Sore muscles directly above knees... and aching in joints. :(

[Sablewings]

I've returned to running for the first time this year. I've been out four times these past 1 1/2 weeks for about 10-15 minutes, running one day, then having a 1 to 2 day rest.

I haven't gone out for a jog since Monday as my knees have been aching, inside the joints, and also the muscles immediately above my knee are aching/sore. The lower part of my Quads, I think.

I have worn Vivo Barefoot and VFFs for over a year, I wear them everywhere, and all Winter too. I'll walk 10-15 miles per week. I've had no trouble with aches til now.

Is this kind of ache to be expected when going back into running, or could my barefoot form be off? I try to relax my feet muscles, land on my midfoot and tap my heel down...

I went for a casual walk yesterday lunchtime, which had the knees aching again.  I had a bath last night, went to bed early. I still feel achy in the knees, but moreso in my elbows today..oddly. A bit like fever aches but without the fever. It's still tiring to go up the stairs as my knees feel a bit weak.

What's this reaction to running?  Perhaps I'm coming down with a bug... I fervently hope it's that and not arthritis...I'm only 29...!   I don't want to give up trying to run so early on. It's frustrating!

Other info - I can get joint aches and tiredness on the first day of the "time of the month," but it's still a week away, so I'm not expecting this.   Maybe I should start taking Omega 3, or eating salmon twice per week.

Many thanks...

[Hawkeye]

Take some time off since it sounds like you're doing a lot of running. Rather than running by time go by distance that way you won't be doing too much too soon. You can run a mile in less than 15 minutes so I'm guessing you're doing more than 4 miles a week, which is a lot since you started from zero. You can always cross train (bike, swim) to get more endurance and save your feet from injury.

[Jeepman]

A couple thoughts for you: I don't believe you are giving yourself enough recovery time between runs. At minmum give yourself 48 hours if not more. With you just starting into trying to really run, you need to give your body time to adjust. Currently, your body is not used to providing resources to repair/rebuild tissues in the areas you say are aching. Secondly, your form could very well be off. One of the form errors that can really light up the quad right above the knee is over striding. Even if you land on the midfoot, or ball of your foot, you can still be landing in front of your general center of mass. Anytime your general center of mass is behind your point of support, it creates a braking force. To over come the braking force and continue forward movement the quad has to really contract until your mass gets carried over your point of support. This will lead to soreness right above the knee. To help correct your form focus on pulling your trailing foot from the ground and directly under the hip. Do not allow your trail foot to flay behind you. Pull directly under the hip using your ham string - try not to activiely use your front hip flexors - we aren't doing knee lifts here - we are pulling with our hams. How high you lift is determined by how fast you are going. The faster you go, the higher the pull needs to be. When I'm just out jogging at a 8:30 to 9 minute mile I might pull my foot 6 inches off the ground. At a full sprint my foot pretty much gets tucked almost against my gluteus. Everybody has a slightly different form, so only take this as a general guideline. Good luck and have patiences with your body - this all takes time.

Rgs, Jeepman

[Sablewings]

can run a mile in less than 15 minutes so I'm guessing you're doing more than 4 miles a week, which is a lot since you started from zero.

If I'm out for 15 minutes, then only about 4 minutes  total of it is running (I turned the stopwatch on whenever I ran.) On the third run of the week it was just 3 minutes.  I go on a single "half mile loop" round local roads and back to my house, I run about half of it, so I'm guessing I don't run more than quarter of a mile total each time I go out.

Still, from nothing I bet this is too much! In the times in my life I've broken into a run it's always at a sprint, and not sustained for more than 100 yards. When I cycled regularly I had the tendency to race also, spending a lot of time standing up ragging the pedals to get fast acceleration as possible... I bet my body needs a lot of conditioning for jogging endurance! 

Jeepman; I very much suspect my form is off. My stride is shorter than it used to be, my strike is lighter, but I'm likely still sticking my legs too far forward. The Quads are probably getting a braking force, even if a smaller one than a heel striker would.

I'm guessing the balls of the feet will also be seeing a braking force if the leg is too far forward? Last thing I wish to do is put extra force on the metatarsals with Morton's toe on both feet...

I feel much better today. I'm hoping just to go for a brief 50/100 yard jog at the weekend completely barefoot to assess how I'm landing - as landing too hard seems to be a common problem with VFF runners.  Next week I think I'll just go out perhaps twice, and stick with twice a week until I get no sign of aching before trying 3 times a week.

It's funny that I've been aching everywhere except for my feet...seems they are tougher than my body now! 

Thanks for the advice.