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AR15.COM
9/20/2010 6:00:34 PM EDT
Well after an injury last Aug and having surgery on my foot in May I can finally start running again. I started 3 weeks ago and my times are not improving at all, still at a 10 min mile . The main problem I have is that my knees and ankles are killing me from the impact, how can I stop that? I have to have a 1.5mile time of 13:36 in about 3-6 weeks. How can I do this?
9/20/2010 6:34:44 PM EDT
[#1]
Be careful not to overtrain.  Your feet and everything attached will suffer.

If you've just started back, I would expect some readjustment pains.  Unless It gets excruciating, I'd let it pass and try to increase your cadence for that length of run.

Not trying to be a dick, but doing new things sometimes hurts.  Let it heal, and condition.  Rinse and repeat.
9/21/2010 3:24:29 AM EDT
[#2]
what, specifically, have you been doing since you started running?  have you put on weight?  what was your time prior to njury?

i started running in late july.  i had taken  almost a year break from running to focus exclusively on cycling.  i broke my collarbone in early june and had a month of zero exercise, then 3 weeks of mellow stationary cycling before the doc cleared me to run.

i hurt on every run for ~ 3 weeks, and though the pain was primarily muscular, the impact hurt as well.  i also went from a 1h33m half marathon and sub 10 minute 1.5 mile prt to loafing along at ~11:00/mile pace.

it took 3-4 weeks of steady running for 30-40 minutes 3-4 times/week to get the speed up and pain down.

generically, i'd recommend mixing running and walking, working to decrease the walk intervals and replace them with running over time.  run no more frequently than every other day initially, building to 2 days on/1 off.  you can do non-impact endurance work on non-run days - cycling, swimming, rowing, elliptical

two more things i'd want to do are:  talk with a pt or the doc about my pain and ensure that i was running in relatively new shoes with less than 400 miles.

good luck
9/21/2010 7:44:43 AM EDT
[#3]
this, every other day starting out
Quoted:
what, specifically, have you been doing since you started running?  have you put on weight?  what was your time prior to njury?

i started running in late july.  i had taken  almost a year break from running to focus exclusively on cycling.  i broke my collarbone in early june and had a month of zero exercise, then 3 weeks of mellow stationary cycling before the doc cleared me to run.

i hurt on every run for ~ 3 weeks, and though the pain was primarily muscular, the impact hurt as well.  i also went from a 1h33m half marathon and sub 10 minute 1.5 mile prt to loafing along at ~11:00/mile pace.

it took 3-4 weeks of steady running for 30-40 minutes 3-4 times/week to get the speed up and pain down.

generically, i'd recommend mixing running and walking, working to decrease the walk intervals and replace them with running over time.  run no more frequently than every other day initially, building to 2 days on/1 off.  you can do non-impact endurance work on non-run days - cycling, swimming, rowing, elliptical

two more things i'd want to do are:  talk with a pt or the doc about my pain and ensure that i was running in relatively new shoes with less than 400 miles.

good luck


9/24/2010 7:02:29 PM EDT
[#4]
What was your surgery for?  I had foot surgery just last Monday and am sitting here with my foot elevated as I surf Arfcom.  My surgery was for a torn flexor plate on my 4th toe.  I've actually had the injury for some time but decided to get it taken care of so I could start running again.

9/25/2010 10:30:41 AM EDT
[#5]
Two things I recommend to all runners:

1. Shorten your stride.
Most runners, myself included go for the giant step model. Forget that. Let your feet land just in front of you.
This will do two things to help you:
A. Less time floating through space and less bounce in your stride = less pain and suffering, and,
B. it will shift your weight forward on your feet. your heel, where most land, has nothing to offer in terms of padding. This is why shoes have built of heels, to try and make bearable our poor form.  Forefoot landing is good. It allows the full arch to compress, acting like the leaf spring it was designed to be.

2. This one comes with the short stride, but needs to be said.
Aim for 180 beats per minute cadence. I am not saying run faster, I am simply saying let your feet hit the ground more often(You will go faster this way, but it is different than a sprint. it is fast through efficiency, not effort). It produces a smoother run, and produces less impact in my experience.

The next thing to work on, and it comes with a shorter stride as well is to keep your back straight. Run over your hips, not your feet.

I am not a doctor, or even a particularly good runner, but these things have helped me immensely. Give it a shot. I dropped significant time off my miles using these techniques.

It does not get easier, you just get faster.
9/26/2010 7:52:45 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Two things I recommend to all runners:

1. Shorten your stride.
Most runners, myself included go for the giant step model. Forget that. Let your feet land just in front of you.
This will do two things to help you:
A. Less time floating through space and less bounce in your stride = less pain and suffering, and,
B. it will shift your weight forward on your feet. your heel, where most land, has nothing to offer in terms of padding. This is why shoes have built of heels, to try and make bearable our poor form.  Forefoot landing is good. It allows the full arch to compress, acting like the leaf spring it was designed to be.

2. This one comes with the short stride, but needs to be said.
Aim for 180 beats per minute cadence. I am not saying run faster, I am simply saying let your feet hit the ground more often(You will go faster this way, but it is different than a sprint. it is fast through efficiency, not effort). It produces a smoother run, and produces less impact in my experience.

The next thing to work on, and it comes with a shorter stride as well is to keep your back straight. Run over your hips, not your feet.

I am not a doctor, or even a particularly good runner, but these things have helped me immensely. Give it a shot. I dropped significant time off my miles using these techniques.

It does not get easier, you just get faster.


Heel striking is fine as long as youre not over-training.  A forefoot strike is not the end all be all for form...same with cadence or foot falls.  Injuries can still happen with a pose style run, its just a different set.