Why Walking Is OK When You Can’t Run Because Of Knee Pain

I know lots of women who love running and at various times in their running life they are sidelined and they can’t run: maybe they’re coming back from illness or maybe they have knee pain. I am here to tell you it’s OK to walk instead of run when you’re overcoming knee pain. Walking will actually be good for you (if you’re allowed to put weight on your leg).

I go in waves of running for my cardio vs walking for my cardio. I love doing both so it’s not hard for me to switch to walking when running just isn’t an option. 

I didn’t start running for fun or my own exercise until I was in college and I luckily haven’t had any major injuries since I began running. I have had bouts of knee pain and discomfort that has kept me from running. So what I’m going to discuss in this post is for the women who want to run and have a mild to moderate knee pain without surgery, broken bones, torn ligaments, or anything that would mean the doctor told you not to put weight on your leg. If you aren’t sure what kind of injury you have seek out medical guidance from your trusted healthcare provider. This post is not meant as medical advice, it goes through my journey of when I have a flare of knee pain or swelling that limits me from running so I switch to walking.

Ok so let’s get into my story.

So I love running and I also love walking. I go in waves in the year when I like running and when I prefer walking only. It’s typically weather related. I live in Las Vegas and as many of you know it is hot as all get out in the Summer, so if I don’t get out the door to run early early, before 5:30am then I can’t go for the run because by the time I get back from the run it will be too hot. And I don’t tolerate cold very well. I had asthma as a child and my doctors all told me I ‘grew out of it’, but come to find out I probably didn’t. I thought it was completely normal to not be able to breathe well in the cold, that I just hadn’t trained enough during cold weather to be able to do it well. Well, for other reasons I’ve had to see an Allergist and he told me that’s not normal and I could get on an inhaler if I really wanted to be able to run outside in the cold because I have “reactive airways” meaning my airways constrict in the cold and this has to do with some kind of allergy. I declined the inhaler because I just avoid running in cold weather, there’s no reason for me to have to run in the winter so I don’t need the inhaler. If I really want to run in the winter I own a treadmill and I have a gym membership. Anyway, so running goes in waves for me because of the seasons. 

My knee sometimes hurts when I start running again

My knee sometimes hurts when I start running again and it’s usually because I started training too much too soon. I typically get a sharp pain in my knee, along the inside of my knee. Could it be meniscus irritation? Yes it could be. Could it be hamstring bursitis? Yes it could be. No matter which it is, I base my rehab on my symptoms.

Active rest for knee pain with running

Whenever I have pain I make sure I actively rest. What do I mean by that? I mean I avoid the things that aggravate my pain and I continue doing the things that still feel good. Lifting weights doesn’t hurt? Great, keep lifting weights. Walking doesn’t hurt? Great, keep walking. Walking does hurt? Ok, ride a bike. Riding a bike doesn’t hurt? Great, keep riding the bike. Rest from the things that aggravate the pain, continue doing the exercises and activities that don’t aggravate the pain.

Walking instead of running for knee pain

Whenever I am in a season of life that I’m running I always walk part of it. Whether that just be the warm up and cool down, or throughout parts of the run itself, walking should be part of the program. I walk for 5-10 minutes to increase my heart rate above resting heart rate and I assess how my knee is feeling. If my knee feels fine walking then I’ll start running and do that for 5 minutes or so and assess how it feels. If it feels fine I keep going, if not I walk for a few more minutes and assess again.

If my knee pain doesn’t go away within 5-10 minutes of running it’s not going to go away

If my knee pain lingers past 5-10 minutes or running something needs to change. I either need to slow down and continue running just slower, or I need to move my knees through a bigger range of motion for a little while or I need to stop running and switch to walking.

It’s not giving up when I decide to walk instead of run, I’m keeping my body healthy.

Walking and running both exercise your heart, your circulation, and your muscles. If my body is telling me it can’t walk today then I’m going to listen to it. I’m not going to lose fitness if I miss a few runs. And really, it doesn’t matter if I lose some fitness because I skipped months of running if my body said no to running. Walking can keep your body used to going the same distance (when you walk the same distance you would have run). And then I can incorporate strength training without rest to keep up my cardio

If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you