AHH!!! Muscle PAIN

OK, i know I can't be the first person to write on this topic. However, I decided to post anyway.

I went to the park 2 weeks ago and after not doing any sort of aerobic exercise for almost a year, I ran for about 25 min. I felt great!!

Next day... OUCH! I couldn't bend my knees and i was super sore.

everytime I run I get really sore for the next two days (if not for longer).

Does anyone know what I can do to help push through the pain so I can keep running anyway? I just want to know how other people deal with this unfortunate side effect b/c I don't want to have to rest from exercise completely every other day like I have been. I don't think that can be good for my weight loss goals.

Any advice or tips would be great! looking forward to hearing back

Maybe you are pushing a little too hard for just getting back into running? Have you tried just walking every other day to give your muscles a rest? When I started running I started with just one mile and walked most of it and then gradually transitioned into running and going longer distances over about a month. However I’m no expert that’s just what worked for me.

Definitely take it slower. Your body is trying to tell you it's too much too fast!

Yoga has been wonderful for me. Might try working that in, also. I do a full hour on my off days and a shortened 15 minute or so routine before I run to really stretch out all my muscles and warm them up a bit. It also helps to do at least a little bit right when you get back from your run. Some pigeon, lunges and downward dog, sun salutations and such help keep my hips and calves from locking up and keep the lactic acid from building up too much. Keeps the soreness at bay. www.yogatoday.com has some really good classes aimed at runners and hikers that help open up your hips and stretch/strengthen the right places.

Most of all though, listen to your body! You'll wind up hurting yourself seriously if you push too hard. I just came off of a 6 week layup because I didn't listen and blew out a knee. Slow it down, do less distance or go slower until your muscles get reaquainted with running and can handle the pounding.

Taking a rest day every other day isn't weakness, it's what you are supposed to do when you are just starting out (again). Relax. Remember to build slowly. I'm (somewhat) following the Couch to 5K plan to work up to longer time runnning and I have found if I don't take my rest days, after about 3 days of it I will be in pain to the point I can't run.

BTW I'm still loosing weight even though I'm running every other day.

Have you tried a beginners running program?  A lot of them start with interval running, running at a slower pace, for one minute, with one minute of recovery.  Usually no more than 10 repeats the first couple nights (and running only every second day), every third run, either the duration can be increased (ie. 2 min run/ 1 min walk) or the number of repeats (no more than 5 - 10%).  If you google search for beginner's running programs, you'll find some good ones.  Try "couch to 5K" as keywords, as well.

I don't know your initial fitness, such as you transitioned from a bike to the run, so the amount of time it will take for your body to "toughen up" could vary, depending on your initial fitness.

Pain is a message for you to give your body a day or two off - pushing through it could cause injury (but again, define pain?  on a scale of 1 - 10, a 1 is no big deal, and is it joint or muscle pain?)

I hope these thoughts helped.  I know that easing into running really helped me when I got started.  And I've been injury free for over 2 years, and trained for and run distance races from 5K to 21.1.