Re: Long-term effect of running on knee joints - Triathlon Week

02-06-2007, 11:34 PM

Well I have been a cyclist for a long time and started to have bad knee
problems the year I was trying out for the Canada Games, I stopped cycling
for 7 years (buying first car, going to college, meeting girls and all that
kind of stuff kept me away from the sport a little longer than I thought it
would). I hurt my knee from over training on the bike, I pushed myself way
too hard not having a good base enough for my body to witstand the extra
effort, towards the end of my training I was feeling pain on my knee but
thought it was normal due to pushing so hard, I didn't listen to my body and
went for another 50K ride the next day even though I could still feel my
knee a little, I was only 17 at the time and I really wanted to prove myself
and everyone else that I could be as good on a road bike as on a mountain
bike (to make it to the Canada Games we had to race both road and mountain
bike). Point is, my body showed me the signs and I didn't listen and that
resulted in a bad knee that always followed me afterwards, don't need to say
I didn't make the team or let alone race that year, yeah actually I did try
one mountain bike race but I couldn't keep up with the guys I would normally
beat and that hurt my ego big time so I quit. The year after I moved away
and started college and never really got back into the sports for a long
time.

I am turning 28 years old this year, I got back into mountain biking
(competitively) about 3 years ago. I sorta wanted to start running but was
afraid I'd do more harm to my knees (one is worst than the other). Whenever
I would do intervals (short hard sprints) on the bike, I would often have to
stop after the third sprint or so because my knee would start to hurt, in
the beggining of the season, if I started with longer distances than 30 to
40 Ks I would start feeling my knee, as I would put more milleage gradually
I was able to ride with no problems, funy thing is that I normally never
have any problems in mountain bike races, it would only bother me on longer
road bike runs. Maybe because of the fact that you move your body more and
is shorter distance..

But for the last 3 years, that hasn't kept me from racing and I have been
able to learn to listen to my body more, as a competitive athlete it is very
hard to do, we always have that desire to push ourselves more wanting to
improve all the time but it is very important to take it one step at a time
to avoid injuries. To give you an idea, 3 years ago I started racing in
"Senior Sports", 2 years ago I started the season in "Senior Sports" and
moved in "Senior Experts" and last year I raced Experts and this year I will
be racing "Elite" which is considered pro I guess but I do not consider
myself as a pro by all means, I live in a small Province in Canada
(New-Brunswick) and the competition is not as great as a bigger city that is
for sure, altough we do have a young racer from New-Brunswick who races on
the Canada Cup series (he finished 5th overall in Elite last year), lets
just say that when he participates in the local races that he wins all the
time.

Last year I decided to start running with my father, I wanted to find
another sport to help me with biking so I took a chance at running even
though I was afraid for my knees. Needless to say it wasn't pain free when
I started, but I started slowly by running maybe 1 to 3 km the first 2
weeks, I gradually increased the distances over time to run mostly 7 or 8
Ks. Did a few 10Ks but always running in a comfortable pace. Very often I
had little pain on knees but nothing major though, not bad enough that I had
to stop but I made sure to run small steps and keep it slow enough. A good
pair of shoe is a must and experts will tell you to change every 400 to 600
miles, most will agree that you should have at least 2 pairs of shoes and
alternate. Some even suggest to change the insoles once half way the
lifespan of your shoe.

I also wanted to start running because I wanted to try a Duathlon, I did a
few 10k races not far from here which aren't counted towards the Provinvial
Point Series, but it gave me and idea of what my body could take, my first
race I didn't really know how to pace myself, I ran in 44 min and something,
I started slow and half way the race I felt good and accelerated a little.
Second time I did it I figured I would start at the same pace I had finished
the first one, I finished in 41:15 min. I really felt like I had pushed
myself to the limit and I didn't think I would be able to do much better, I
tought I had hit a wall if you know what I mean.

A few weeks later, I participated in my first official race near where I
live, there were a total of 195 runners (compared to about 40 to my previous
races). This time I ran under 40 min barrier, it was kind of my goal but I
really didn't think I would do it, running with a lot of people like that
made me faster, I hate running behind someone (and obviously I was always
behind someone) and that made me push a lot more that I thought I could.
Then a few weeks later I tried my second 10k run race and this time I did it
in 38:37 min boy was I ever happy with that time, again I never thought I
could have done any better than my previous race but I did, I ran the whole
race next to another guy side by side (I'd say about 70% of the time we ran
side by side) so we pushed ourselves like crazy, I broke my PB (personal
best) and he broke his PB as well. So in my first year of racing 10Ks last
year I was able to run in under 40 min, any good athlete should be able to
do the same as long as they take it one step at a time. (Someone can't
understand how fast a guy is when he is running under 30 minutes untill you
have run a 10K yourself, now I have so much more respect for the guys who
can run in under 30 min, wow!!)

