More talk about sore knees

I looked through all the forum threads and I saw a lot help for sore knees, rest, ice and such, but I'm thinking I may just have to quit running.

I was doing walk/jog combination in my neighborhood but whenever I jogged a lot, both knees would be sore afterwards.  The streets are concrete.  So I decided to just walk briskly in the neighborhood and jog on the treadmill at the gym.  I can run about 1.5 miles at 4.5 to 5 and sometimes faster for shorter periods of time and I do 3 miles total. 

Now my left knee is the only one bothering me.  It is sore all evening after the TM and into the next day slightly.  Like today. 

Is there anything I can do short of just sticking to brisk walking?  Would a brace help?   I like jogging sometimes just to get the 3 miles over with quicker.

No Business Running has some workouts that could help strengthen your body for running (you can ignore the supplement recommendations, I think - the site gets paid by advertisers, so things sneak into the articles).

My knees bother me too, and I have been told they're just old -- arthritis. 

Strength training has helped somewhat, and I take fish oil capsules which I have heard can help with joints. (Plus my heart doctor says the fish oil capsules are great for raising good cholesterol. )

Have you been a runner for a long time?  Or is this something new?  If you are new to running, then I would suggest making sure your shoes are right. 

Plus, running or even walking a lot on concrete is hard on my knees.  My treadmill bothers them a lot less. 

Stop wearing high heels and improve your ankle and hip mobility.

for me, jogging = ouch; running = awesome.

sprint your way through it? or is there no difference for you?

I agree with checking your shoes.  Make sure they're in good shape and made for running.  Also, concrete is the worst thing to run on.  Is there a track or some trails near your route.  And take it slow, running is hard on the body especially when you're not used to it. 

Oh and I agree with floggingsully, running in high heels is probably not a good idea.

Original Post by rosieblue:

Oh and I agree with floggingsully, running in high heels is probably not a good idea.

ZING!

I know it's obvious but use a bicycle or cross-trainer instead.

I can jog for a couple of days and then I get a sore ankle (old injury) but I can ride a bicycle every day with no problems.

I have bad knees and I was only able to run after finding a really really good pair of shoes for the way I run. I suggest going to a place where they video you on a treadmill and then fit you with a shoe. I am a big time supinater so getting the right support has made all the difference to my knee pain. Also I only run on barked jogging trails, never on concrete. It tends to slow my times down a bit but it saves my joints.

This is a really silly and simple thing, but it seems to work for me, and it's worth a try. 

Stand with your back against a wall.  Bring one leg straight out in front of you (perpendicular from your body), hold for 5 seconds, then slowly bend your knee so your calf is at a 90 degree angle from your thigh.  Hold for 5.  Repeat about 5 times on each leg before switching to the other.  It sounds easy, but if you've only been running and not doing any strength training on your legs, it will be tough at first.

The principle behind this is to strengthen your quads so that they keep your knees in proper alignment.. takes stress off your knees. Runners tend to have really strong hams and weaker quads.

Check out runnersworld.com, they have a lot of strengthening exercises for runners.

Also.. once you start losing weight, stuff will hurt less.  At least in my experience.  Good luck!

Ok I think it may just be my knee and not specific to running.  Today I did aerobics and it made my knee ache too.  I will try doing the strength training.

I am not running on concrete, only on the treadmill, and I have brand new shoes that are really great.