Katawa Shoujo Forums

gRaViJa wrote:A friend of mine (who btw looks and acts like Emi, no shittin', but she already has a boyfriend for years ><) invited me to run a race in 4 weeks. It's a 5km race, so i should be able to make it, since i'm now at week 7 of the program. Should i go for it? I'm a bit hesitating because i don't want end last lol.

It's all personal preference. If I were you I would do it for the hell of it to evaluate how you've been doing with your workouts. As long as you don't think too negatively I believe you'll do fine. After all you've kept up with the program for 7 weeks. Means you've improved since you first started.

I don't know about the specific 5K you're considering, but it's my understanding that 5Ks are usually pretty relaxed, to the point where many entrants will walk part of/all the way. So if that is the case, I don't think you should be worried about embarrassing yourself.

Well, Finished Day 3 of Week 2 on Sunday.

Completed 1.97 miles in the time allotted, and ran with a knee brace on my right knee where it was hurting before.

Unfortunately, the pain came back. Not as sharp as before, I think because of the brace. This time though it has lasted much longer. I took the brace off overnight and then wore it all day on Monday. By evening my knee was still hurting me and I couldn't stand the pressure of the brace anymore. I've been limping and sore all day.

I did a bit of research and it looks like I've gone and pulled a Hisao and overdone it. It appears that I have runner's knee. I have all the symptoms, soreness behind the kneecap, tenderness on the inside of the knee joint, worse when going down stairs or when bending the knee, etc. Basically I strained the ligaments and the joint by pushing too hard, too fast.

Ugh. I feel so stupid. I'm going to have to take the week off from running and probably even much walking. I'll still exercise, but I'm going to be focusing on stretching and quadricep strengthening exercises to build up the knee supporting muscles. If I'm still sore by the end of the week I'll have to see a doctor.

DAMMIT! I was doing so well, I felt so great about actually exercising again and then my own body betrays me! So frustrating. Hopefully I will recover quickly. My job is mostly a sitting job anyway, (IT Network Admin) so I know I will be able to rest the joint.

*sigh* well, I'll keep tabs on the thread anyway, even if I'm sidelined for now. When will I ever learn to take my own advice...

Bigbishounen wrote:Well, Finished Day 3 of Week 2 on Sunday.

Completed 1.97 miles in the time allotted, and ran with a knee brace on my right knee where it was hurting before.

Unfortunately, the pain came back. Not as sharp as before, I think because of the brace. This time though it has lasted much longer. I took the brace off overnight and then wore it all day on Monday. By evening my knee was still hurting me and I couldn't stand the pressure of the brace anymore. I've been limping and sore all day.

I did a bit of research and it looks like I've gone and pulled a Hisao and overdone it. It appears that I have runner's knee. I have all the symptoms, soreness behind the kneecap, tenderness on the inside of the knee joint, worse when going down stairs or when bending the knee, etc. Basically I strained the ligaments and the joint by pushing too hard, too fast.

Ugh. I feel so stupid. I'm going to have to take the week off from running and probably even much walking. I'll still exercise, but I'm going to be focusing on stretching and quadricep strengthening exercises to build up the knee supporting muscles. If I'm still sore by the end of the week I'll have to see a doctor.

DAMMIT! I was doing so well, I felt so great about actually exercising again and then my own body betrays me! So frustrating. Hopefully I will recover quickly. My job is mostly a sitting job anyway, (IT Network Admin) so I know I will be able to rest the joint.

*sigh* well, I'll keep tabs on the thread anyway, even if I'm sidelined for now. When will I ever learn to take my own advice...

You could still do a bike. Especially a stationary bike should be very light on the knees but will keep you from losing progress on your muscles.

You can also do abs, arms, bodyweight stuff. Pushups, pullups, jackknife presses, crunches, leg lifts, planks. These things will keep your activity level up and won't stress your legs at all while you're healing. If you do enough of em in a fast enough succession it can even be useful for cardio.

Bike isn't light on the knees at all, as I have found out. Go to the doctor to be sure, let it heal until it is completely healed, then start lightly again, or the injury comes back with a vengeance. Oh yes, and consider different shoes that force you to run correctly. Something like Nike Free.

gRaViJa wrote:A friend of mine (who btw looks and acts like Emi, no shittin', but she already has a boyfriend for years ><) invited me to run a race in 4 weeks. It's a 5km race, so i should be able to make it, since i'm now at week 7 of the program. Should i go for it? I'm a bit hesitating because i don't want end last lol.

MAAN! Emi in real life! Do it.
Even if she has a boyfriend, you have to start setting goals for when you finish the "couch to 5k"routine. Even if you ran a 5k and finished last you still ran a 5K! This is what you've been training for! Do it.

kbye, just about to run my second day of week 1. WOooooooo

dunkelfalke wrote:Bike isn't light on the knees at all, as I have found out. Go to the doctor to be sure, let it heal until it is completely healed, then start lightly again, or the injury comes back with a vengeance. Oh yes, and consider different shoes that force you to run correctly. Something like Nike Free.