Now whenever I run I am almost 100% pain free, my knees do not bother me, I
will sometime have little kinks (is that a word..?) but anyway, nothing
major. I am really happy I started running as it has helped me a lot in
mountain bike races as well. Now this year, actually just last month, I
started swimming, I took 2 or 3 lessons to learn to swim so thats how newbie
I am to the sport, I could float and swim but I didn't have the technique
for front crawl, breathing is an art when it comes to swimming. Today I was
able to do a full lap (2 X 25 Meters) without taking a break hehe! A sprint
triathlon is 750 M so I am still far behind but I know I'll make it. I am
taking it one day at a time. (Need a few more lessons..)

Hey man sorry for the long post, I know I have kinda went side track here,
hope I didn't post a boring post and hope that someone can learn something
or be motivated reading it because I think thats what its all about,
motivation!

I hate promoting a company but here is a place where I have bought running
shoes once and which they have good prices
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I also buy a lot on Ebay.

My next pair of shoes is the Nike Triax 9, from the reviews I have read on
it it appears to be THE running shoe right now (I currently run with asics)

Here is a great site for reviews of running shoes
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

And my favorite site on running
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

You can make yourself a customize training plan based on your current
fitness level and goals, I really like that section alone. I plan to use it
for this summer.
It ask you what was your recent race time and how much mileage you currently
do and you can design a 12 week (or less, or more) training for your needs
(it includes speedwork and tempo runs ect..) Very interesting!
I highly recommend this site weather you are a begginer or advanced runner.
Don't forget to lookup the "injury prevention" link from the page.

Well, I hope this has been somewhat informative and not too boring..

"New Daddy" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1170225683.822966.143810@v33g2000cwv.googlegr oups.com...
>I am a very avid swimmer/cycler. Naturally, I am very tempted by the
> idea of expanding my interest to triathlon. However, everytime I try
> some running, even a short distance (for example 5 miles) gives me a
> pain in the knees. I think it is due to a combination of poor running
> position, anatomy and bad shoes, as I am otherwise very fit and lean.
> In this regard, have there been long-term studies on the effect of
> running on the knee joints?
> I wouldn't want to have fund doing triathlon now and suffer from bad
> knees in my later years.
>

