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Robyn L.
Robyn L. Sendmail

sore knees after running

posted over 3 years ago | Report

yesterday I ran my first 7 mile run.....and today I woke up with really sore knees. What can I do to prevent this and what can I do to make my knees feel better?
should I take a day off when my knees are this sore?
Thanks for any input :)

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9 posts

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  • Airrobi
    Airrobi Sendmail

    I usually put some ice on both knees after a long run (or later in the evening), max 20 minutes (20 minutes left knee 20 mins right one). If after that knees are still sore I usually take a day-off (or two, that depends on how hard I pushed) or do some x-training like swimming. If you feel your knees are not 100% then don't run, or it'll get worse ;-)

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Rob O.
    Rob O. Sendmail

    A lot of factors can come into play with respect to sore knees after a run Robyn. Some of the things I would be looking at is my running shoes, are they the right ones for your feet. A reputable running store should be able to help you out there. The way you run, are you landing on your heel first for example. What type of surface are you running on, cement (sidewalk) is the worse, asphalt better, trails even better. Distance could be a factor as well, did you work your way up to 7mi slowly or too fast as an example. Things for you to think about which I hope helps you to not have to suffer further with sore knees.
    I would take a day off for sure to allow your body to recover, maybe even two. Your next run take it easy to see how you feel and go from there :)

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Darren V.
    Darren V. Sendmail

    Wrote on article about my personal journey with knee problems here: http://darren.vansoye.com/fitness/tricks-of-the-trade-knees

    Hope it helps Robyn.

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Nicole
    Nicole Sendmail
    in reply to what Darren V. said:Wrote on article about my personal journey with knee problems here: http://darren.vansoye.com/fitness/tricks-of-the-trade-knees Hope it helps Robyn.

    Very good information Darren..sound slike everything I am doing in my PT for my knees and it is all coming together.

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Barb G.
    Barb G. Sendmail
    in reply to what Darren V. said:Wrote on article about my personal journey with knee problems here: http://darren.vansoye.com/fitness/tricks-of-the-trade-knees Hope it helps Robyn.

    Good tips! These are all things I've implemented and they are slowly starting to pay off...
    Robyn- definitely ice them, and be sure you are stretching your lower half out nice and good- especially those hips!

    posted over 3 years ago

  • John H.PRO
    John H. Sendmail

    I had a lot of knee problems before I started running from ski racing injuries when I was younger. What worked for me was to start out walking (almost speed walking) lots of miles daily, then eventually moved on to running. Icing is the way to go if you already have knee pain, but to keep your knees from getting sore always try to get quad stretching in after the workout. Oh...and eating well always helps. Good luck and Happy Running!

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Treva T.
    Treva T. Sendmail

    Check out chirunning.com - there's lot's of good advice from previous posters but this is what works for me. I very rarely have any pain any where when I focus on technique. I highly recommend his book, too!

    posted over 3 years ago

  • Joel A.
    Joel A. Sendmail

    Our cardiovascular ability develops much quicker than our skeletal muscles do, so while your lungs may tell you that you can run for days, your joints and muscles tell a different story. Three possible solutions: Take it slower, build up slowly. Some people say to run a marathon without injury can take up to two years. The second is doing general strength exercises to build up the muscles that stabilize your hip girdle, feet/ankle, knee's etc.. to help match you aerobic progress. Third option is one that is working for me, minimalistic running. I run in Vibram Fivefingers and what it does is promote a mid-foot strike, which puts the pressure in your feet and calves (which are designed to handle it) as opposed to a heel strike which puts pressure on your knees (which were not designed to handle it. It took me a few weeks to get used to my Vibram's but now the only discomfort I have sore calves, which is just the muscles being strengthened, not injured. If the toes are too weird, Nike also has he Nike Free's 3.0 which do the same thing. This is long.. sorry. Hope it helps though, good luck!

    posted about 3 years ago

  • Bryan P.
    Bryan P. Sendmail

    My first 4-5 marathons I had constant pain in my knees. I felt like I couldn't build up the speed to lose the weight I needed to lose without losing the weight I needed to run faster.
    A little background - I had recently thought about all running muscles pushing into the ground... so if I wanted to correct my over-pronation I would think about pushing down on the outside of my feet.
    So the following year I had the worst problems with sore knees that I ever had. The way it started was that I realized that I could run at such a slow pace that it seemed to be EXACTLY half-way between walking and running. In fact my HBR registered something like 128, which was about 10 beats above a brisk walk for me)
    IRONICALLY, my knees flamed up so bad that it put me out of training for 6 weeks. I started up again...my knees got SO flamed that it put me out of commission for another 6 weeks...and this happened over and over until it was 2 months before the marathon and I was horribly undertained... but by race day I had a good theory about what was happening.

    SOMEHOW, by relaxing my leg muscles I was putting a greater strain on my knees, so by activating my leg muscles more I would take the pressure back off my knees!

    Stand on the ground and think about pushing your weight into the ground (so you stand up straighter), and what happens?? Your knee caps rise about a 1/4 inch.
    My theory is that these are the muscles that support the knees.
    Tighten these muscles and the whole knee becomes tight.
    Relax these muscles and the knee becomes loose and sloppy.

    So my new approach to running: Push down and back with the upper legs to activate the quadriceps to support the knees. So I began doing ALL my running at a stiff enough pace to activate my quads (which blasted my Heart Rate Monitor up to 165 which according to the books, was way too fast).

    When the marathon came...I ran to keep my HBR above 165, even though I knew I would crash and burn, and I haven't felt even a tinge of pain in my knees in over 5 years.

    And when you think about it, it does make sense. After all, what's harder on your knees? Running uphill or running downhill? Isn't running downhill supposed to be harder on your knees?! Why is this? Could it be that while running uphill we automatically activate our quads, but running downhill our quads relax?
    So try visualizing running uphill while running downhill to try to activate the muscles that support our knees, and it should make a difference.

    I can already hear hundreds of voices crying, "he's not even a doctor"
    All I've tried to do is pay attention to my own body and try to explain the sensations that I'm feeling. (First step - go to a GOOD running store to get fitted properly, then give this a try...if it helps, it helps...if not then our bodies are different and there are different causes and you may lose 1-2 days of running)

    But hey! What if it does work for 1-2 people...wouldn't it be worth it!!!

    posted 10 months ago

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