Well, it's not light on the knees, but in a different way than running is. Actually cycling is used as a therapy for runner's knee as it strengthens the quadriceps muscles in the legs. We have a stationary bike, but I hate using it as it has a seat that was designed for women. (IE: It tends to cause "tackle numbness" due to bad seat design putting pressure in the wrong places for men.) I may just have to put some padding or something on the seat so I can use it and do some riding instead of running. I may actually be able to modify the workout plan to use alternating hard/light riding instead of running and walking. Then I can at least keep strengthening the leg muscles and burning fat.

Hmmm... This may actually work. Just gotta do something about that seat. Numb tackle is no fun.

The saddle difference between men and women is not as large as you think. You just have to position the saddle straight and high enough and the width also has to be right. If the saddle is uncomfortable, then it will be uncomfortable for both sexes. Just remember, it is a saddle, not a seat, so the large part of your weight is still carried by your legs.

Bigbishounen wrote:

dunkelfalke wrote:Bike isn't light on the knees at all, as I have found out. Go to the doctor to be sure, let it heal until it is completely healed, then start lightly again, or the injury comes back with a vengeance. Oh yes, and consider different shoes that force you to run correctly. Something like Nike Free.

Well, it's not light on the knees, but in a different way than running is. Actually cycling is used as a therapy for runner's knee as it strengthens the quadriceps muscles in the legs. We have a stationary bike, but I hate using it as it has a seat that was designed for women. (IE: It tends to cause "tackle numbness" due to bad seat design putting pressure in the wrong places for men.) I may just have to put some padding or something on the seat so I can use it and do some riding instead of running. I may actually be able to modify the workout plan to use alternating hard/light riding instead of running and walking. Then I can at least keep strengthening the leg muscles and burning fat.

Hmmm... This may actually work. Just gotta do something about that seat. Numb tackle is no fun.

Use a pillow or fold a towel and put it on the seat. I don't think anything is really wrong with a bike (If it gets your cardio workout then that's good, heck I was gonna pick up speed rope as a way but don't have the time.), however I just don't get that satisfaction from a personal jog/walk or elliptical machine.

dunkelfalke wrote:The saddle difference between men and women is not as large as you think. You just have to position the saddle straight and high enough and the width also has to be right. If the saddle is uncomfortable, then it will be uncomfortable for both sexes. Just remember, it is a saddle, not a seat, so the large part of your weight is still carried by your legs.

True. Unfortunately, this is a fixed position saddle. I can raise and lower the entire thing, but cannot adjust the angle or rotation of the saddle like I can on my touring bike. (I used to cycle quite a bit when I was younger. 10 miles on my racing bike every day. Until it was stolen from me. GRRR! )

This thread moves fast these days!
I'm still out action with my leg, but it feels a ton better now and I'm probably going to restart running this week.

I went for a 3 hour walk today with some friends because it was a nice day and I need the break from endless university work, so that's something I suppose.

To be honest, my feet and legs always kind of hurt and feel odd, I should probably go to the doctor's about it, but the pain from the running has gone so I'm back to "normal", as I'll ever be anyway. Feels like I've lost a lot of the progress I made, but its a busy time for me right now and I've got a lot of work to do. I've only got 2 weeks of university to go and then I'm finished, so I might start seriously again then, doing more than just this jogging. Hope things are going well for everyone else and that they have the time to get things done!

Well, like Tamago I'm also down for the count on running.

Last night was my scheduled night for exercise, and while my knee felt better, I could still feel a bit of soreness. Also, if it is runner's knee I need to do some strengthening exercises and build up the muscles that support my knee more before I try running again.

So last night I did a much longer round of stretching, focusing on my legs in particular, did several reps of leg lifts, and then did about 20 minutes of "spinning" on the stationary bike. Not nearly the workout I have gotten used to, but I did get my heart rate up a bit and certainly warmed up. (Also ended up with tackle numbness. Ugh. SUCH a freaky feeling!)

This morning I could tell that my knee was a bit stiff, but the soreness is largely gone. It doesn't hurt to walk normally and I can handle stairs without any discomfort at all. Still, I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor and see if I can get a referral to the Sports medicine physician that is part of their medical group and get a once-over and some advice. I've made getting back into shape my "Big Goal" for this year and no stupid knee is going to get in my way!

Ain't a bad idea to got to the doctor so he can give you advice on how to not get a sore knee again. i'm sure you'll get to your goal

I'm in week 7 now, extended my run from 21 to 24 minutes and still goes great. The 30 minutes are in my reach now. After that i'm gonna try to run the 5k faster and by the end of april i'll be entering the running competition i talked about earlier. My goal is to not finish last :p

Down as well - with biking that is, but for a far more idiotic reason: I cannot find my glasses. Walking without them is manageable, but riding a bike becomes too dangerous. Actually, running also doesn't work.