02-06-2007, 11:34 PM

Oh and here are links to check the type of foot you have and which shoe you
should be getting..
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Remi" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].ca> wrote in message
news:e7Rwh.1682$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].ca...
> Well I have been a cyclist for a long time and started to have bad knee
> problems the year I was trying out for the Canada Games, I stopped cycling
> for 7 years (buying first car, going to college, meeting girls and all
> that kind of stuff kept me away from the sport a little longer than I
> thought it would). I hurt my knee from over training on the bike, I
> pushed myself way too hard not having a good base enough for my body to
> witstand the extra effort, towards the end of my training I was feeling
> pain on my knee but thought it was normal due to pushing so hard, I didn't
> listen to my body and went for another 50K ride the next day even though I
> could still feel my knee a little, I was only 17 at the time and I really
> wanted to prove myself and everyone else that I could be as good on a road
> bike as on a mountain bike (to make it to the Canada Games we had to race
> both road and mountain bike). Point is, my body showed me the signs and I
> didn't listen and that resulted in a bad knee that always followed me
> afterwards, don't need to say I didn't make the team or let alone race
> that year, yeah actually I did try one mountain bike race but I couldn't
> keep up with the guys I would normally beat and that hurt my ego big time
> so I quit. The year after I moved away and started college and never
> really got back into the sports for a long time.
>
> I am turning 28 years old this year, I got back into mountain biking
> (competitively) about 3 years ago. I sorta wanted to start running but
> was afraid I'd do more harm to my knees (one is worst than the other).
> Whenever I would do intervals (short hard sprints) on the bike, I would
> often have to stop after the third sprint or so because my knee would
> start to hurt, in the beggining of the season, if I started with longer
> distances than 30 to 40 Ks I would start feeling my knee, as I would put
> more milleage gradually I was able to ride with no problems, funy thing is
> that I normally never have any problems in mountain bike races, it would
> only bother me on longer road bike runs. Maybe because of the fact that
> you move your body more and is shorter distance..
>
> But for the last 3 years, that hasn't kept me from racing and I have been
> able to learn to listen to my body more, as a competitive athlete it is
> very hard to do, we always have that desire to push ourselves more wanting
> to improve all the time but it is very important to take it one step at a
> time to avoid injuries. To give you an idea, 3 years ago I started
> racing in "Senior Sports", 2 years ago I started the season in "Senior
> Sports" and moved in "Senior Experts" and last year I raced Experts and
> this year I will be racing "Elite" which is considered pro I guess but I
> do not consider myself as a pro by all means, I live in a small Province
> in Canada (New-Brunswick) and the competition is not as great as a bigger
> city that is for sure, altough we do have a young racer from New-Brunswick
> who races on the Canada Cup series (he finished 5th overall in Elite last
> year), lets just say that when he participates in the local races that he
> wins all the time.
>
> Last year I decided to start running with my father, I wanted to find
> another sport to help me with biking so I took a chance at running even
> though I was afraid for my knees. Needless to say it wasn't pain free
> when I started, but I started slowly by running maybe 1 to 3 km the first
> 2 weeks, I gradually increased the distances over time to run mostly 7 or
> 8 Ks. Did a few 10Ks but always running in a comfortable pace. Very
> often I had little pain on knees but nothing major though, not bad enough
> that I had to stop but I made sure to run small steps and keep it slow
> enough. A good pair of shoe is a must and experts will tell you to change
> every 400 to 600 miles, most will agree that you should have at least 2
> pairs of shoes and alternate. Some even suggest to change the insoles
> once half way the lifespan of your shoe.
>
> I also wanted to start running because I wanted to try a Duathlon, I did a
> few 10k races not far from here which aren't counted towards the
> Provinvial Point Series, but it gave me and idea of what my body could
