10km Walking, Mostly Pavement (Sidewalks), sore and weird knee pain. HELP! page

[Lawyerchick12]

So my car packed up and I decided that while it is in repair, I try walking home from my office. It was 10km and took my short legs about 2.5 hrs to walk it. I was not that tired, although I now have some pain front of my chin, not sure what that part is called, just above my ankle. My knee is also radiating a VERY SLIGHT pain. Never walked that long at one go before. It was mostly on sidewalk, so the ground is paved concrete, not sure if that is the reason but wondering if my legs will adjust eventually, if there are special shoes I should get (just using my light nike sneakers) or if there are any walking tips I should incorporate. I would like to do this kind of long walk at least twice a (five day) week because it was actually AMAZING how I felt afterwards.

[sbhikes]

That's a long walk for your first time.

My personal experience with thousands and thousands of miles of walking and hiking is that on a regular surface (whether that's a gently graded trail, sidewalks or shopping malls) you have actually a better chance of feeling sore or getting weird pains here and there. The reason why is that all it takes is one little thing, perhaps a hot spot or blister on one heel or something like that, and you begin to favor that side. Your gait changes ever so slightly and with the even surface, every step you take is the exact same movement over and over again. The gait change gets beaten into you until you get a pain somewhere up the chain, in your shin, your knee, your hip.

So, always take good care of your feet. Wear shoes that are not too small. Try to walk on uneven surfaces to give your feet and legs little micro-breaks from doing the same repetitive motion over and over again. And just keep walking. Little minor aches aren't bad. It's the debilitating stuff you should be careful of. If it ever gets truly painful, take a break for a little while and go for a bike ride instead.

[June68]

Agreed w/everything sbhikes said. I'm also a long-time walker and hiker (20 miles a week give or take for several years) and I learned that the biggest hurdle was conditioning my feet and calves to that much walking. It took months of slow mileage build-up to condition my feet so that they don't hurt no matter how long I walk. When I had surgery a couple years ago and couldn't walk for a couple months, it took a bit to get back into the swing, but nothing like the initial conditioning. Now it doesn't hurt at all unless I wear out my shoes or wear the wrong socks (which rub and make the skin raw).

[Lawyerchick12]

Thanks Sbhikes and June68.

@ Sbhikes, its not really my first time. I actually ran a 10km last year without training and walk 5km on the threadmill most days of the week. It is just my first time, walking 10km outdoors is all. I paid attention to my feet and definitely see that I shift weight on the one with the hurting knees.

[skorpion317]

Whenever I go for a walk, I walk in the grass to the side of the sidewalk. Like sbhikes said, uneven terrain is better. I even intentionally look for tree roots just to walk over them.