something about it, or if it's more that the impact on my knees is too much and I'm doing damage. Here's what I'm thinking:

1. I am getting older and more broken; running isn't the sport for me.

2. I am doing something wrong (either during the run or not enough pre- or post-care, like stretching).

3. This is because I'm just starting and my body will adjust eventually as long as I take it easy and ramp up slowly.

Any idea which it might be (or a combination)? Are there other exercises I can do to strengthen my knees/joints specifically? Is this something to see a doctor/physio about?

Thanks very much!

Comments

[tassosss]

I'm not a doctor, etc, etc, but it may be a problem of the muscles to either side of your knee not being strong enough, and then pulling your kneecap out of alignment of the groove it fits in. I've been an on and off runner for several years, and the year I jumped back in to doing two miles running, without run/walk workouts was the year I couldn't do a 5k because my knees hurt. I also had this problem last year after biking too much without building up to the distance.

It's a fairly common problem among new/returning runners, and don't let it discourage you because you can probably address it with strength exercises. You'll want to target your hip muscles and your quads and hamstrings and lower back. The third of the links below has some exercises you can do to help strengthen those muscles. Side leg lifts (hips), bird dog (lower back), and plank (core) are all ones I do and you don't need weights for them. I also do weight lifting, and if that's a resource for you, consider squats and lunges.

While you figure this out, I'd also suggest doing a slower return to running - increase the walking portion of your walk/run ratio. If you look up 5k beginner training programs you may be able to gets some ideas for what may work for you. The last one I did (because I'm lazy I always start over at beginner levels after I take a break) was 4min walk/2 min run repeat till you get to 30 min for the first week of four runs.

A few links that may help: http://www.runnersworld.com/for-beginners-only/why-does-my-knee-hurt
http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-treat-and-prevent-running-injuries-runner-s-knee
http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-treat-and-prevent-running-injuries-runner-s-knee?page=2

If problems persist, you may want to see a doctor.

[zulu]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I think nobody ever wants to hear "you should do more planks" but it's probably true! I do need to increase my strength training as well now that I'm trying to get back to the gym.

[ilanarama]

The links above are good. Some exercises you might want to try to help strengthen your quads are squats (even unweighted - just work on form) and riding a stationary (or not) bike at very fast cadence (spinning).

You may also do better by running much more slowly (yeah, I don't know how slowly you're running, but most beginners push too fast) and by (paradoxically) running more - run more days a week if you can, but keep it to 20-30 minutes each time. An hour is too long for you at this stage.

Good luck!

[zulu]

Sounds good; I'll take my runs down to 30 min for the next while. I'm doing 4 mph runs and 2 mph walks, but hey, I'm pretty new, so that's probably plenty. The only difficult part is getting out running more often! But hopefully I can make it work.