I was a runner on cross county and track teams in high school, but basically went thirty years after that without running regularly. I would often start up for a few weeks in the summers, then peter out. As I aged into mid 40's, found that I was getting injuries when starting out, and they didn't go away. I tore my calf muscle at age 45 (trying to imitate Usain Bolt), and that injury stuck with me for several years; I thought I'd probably never be able to run pain-free again.
Then a few years ago (2011) I started running and took everything more slowly, both mileage and pace. I actually started out just doing hikes in nearby mountains, since my calf injury made running painful but hiking/walking was fine. I ran a little bit later that year, things went okay but I still caused myself some injuries because I always wanted to try and run faster. The same thing happened in 2012, although I ended up running my first marathon late that year. It was painful and my persisting Achilles/calf injury was always present, at least in a small degree.
In early 2013 I started running again and threw all thoughts of fast pace out the window, and paid close attention to pains, backing off and sometimes taking time off until some niggling pain went away. I started running more often, five or six days a week, which paradoxically helped. Yes, you generally need more recovery time as you age, but if you keep your runs on the slow side and don't tax your body as much, running every day can be easier and more injury-free than running just a few times a week. I have talked to others with same experience.
I ended up qualifying for Boston Marathon last fall, proving that you don't need to train fast or hard to race fast (in fact best training for marathon is much slower than most people think). And this year I've run the Boston Maraton, a 50 mile mountain trail race, and I'll be logging well over 2,000 miles for the year (i.e., averaging 45 miles per week).
I have heard similar stories from many runners I know. "Injury prone" is very often a tag that attaches to any person who tries to start running too many miles or who tries to run them too fast. Since most people try to start running that way -- trying to do too much too soon -- most people end up being "injury prone".
Instead, start out slow, walking most of the miles if you want, and ramp up very slowly. I've gone from being injury prone to being injury free, mostly because I know the sorts of things that would cause me injury and I avoid doing them. The good thing is that once you've slowly ramped your body up to a given level, say for me 50 miles/week at pace around 9:00 to 10:00 per mile, my body is rock solid. I'd have to be careful if I wanted to increase mileage or speed, but if I just want to keep running at level my body is acclimated to the odds of injury are very low. And the pleasure when running is very high.
When I started running, I wore shoes, and my feet hurt all the time. I stopped wearing shoes, and the foot pain stopped, too. I've since found shoes I can wear when it's cold/wet that don't hurt, but running barefoot is still my go-to style.
I think normal running shoes are probably fine for most people, but I benefited quite a lot from running without shoes at all.
The ounce of truth is that feet (in general) need to be strengthened. YOu can do fun stuf like walking on the beach, on gravel roads, or proper rock climbing, or balance beam work. All of which iwll work to strenghten your feet. What's funny is once your feet are strong, shoes have little to do with it.[1] The inverse is not true - weak feet in barefoot shoes - is likely to create a problem.
Barefoot style shoes may be useful for some people with strong feet, but they are a poor substitute for developing strong feet in the first-place. And they can be outright dangerous for people with weak feet and poor balance, or people subjecting themselves to long-distance or endurance situations. Whereas a trail-running shoe used in a hiking application is a better, safer, and more useful piece of gear.
Lastly, one nice feature that has come out in the recent years is the ability to get the right (so called) drop, in a variety of styles of shoe. And shoes that are either too angled or too 'flat' will present additional challenges, but expecially people with weak feet. The footbed angle needs to be selected based on application.
[1] They can still hurt you, but strong feet in good shoes tend to be fine.
* too quick of ramp up or not enough recovery (it can take a long time to ease into this stuff)
* you were running incorrectly, either directly because of bad technique or you had bad technique because of bad posture/stride. many people land hard on their feet or turn one foot out when they run.
* you have actual medical problems with your feet or legs that would cause this
if you enjoyed it you should really look at different running techniques and make sure your stride is good so you can get back to it! if your posture is bad your stride will almost definitely be bad; you may need to start there.
Diet also plays a major role in consistently reducing your recovery time and increasing the quality of life.
Because running looks easy as opposed to say weight lifting, people often do it without thinking. Running is just like any other exercise in that you have to start slow and work up to more. You also have to do some research for proper technique and equipment.
Since you're doing the C25K I'm assuming you are not super athletic to start. If you are overweight, you may want do some other cardio until you get your weight down a bit. If it hurts obviously don't do it and find some professional advice. Re-doing days in a training program is fine, everyone has their own pace.
Good luck!
My ankles roll in a lot, with out a fair bit of support, my knees kill me.
Also, muscles recover quick but tendons take forever to heal - you're not running from a lion, so you can take your time and experiment with what works for you in a safe way. (it sounds like you are, so good for you)
http://www.prevention.com/fitness/strength-training/foam-rol...
In my late teens, I began to have very bad bouts of this syndrome, whenever I sprinted. The more I ignored the pain, the longer it would take to heal.
In my early 20's, I suddenly took up running--eventually ratcheting up my route to 7 miles--after being somewhat sedentary for a couple years. The result of this was perhaps the worst case of Plantar Fasciitis I'd ever developed.
Shortly after, I visited an expensive shoe store downtown, and explained my problem to the salesman. He recommended a pair of high-end Asics, in the price range of $80-$120. I believe the pair had the title "gel evolution" in it somewhere. He also laced them up a special way. Whenever I use them, I maintain this special lacing, and always have to carefully tighten them just enough so that my feet still have enough flexibility to bend my foot without constricting it or cutting of circulation.
These shoes provided incredible arch support, being manufactured with a great deal of material surrounding the ankle and the sole, but while also being made of flexible material in the rest of the shoe. (Note that the shoes I'd been wearing when I injured myself were incredibly cheap, and had virtually no arch support).
To further enhance the arch support, I also replaced the soles with some fairly thick "Superfeet" soles, which are rather stiff and are curved to rise where your arches are.
Since then, for the last 5 years, I've been running on a daily (or at least weekly) basis--the problem has never come back, even though I seem genetically predisposed to the syndrome. Having excellent shoes makes all the difference.
Later on, I picked up a pair of Asics from Nordstrom Rack, at a great price (under $50). These were much cheaper (instead of having "Gel Evolution" in the title, they were just called "Oasis"). These have worked just as well for me, although I suspect that my continuing foot health can also partially be attributed to the muscle strengthening of my feet, as well as good form. (When you are still in pain, be very careful not to continue running if you feel like you need to modify your gait in order to avoid the pain ("limping"). This can result in injuring yourself in a new, different way, such as your knees!)
By the way, I highly recommend jogging or running, in general. I wouldn't be the person I am today without it, since it is often when I am outside, running, when I come up with the best ideas. I suspect this has something to do with the time-scale of the activity (lasting long enough for sustained thought), the freedom for the mind to roam (since exercising is not mentally taxing), and not the least due to the increased oxygen in your system. If you run often enough, you begin to become addicted, to the point where you feel "high".
For me just changing shoes with a 6mm difference in heel-to-toe drop was enough to create the same problem. I woke up one morning with a pain that felt like a nail being driven up into my heel. I spent about an hour doing deep tissue massage on my arch and calves - did a workout the same day and didn't have any issues the next morning.
You probably don't need quite as much support as you might think if you were willing to slowly remove support which would strengthen/stretch the muscles around the heel.
>since it is often when I am outside, running, when I come up with the best ideas.
There's quite a lot of support for the idea that walking helps people think better.
