Ok... so a few days ago I did a hardcore workout... running and incline for an hour & the next morning I woke up the the bottom of my foot felt like a vein that I was squishing everytime I walked... very painful. Thats mostly gone now but I have pain on the opposite side of my ankle bone thats pretty painful even to the touch. Im 290 lbs and I have been doing running on speed 6 on the treadmill at 2 minute intervals & speed 8 for 1 minute. Am I doing alot of damage to my feet by doing this? I did pick up a really nice pair of Asics (Gel Express 3) & they are AMAZING! I never thought shoes could feel so good especially while working out...!! Should I wait till I get down to like 240 to start running or what?? I dont want to injure myself... or make it where I cant workout at all then Im afraid Ill fall right back into what I just battled out of. Thanks everyone for your continued support!! Also, please visit my Weight Loss Contest for September in the Diary section and win a prize for guessing my weight that youll think Ill lose each month, its FREE!! Sorry to advertise my contest so much, its just not many people entered and this is a motivation tool for me as it makes me excited to push harder... thanks guys!!
You don't have to run for success. The first 9 months of my weight loss I never broke 3.5 mph on the treadmill, and I still got results way way faster than I should have been doing. I had the same injury you describe one time when I was already down in the sub 200 pound range from overdoing it on a run. I had to take a week off the treadmill completely for it to even get close to better, you may have to take a break now too. Don't be scared to take a break, if you eat on plan and stop running for a week or two the world will not end, I let myself fall into that line of thinking too that if I didn't push myself beyond reason I wouldn't get results and it's not true, it took me a year of obsessing about not missing my workout before I got that one through my very stubborn head.
Trust me when I say you can work your way up to running. The first time I broke into running from walking I think was December of 2009 and I was about 240-220 pounds. Well that's where I crossed the barrier from 3.5 mph walking into a jog at about 4.5 to 5.5 mph.
Do not underestimate the value of the incline, walking with a hard incline is very good for you and very good for your endurance. When I was 340-400 I couldn't walk a block without my calves aching and feeling like I was going to die. Now I have my vehicle up for sale because it's only a 12 minute brisk walk to work and I feel silly even driving it.
If you start with walking and work the incline as you go you will make perfectly great progress without running and hurting your feet, and you will feel great. Just take it slow and remember the no more than 2 pounds a week goal. I probably went into running too soon even because I killed my feet with bad shoes too, I lost a few toenails along the way that are still just healing now. One toenail turned entirely into a blister underneath and completely came off, it was pretty horrible to look at but oddly not as painful as you would think.
Oh I killed my trusty treadmill in the process too being too heavy for it. Best 500 dollars I ever spent in my life though was that treadmill, The motor burned out shortly after I broke into running, probably from the strain. But I was lucky enough that the company replaced damn near every part under warranty, and my old beat up $500 treadmill is still a survivor. I imagine the company was surprised to see a treadmill actually get used since most people buy them and use them as a dust catcher.
