I have a question for all you runners. I used to run for years before my AS kicked in, over 10 years ago. It was my passion. Anyway, I now have osteopenia from long-term prednisone, which I'm still on .

My Rheumatologist tells me to walk only and my Chiropractor tells me to do a light jog on the treadmill. My Chiro tells me I need to get more blood and oxygen pumping through my body. Well, I took the Chiropractor's advice and the light jog is helping me overall. My sleep is better, overall stiffness has improved and I have more energy . My only issue is my right SI joint. It flared up a few weeks ago after picking up a stomach bug from my daughter. I can't get it to calm down. I will be starting Curcumin and Arthromax supplements soon, once it arrives in the mail. I could ice the SI too after my workout.

Any other advice? Would love to hear other runner stories.

Thanks!

Shari

I say walk and swim. Walking won't put you such at risk of compression fractures, and swimming is awesome for blood flow.

If you are able to fast for a day or two, it can help your digestive system recover from an infection and turn the tide on a flare. However some people have a hard time fasting for medical reasons, so if it makes you feel really bad (not just hungry and possibly cranky) then break it off.

i used to run but kind of gave it up before the spondy kicked in. i walk a lot now. but when my SI joint is bothering me too much to walk, i find that i can use a bike, especially an stationary recumbent bike. biking gets my blood pumping faster than anything else i do, and for me its very low impact.

Thank you guys for the advice. I am going to bike on my recumbent bike and try swimming. If I lay off the SI joint for awhile, I'm sure the flare will subside. Also, I may try fasting. When I fast, do I just eat apples and drink water?

Shari

I'm not a native English speaker so please feel free to ask me to clarify. I agree with you running is great. I keep jogging when I have something like you do currently. Shorter and slower, but I feel that the continued activity helps the recovery. Unless it hurts like H....when running. Then don't run at all.

To all others wondering if they should run I would like to tell my experience.
I have what my specialist call a very severe AS. It has been discovered in just about every joint in my body and my eyes. I was also told to stop running and start walking when I first got the diagnosis.
I didn't stop. And my pain slowly got worse. I then started walking and swimming and doing the exercise bike as reccommended. Nevertheless, I put on weight and I could feel my fitness level drop. But! I love to run. So after 20 months I bought a treadmill with very good impact regulation.
It is a dream come true for me. I have dropped the weight and have less pain breakthrough. My fitness has improved again. Hence I have more energy again. I have been able to cut back on the endone which I believe is a good thing. My physio says that she can feel that my body has improved.

I tried many fitness clubs and many have good treadmills. Some are no different than running on the road. But there are those who have ones with great shock absorption. Look around and find out if there is a great treadmill near you. And then start slowly and lightly to see how you react. If you feel good, then build up distance and speed really slowly. Build up slower than normally suggested. But stay off the road. No shoes exist that have sufficient shock absorption on their own. And remember to run on treadmills with a 1% incline. Later you can raise it to 2 and finally 3% to support your knees. We are not designed to run on a absolutely flat surface.

Warm up your ankles, knees, hips and back first and then thoroughly warm up your body by walking at a good pace with a small incline. Warmup is even more important with AS. After all we are already injured. It is also important that you keep the correct posture while running. Check it out. Most healthy runners don't even know the right posture.

When I run I'm fully aware that I have AS:) It often aggravates the pain a little at first. Sometimes even more than just a little. On a few day it gets somewhat bad during the early run. Pain then almost every time slowly eases up during the rest of the run. But half an hour after finishing it is always better than before the run. And on days I haven't run, my late night and next morning pains are a lot worse than when I run.

I now usually run 10k per day. I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I can still outrun most people when I go to the fitness centre. I bought my own treadmill because sometime the energy levels were not good enough to get me out the door first. When there is pain and fatigue getting started can be hard, so i bought one to lower the number of excuses not to run. On bad days it can be hard to get over four k and on great days I can do a half marathon. I do some of these in actual organized runs.

In total, my experience is that running is better for many things for AS patients who, very importantly, enjoy running. But only if they stay off the road, sand, and grass and use a treadmill with great shock absorption and great fitting and supporting shoes. Shoes should not be underrated. It is important with AS that it supports your food and running style. Many places or food specialists can help you get the right shoe. They don't have to be expensive, not even from such places. The treadmill I use give me less impact than when running in water. And running has done wonders for my posture.

If pain is bad before the run I start running with low effect TENS. The running almost always improves the pain afterwards for me. It is highly individual though how we react to things, but I suggest you discuss the treadmill use with your specialist. My new specialist is all for it on treadmill and thinks it is sad that there are so many web authors who are against it. Find out, before you talk to your specialist and buy shoes, what level off shock absorption you can get to in your area. Maybe you will end up buying your own of it is a success?

I still use the bike and the physios exercises as well. But I dread the day that I can no longer run. Hopefully it never comes.

I second Kilroys advice.

I have been a slow runner with AS since 2004 because running is less painful than walking for me. I usally recommend others with AS to start out very slowly. Here is my advice to start running:

Check out the Beginner ChiRunning program:
http://www.chirunning.com/what-is-chirunning/beginning-runners/

The most important thing is doing a lot of general strength exercises for runners. I do these excercises in video #1 almost every day after a 15-20 minutes slow and easy warm up. This excercise is also good for afterrun streching:
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16625

When running: Warm up as Kilroy suggested and do a easy "stand by jog", then fall slowly forward and start jogging, like the ChiRunning technique. If it hurts do some walking until you feel better, then repeat.

And don't be afraid to try barefoot running or with barefoot shoes like the Vibram FiveFingers, just start out very slowly. My knees, hips and lower back got much better after I started with these shoes on forest tracks and treadmills. I always bring a crutch just in case of pain, especially if I am far away from home or public transport.

How to prepare for barefoot running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtICeFOKjIs&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRS88R1BAg8&feature=related

And when you master the excercises above, copy this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSIDRHUWlVo

If walking hurts, try shoes like this, before thinking about running:
http://us.mbt.com/Default.aspx?lang=en-US

***
My AS:
http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=236916&page=1

Training results 2011:
January - July, 660km running and 640km moutain biking. (2011 goal was 3650km)
August - December, some running, mostly general strength excercises.
Total excercises, Appr. 480 hours.
Injury, 4 weeks on the sofa because of 25km barefoot running without proper training.