About 2 months ago i decided to make a change in my life ,and quit smoking and start taking better care of myself. Found the C25K program on the ap store on my phone,downloaded it and started running.I absolutly love running now and am very dedicated. During the second week of the program i felt like i could do more ,so ran much more than the program asked for, i developed severe knee pain on the medial side of both knees. I took a trip to the doctor ,because i was even in pain to walk,get out of bed or go up and down stairs. She told me that i had probably overdone myself, told me not to run for 3 weeks,gave me a shot of steroids,told me when i started to run again to stick to the program, and reminded me that  i was no longer a spring chicken (im 41) LOL!  I had done everything the doc had told me and 3 weeks later my legs felt fine(no issues at all), Started the C25K again last week from the begining. First week went well no issues, on day 2 of week 2 after my 5min warmup walk,i started my run and had pain in both knees within the first two strides. This is really bumming me out because i love to run,but whats the point if im going to be in pain every few weeks! I'll give you some info about my workouts.....1. i usually run on Mon,Wed,and Fri and work out my upper body on the days i dont run .....2. i usually walk 3 to 6 miles,after my C25K workouts......3. run on paved or concrete surfaces ,with mild hills......4. I know im due for some new running shoes,but not really sure what to buy(so many different shoes for running, running isnt suposed to be complicated LOL).....5. Running with heal landing first, also feels like im running on the outside of my feet ....... A Few Questions 1. Should i go 2 days in between running ,to give my legs time to rest.....2 Does the extra walking i do after the run cause strain on my knees (should i just stick to the program and do nothing extra),   3. should i be running on gravel untill my legs and knees get strong,......The knee pain i am having now isnt as severe, only when running,not walking or normal things during the day, I dont want to quit ,because i love it, but if i cant fiqure out something so i can run regular without severe pain ,i may have to take up bike riding,and i dont want to do that ! So any advice would be apreciated. Thank You

Although the knees hurt that may not be where your problem is.  Sometimes there is a problem someplace else that DOESN'T hurt, but that problem results in undue forces or circumstances someplace, and then the pain shows up there.  My PT has told me of cases where a patient has had Plantar Fasciitis and he has worked ONLY on the hips and the foot pain goes away.

By chance do you sit a lot during the day?  As more and more of our lives (professional and personal) involve computers all the sitting is just MURDER on the glutes.  If they're not working well it can cause a chain reaction down the entire leg.

I obviously don't know if that is your particular situation.  I am making the case, though, to seek out a really good Physical Therapist.  Many times for over-use injuries (the majority of running injuries are over-use - not acute) a PT or good sports Chiro is WAY more effective than a doctor.  They can check whether muscles are working well or not, etc.

I've seen much more serious things sideline a wannabe runner.  I wouldn't lose hope at all.  Yes - it's frustrating.  But with perseverance and an attitude of "I'm going to go lick this thing." you'll get through it and be on the  road pain free, in my opinion.

Good luck.

Jim

First of all, welcome to running!

I fully understand the frustration involved with not being able to run, so I will give you some very good advice someone gave me in this forum: First Health, then running. Focus on getting better and once you are recovered then start running again, do not rush it.

In general, there are many pains associated with running, but, as a rule of thumb you can divide them in:

1) pain that fades when I start running -> These ones are generally OK

2) pain that gets worse when I start running-> these ones generally imply some more looking into.

I got injured in my right ankle some years ago, the following week I decided I was OK and went running, basically I destroied it and it took me two years of lots of patiente, PTs, doctors and swimming to be able to run again comfortably, but nowadays I am running much more than before my injury and my ankle feels stronger than ever.

In your case, it looks like one of the problems might also have been "doing too much too soon", so I would advice taking the opposite route. Start very very slow, walk if you can't run, do not overdo it even if you feel you can. Always remember that your body needs time to adapt. In the main time, cross training might be a good idea, including some exercices that might help strenghtening your knees (I am thinking on low impact exercices such as swimming or running on water). Also finding a good PT or doctor whith experience with runners might help if the problem persists (I am not a doctor, but the steroid shot you mention sounds to me like some of the things that get some of the runners/doctors in this forum screaming).

A couple things that helped me.  I am 255 lbs and my knees were killing me when I would first try to run.

1. Get good shoes!  Go to a running store that can do gait analysis and work with you to find the right shoe.
2. ?I changed my foot strike.  I changed from a heel strike to a mid strike and it made a huge difference to me.  It is more tiring on the muscles but much kinder on the knees.
3. I stopped the extra walking after my runnning days to give my body a chance to better recover.
4. I put 2 rest days in after the first workout of the week since the effort level goes up.  The other 2 workouts I have one day of rest in-between.
5. RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. I ice my knees immediately after a workout to keep the swelling down.  Most of the time this is all I need to manage the soreness,  ALthough Aleve has become a pretty good friend also.  LOL
6. Follow the program as written for now.  Save the pushing it until you get more comfortable with this process.  Or better yet after you finish!