Painful ankles after running...

Hi everyone

I started running 1.5 miles every day for the past 2 weeks and after every run my ankles really hurt, some days more than others. I do 45 jumping jacks and the first 0.5 mile I powerwalk to warm up. I run on concrete the whole time round a residential area. I'm using proper Nike running shoes and I put some gel innersoles in to try and cushion my ankles against the concrete put its not helping. I know my running style is not the problem and it cant be the shoes. Round my area theres A LOT of joggers/runners who all run on concrete paths like me so I know the surface isn't the problem either.

I've read up about stretching first and some websites say only stretch after a run, some say before, and others say dont stretch cold muscles. which is correct? and are there any specific ankle stretches to do?

Thanks in advance

That's a lot of running coming from not running at all. I wouldn't be surprised if your ankles need time to adjust...

Maybe cut down to every other day and spend the days in between doing some jump roping and strenghening of your ankles? Also, after each run, you could shower your ankles nice and warm and put some "recovery" cream on them, give them a massage and put them in warm socks. Pamper the guys. They carry you a long way.

As your ankles get stronger, they will cope better with the runs. As for surfaces... I do find it affects the way my joints feel after a run.

Ah right, what would you say is a good distance to run starting out? I want to get in shape as quick as possible (loose a stone and get toned if possible) and apart from my ankles I have no problem running every day + basic workout. I'll buy a rope and do some skipping and see how that goes. so doing all that pampering helps to loosen the muscles?

Excellent thanks for the advice, yea I'd prefer a better surface but concrete is my only option round this area

The surface is a problem. Concrete is just about the worst thing you can run on. The impact on your joints is far greater than for any other surface. Is your jumping also on concrete? Wow that's a lot of impact.

As your ankle is already injured you need to rest it to allow it to recover. If it were me, I would seek medical advice or maybe go see a physio. I would like to know what the injury is, how it was caused, how to treat it and how to prevent it from happening again.

The power walking is good, can you do that without your ankles hurting? Can you do your 1.5m as a power walk until your ankles have recovered, then slowly reintroduce the running?

I think I would be looking at introducing a wider variety of exercise into my daily routine in the first instance to tone and strengthen muscles before getting down to any serious running.

Yea I can feel the force its putting on my ankles, but there's no better surface I can run/jog on. A track would be great, so grass is the best surface to run on?

At the moment I've cut down to jogging every other day or every 2 days but still doing a workout daily. My ankles are still hurting after they've 'recovered' but it's alot less than it was before, and I've started jogging at a slower pace which has helped too. I thought by now my ankle muscles would of strengthened though.

At the moment my routine is:

exercises - whole body inc ankles
45 star jumps/jumping jacks
half mile power walk
1 mile jog/run
45 star jumps
15 push ups
dumbell bicep curls - 15 on each arm
45 star jumps
~30 crunches

need to do other stuff though but not sure what yet

I think you need to find out how long it takes for the body to adapt to training. Two weeks isn't the answer and trying to get in shape as quick as 'you' think is possible is also wide of the mark. Your haste and ambition will only get you injured.