I used to do cross country in high school, where I was taught to run with the heel strike technique. I remember that after 2 years of CC, it had taken a toll on my knees. Not sure if it was the heel striking, the fact that we ran 3-4 miles on concrete a ~4 times per week, or something else.
Anyway, I'm going on 24 now, and I haven't really ran since my sophomore year of high school. I recently went to the doctor for a regular checkup, and she told me to get more exercise. I figured I'd start jogging home from work, so I started doing that a couple weeks ago. It's a little over 2 miles, mostly flat on concrete sidewalks, but the last ~25% of the way is hilly.
Oh god my knees.
After every run (I've been doing it 2-3 times a week) I could barely walk the day after. I believe it's the common IT band syndrome, and I've been trying to figure out why I get it every time. I read about how heel striking is bad for you so I started running on the balls of my feet, which I do enjoy more, but it's very taxing on my legs since I've never done it before. It still didn't stop the knee pain. So for now I've just started walking home, and jogging for about a half a mile. Even in that short distance, I can feel the tension in my knees. It's really discouraging because I'm not overweight or anything (I'm really skinny), and it's not like I'm sprinting down the pavement (I'm going at a light jog), but my knees feel so abused anyway.
50 would be amazing.