> take, my first race I didn't really know how to pace myself, I ran in 44
> min and something, I started slow and half way the race I felt good and
> accelerated a little. Second time I did it I figured I would start at the
> same pace I had finished the first one, I finished in 41:15 min. I really
> felt like I had pushed myself to the limit and I didn't think I would be
> able to do much better, I tought I had hit a wall if you know what I mean.
>
> A few weeks later, I participated in my first official race near where I
> live, there were a total of 195 runners (compared to about 40 to my
> previous races). This time I ran under 40 min barrier, it was kind of my
> goal but I really didn't think I would do it, running with a lot of people
> like that made me faster, I hate running behind someone (and obviously I
> was always behind someone) and that made me push a lot more that I thought
> I could. Then a few weeks later I tried my second 10k run race and this
> time I did it in 38:37 min boy was I ever happy with that time, again I
> never thought I could have done any better than my previous race but I
> did, I ran the whole race next to another guy side by side (I'd say about
> 70% of the time we ran side by side) so we pushed ourselves like crazy, I
> broke my PB (personal best) and he broke his PB as well. So in my first
> year of racing 10Ks last year I was able to run in under 40 min, any good
> athlete should be able to do the same as long as they take it one step at
> a time. (Someone can't understand how fast a guy is when he is running
> under 30 minutes untill you have run a 10K yourself, now I have so much
> more respect for the guys who can run in under 30 min, wow!!)
>
> Now whenever I run I am almost 100% pain free, my knees do not bother me,
> I will sometime have little kinks (is that a word..?) but anyway, nothing
> major. I am really happy I started running as it has helped me a lot in
> mountain bike races as well. Now this year, actually just last month, I
> started swimming, I took 2 or 3 lessons to learn to swim so thats how
> newbie I am to the sport, I could float and swim but I didn't have the
> technique for front crawl, breathing is an art when it comes to swimming.
> Today I was able to do a full lap (2 X 25 Meters) without taking a break
> hehe! A sprint triathlon is 750 M so I am still far behind but I know
> I'll make it. I am taking it one day at a time. (Need a few more
> lessons..)
>
> Hey man sorry for the long post, I know I have kinda went side track here,
> hope I didn't post a boring post and hope that someone can learn something
> or be motivated reading it because I think thats what its all about,
> motivation!
>
> I hate promoting a company but here is a place where I have bought running
> shoes once and which they have good prices
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> I also buy a lot on Ebay.
>
> My next pair of shoes is the Nike Triax 9, from the reviews I have read on
> it it appears to be THE running shoe right now (I currently run with
> asics)
>
> Here is a great site for reviews of running shoes
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> And my favorite site on running
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> You can make yourself a customize training plan based on your current
> fitness level and goals, I really like that section alone. I plan to use
> it for this summer.
> It ask you what was your recent race time and how much mileage you
> currently do and you can design a 12 week (or less, or more) training for
> your needs (it includes speedwork and tempo runs ect..) Very interesting!
> I highly recommend this site weather you are a begginer or advanced
> runner. Don't forget to lookup the "injury prevention" link from the page.
>
> Well, I hope this has been somewhat informative and not too boring..
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "New Daddy" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:1170225683.822966.143810@v33g2000cwv.googlegr oups.com...
>>I am a very avid swimmer/cycler. Naturally, I am very tempted by the
>> idea of expanding my interest to triathlon. However, everytime I try
>> some running, even a short distance (for example 5 miles) gives me a
>> pain in the knees. I think it is due to a combination of poor running
>> position, anatomy and bad shoes, as I am otherwise very fit and lean.
>> In this regard, have there been long-term studies on the effect of
>> running on the knee joints?
>> I wouldn't want to have fund doing triathlon now and suffer from bad
>> knees in my later years.
>>
>
>

