Hi folks!
About a year ago, I gave myself patellofemoral syndrome. At first I thought I'd overtrained, but turns out it was mostly wrong posture, resulting from unwittingly correcting a foot deformity I didn't know about. I also gave myself osteoarthritis in both knees and one hip from it.
Anyway, I got orthotics now, and can run pain free with them+taped knees. So I'd like to start again.
Thing is, most training plans I can find are aimed at either people who are in training, running wise, or starting from 'couch', ie, being mostly or completely sedentary. I'm neither, as I've replaced with walking 5k+ per day most days and swimming 1.5k (breaststroke, keeping my head over water, and in just under 40 min if it matters) once or twice a week.
I also hike, but not all that regularly. Did 20k with 300m altitude (I know, more of a long brisk walk than a hike) last week and it didn't cause any pain during or after. Just in case that's a relevant clue.
Since my pool membership is running out and running is virtually free, id like to get back into it now that I'm mostly pain free and have my orthotics. Does anyone have a link or advice for how to pick it back up without doing more harm than good?
tia!
Some good advice here already. Let me add one piece of advice that should help avoid injury in the longer term: strength train! See if you can gather a few people to meet up in a weight room once or twice a week, learn to deadlift, perform weighted squats, reverse lunges, Bulgarian split squats, etc. If that's too ambitious, working by yourself with a few resistance bands and a bag filled with sand can work almost as well, though in my experience it helps to have folks around you to motivate you and give you advice on your form while lifting weights.
I can't really financially justify a gym membership rn. I do have some good calisthenics and resistance band exercises I learned in physiotherapy. I'll look into the the sand bags! Thanks for the advice