As a pretty inexperienced runner I’ve had to learn a few things like not to eat an hour or two before runs (to avoid stomach aches), divide up my meals into smaller portions to be consumed throughout the day (this is just good to do all around so your body doesn’t store as much fat), practice better running posture, etc.
Some issues I’ve encountered during my runs are pain in the (left) arch of my foot occasionally and pain in my (right) knee which gets exponentially worse on longer runs starting at around eight miles or so - by mile 12 I’m limping a little.
I’m not sure whether this is caused by bad running posture, bad shoes, not enough hydration (I’m drinking about 16oz every five miles now), or simply because my body isn’t used to running long distance, but it was getting to the point where I set up an appointment with my doctor. I wore a knee brace during runs in the meantime (which helped considerably). I also ended up getting an expensive pair of running shoes, which ended up fixing the arch issue - and things were looking a lot better - though not 100%.
I talked to someone about my knee issue and he jokingly(?) recommended some Joint Juice. I thought, the name sounded funny but maybe some lube in my joints is exactly what I needed. During lunch, I checked my local Walgreens and lo and behold it was there in a glorious pomegranate-flavored 6-pack. I started drinking them on the morning of my run days (4 days a week) and even during the end of the first day I was feeling a lot less achey in my joint. I did a 10 mile run with no problems (and no knee brace). I ended up canceling my doctor’s appointment because I had no pain at all to show him.
While I don’t want to be dependent on Joint Juice, it’s really helped me on my runs and apparently its active ingredients are pretty popular with marathoners. The makers even sponsor a run in Chicago. We’ll see how the next 15-miler goes.