02-06-2007, 11:34 PM

I liked your post. I never thought about changing my insoles before.

Remi wrote:
> Well I have been a cyclist for a long time and started to have bad knee
> problems the year I was trying out for the Canada Games, I stopped cycling
> for 7 years (buying first car, going to college, meeting girls and all that
> kind of stuff kept me away from the sport a little longer than I thought it
> would). I hurt my knee from over training on the bike, I pushed myself way
> too hard not having a good base enough for my body to witstand the extra
> effort, towards the end of my training I was feeling pain on my knee but
> thought it was normal due to pushing so hard, I didn't listen to my body and
> went for another 50K ride the next day even though I could still feel my
> knee a little, I was only 17 at the time and I really wanted to prove myself
> and everyone else that I could be as good on a road bike as on a mountain
> bike (to make it to the Canada Games we had to race both road and mountain
> bike). Point is, my body showed me the signs and I didn't listen and that
> resulted in a bad knee that always followed me afterwards, don't need to say
> I didn't make the team or let alone race that year, yeah actually I did try
> one mountain bike race but I couldn't keep up with the guys I would normally
> beat and that hurt my ego big time so I quit. The year after I moved away
> and started college and never really got back into the sports for a long
> time.
>
> I am turning 28 years old this year, I got back into mountain biking
> (competitively) about 3 years ago. I sorta wanted to start running but was
> afraid I'd do more harm to my knees (one is worst than the other). Whenever
> I would do intervals (short hard sprints) on the bike, I would often have to
> stop after the third sprint or so because my knee would start to hurt, in
> the beggining of the season, if I started with longer distances than 30 to
> 40 Ks I would start feeling my knee, as I would put more milleage gradually
> I was able to ride with no problems, funy thing is that I normally never
> have any problems in mountain bike races, it would only bother me on longer
> road bike runs. Maybe because of the fact that you move your body more and
> is shorter distance..
>
> But for the last 3 years, that hasn't kept me from racing and I have been
> able to learn to listen to my body more, as a competitive athlete it is very
> hard to do, we always have that desire to push ourselves more wanting to
> improve all the time but it is very important to take it one step at a time
> to avoid injuries. To give you an idea, 3 years ago I started racing in
> "Senior Sports", 2 years ago I started the season in "Senior Sports" and
> moved in "Senior Experts" and last year I raced Experts and this year I will
> be racing "Elite" which is considered pro I guess but I do not consider
> myself as a pro by all means, I live in a small Province in Canada
> (New-Brunswick) and the competition is not as great as a bigger city that is
> for sure, altough we do have a young racer from New-Brunswick who races on
> the Canada Cup series (he finished 5th overall in Elite last year), lets
> just say that when he participates in the local races that he wins all the
> time.
>
> Last year I decided to start running with my father, I wanted to find
> another sport to help me with biking so I took a chance at running even
> though I was afraid for my knees. Needless to say it wasn't pain free when
> I started, but I started slowly by running maybe 1 to 3 km the first 2
> weeks, I gradually increased the distances over time to run mostly 7 or 8
> Ks. Did a few 10Ks but always running in a comfortable pace. Very often I
> had little pain on knees but nothing major though, not bad enough that I had
> to stop but I made sure to run small steps and keep it slow enough. A good
> pair of shoe is a must and experts will tell you to change every 400 to 600
> miles, most will agree that you should have at least 2 pairs of shoes and
> alternate. Some even suggest to change the insoles once half way the
> lifespan of your shoe.
>
> I also wanted to start running because I wanted to try a Duathlon, I did a
> few 10k races not far from here which aren't counted towards the Provinvial
> Point Series, but it gave me and idea of what my body could take, my first
> race I didn't really know how to pace myself, I ran in 44 min and something,
> I started slow and half way the race I felt good and accelerated a little.
> Second time I did it I figured I would start at the same pace I had finished
> the first one, I finished in 41:15 min. I really felt like I had pushed
> myself to the limit and I didn't think I would be able to do much better, I
> tought I had hit a wall if you know what I mean.
>
> A few weeks later, I participated in my first official race near where I
> live, there were a total of 195 runners (compared to about 40 to my previous
> races). This time I ran under 40 min barrier, it was kind of my goal but I
> really didn't think I would do it, running with a lot of people like that
> made me faster, I hate running behind someone (and obviously I was always
> behind someone) and that made me push a lot more that I thought I could.
> Then a few weeks later I tried my second 10k run race and this time I did it
> in 38:37 min boy was I ever happy with that time, again I never thought I
> could have done any better than my previous race but I did, I ran the whole
> race next to another guy side by side (I'd say about 70% of the time we ran
> side by side) so we pushed ourselves like crazy, I broke my PB (personal
> best) and he broke his PB as well. So in my first year of racing 10Ks last
> year I was able to run in under 40 min, any good athlete should be able to
> do the same as long as they take it one step at a time. (Someone can't
> understand how fast a guy is when he is running under 30 minutes untill you
> have run a 10K yourself, now I have so much more respect for the guys who
> can run in under 30 min, wow!!)
>
> Now whenever I run I am almost 100% pain free, my knees do not bother me, I
> will sometime have little kinks (is that a word..?) but anyway, nothing
> major. I am really happy I started running as it has helped me a lot in
> mountain bike races as well. Now this year, actually just last month, I
> started swimming, I took 2 or 3 lessons to learn to swim so thats how newbie
> I am to the sport, I could float and swim but I didn't have the technique
> for front crawl, breathing is an art when it comes to swimming. Today I was
> able to do a full lap (2 X 25 Meters) without taking a break hehe! A sprint
> triathlon is 750 M so I am still far behind but I know I'll make it. I am
> taking it one day at a time. (Need a few more lessons..)
>
> Hey man sorry for the long post, I know I have kinda went side track here,
> hope I didn't post a boring post and hope that someone can learn something
> or be motivated reading it because I think thats what its all about,
> motivation!
>
> I hate promoting a company but here is a place where I have bought running
> shoes once and which they have good prices
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> I also buy a lot on Ebay.
>
> My next pair of shoes is the Nike Triax 9, from the reviews I have read on
> it it appears to be THE running shoe right now (I currently run with asics)
>
> Here is a great site for reviews of running shoes
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> And my favorite site on running
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> You can make yourself a customize training plan based on your current
> fitness level and goals, I really like that section alone. I plan to use it
> for this summer.
> It ask you what was your recent race time and how much mileage you currently
> do and you can design a 12 week (or less, or more) training for your needs
> (it includes speedwork and tempo runs ect..) Very interesting!
> I highly recommend this site weather you are a begginer or advanced runner.
> Don't forget to lookup the "injury prevention" link from the page.
>
> Well, I hope this has been somewhat informative and not too boring..
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "New Daddy" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:1170225683.822966.143810@v33g2000cwv.googlegr oups.com...
>> I am a very avid swimmer/cycler. Naturally, I am very tempted by the
>> idea of expanding my interest to triathlon. However, everytime I try
>> some running, even a short distance (for example 5 miles) gives me a
>> pain in the knees. I think it is due to a combination of poor running
>> position, anatomy and bad shoes, as I am otherwise very fit and lean.
>> In this regard, have there been long-term studies on the effect of
>> running on the knee joints?
>> I wouldn't want to have fund doing triathlon now and suffer from bad
>> knees in my later years.
>>
>
>