Taking up running?

[OakLeaf]

+1 on getting professional advice. Knee health is so closely tied to foot and ankle strength and flexibility, and with your history of ankle surgery, you just may not be able to come up with a foot strike that protects your knees.

Still, finding the right professional isn't always easy. So many doctors will categorically advise people not to run - against all the evidence of its general benefits for orthopedic health. If you can find a PT or osteopath who's also a Chi Running instructor or at least practitioner, that would be my first choice. While I'm a devout follower of Chi Running, I'm also well aware that they tend to overlook structural issues and preach that imbalances can be adequately addressed with running form only.

[GLC1968]

Still, finding the right professional isn't always easy. So many doctors will categorically advise people not to run - against all the evidence of its general benefits for orthopedic health. If you can find a PT or osteopath who's also a Chi Running instructor or at least practitioner, that would be my first choice. While I'm a devout follower of Chi Running, I'm also well aware that they tend to overlook structural issues and preach that imbalances can be adequately addressed with running form only.

This. I have found that running smartly (is that a word??) has actually helped with a lot of my own limitations that cycling did not help. I've built up foot strength, ankle strength, hip strength and core strength that I didn't necessarily get when cycling. It really varies by practitioner though, and of course, by individual as well. I would do a good amount of research ahead of time (including Chi Running) and then listen very carefully to your body if you decide to give it a try.

Personally, I LOVE running in the winter when biking is fairly miserable around here (it's always wet and cold). I'm actually thankful that my injury happened in the spring so that I don't have to miss out on an entire winter of not running! (I know that's twisted...).

[Dogmama]

This. I have found that running smartly (is that a word??) has actually helped with a lot of my own limitations that cycling did not help. I've built up foot strength, ankle strength, hip strength and core strength that I didn't necessarily get when cycling. It really varies by practitioner though, and of course, by individual as well. I would do a good amount of research ahead of time (including Chi Running) and then listen very carefully to your body if you decide to give it a try.

+1
I am doing the C25K program in my Vibrams using Chi running techniques. I have bad lower back issues and a pounding heel strike in regular shoes makes my leg go numb & my back go into spasms. In my Vibrams, I cannot do a heel strike so I MUST run more smartly (yeah, it's a word - we've used it twice so that nails it!).

I admit, when I first looked at C25K I thought it was numbingly simple but I know the importance of building a good base, so I figured I'd haul the dog along with me & he can do the program too. So far, we're at week three, no back issues, no knee problems & I'm really liking it. I thought I'd be bored stiff.

I imagine that any minimalist shoe would be OK instead of Vibrams. Some people don't like things between their toes.

[zoom-zoom]

You've had some good advice, but I caution you to NOT incorporate sprinting/speed work unless you have been consistently running 30 miles or so per week for maybe a half year. This is pretty standard advice. Without a really solid base you risk injury. More miles at easy pace = speed FAR more than fewer ones with speed work.

[Catrin]

You've had some good advice, but I caution you to NOT incorporate sprinting/speed work unless you have been consistently running 30 miles or so per week for maybe a half year. This is pretty standard advice. Without a really solid base you risk injury. More miles at easy pace = speed FAR more than fewer ones with speed work.

Thanks Zoom, I wasn't thinking. It felt better to run faster than slower so I did...that makes a lot of sense though. My body isn't used to running and I DO tend to, ahem, overdo things

[zoom-zoom]

My BFF used to subscribe to the fewer miles fast method. She was forever injured...back, groin, knees, feet. She had stress fractures in her lower legs and even ran with a tens unit on her back for a while.

[Veronica]

30 miles a week before doing speed work?

I never run 30 miles a week. I aim for 32 miles a month and I do an interval run every week. I only run 3 days a week. I've been seeing a lot of studies lately that indicate you don't need that much mileage to be an effective runner. Of course if you enjoy that much mileage, keep at it.

I will say that I did not start doing intervals until I had been running for a few years.

Veronica

[Catrin]

My sister just started to try and run...she figured her asthma would help keep her from overdoing things but wound up with a stress fracture in her leg. This was her first attempt to start exercising since her youth...which reminded me of the Achilles tendon injury I got within a month of getting off the couch 3 years ago I suspect both of us were injured for the same reason.

Right now I am focusing on riding, I've a charity ride to prepare for in September and I WOULD like to be more proficient at mountain biking before the snow flies. I will think about running then and seek professional advice before taking on something new. For now running will have to be confined to my group training class...we don't normally run more than one 200 meter lap at a time - though we may do that multiple times during the hour class (not always).

[indysteel]

Thanks Zoom, I wasn't thinking. It felt better to run faster than slower so I did...that makes a lot of sense though. My body isn't used to running and I DO tend to, ahem, overdo things

This is a hard mentality to beat. When I ran in high school, I consistently trained at a sub-seven minute pace and competed in the 800 meters at around 2:25 to 2:30. Not great, but for a freshman, not bad. After a cross country season the following year, I had a series of injuries and finally quit. I tried picking running up repeatedly from there but I always gravitated to my old pace, a pace I simply could not maintain on any level. So I would grow frustrated and quit. It wasn't until I finally forced myself to slow down and follow a couch to 5k program, that I finally got over the hump. I still kind of suck, partly because my heart's not totally in it, but I can at least say that I run.

[OakLeaf]

When I was really pounding it was hard for me to run slow, too. For me, learning to run slowly was all about form. YMMV.

[Anyabeth]

I am an impossibly slow runner but have run a couple of half marathons with no injuries and I always tell my friends who are getting started to just start at a pace that would almost feel embarassing if some one saw you. Especially if it has been a long time since you ran (for me it had been twenty years). You can always run faster after you have a base. But be ridiculously slow for a while and see if that doesn't help.

Of course this means that I have never run more than 30 miles a week because that would take me ages.