Running Hurts

Question
I'm a 29 year old female, at the top of "normal" weight, I work out regularly, spinning classes at the gym-2 times a week, plus I see a trainer twice a week, and swim occasionally.  In addition I hike with my husband and my dog, and we take her for long walks.  I have never liked running, but a friend of mine sent me an e-mail enticing me to run a 10k with her.  I signed up.  I have 6 weeks to train and decided to start out running on the tread mill.  The first time I ran (in a VERY long time) was 2 miles and I did them in 21 minutes.  I felt a slight pain in my right knee, but was so psyched to start my training I ignored it and at the end felt as if I could go on.  I opted to stop as it was my first run.  I did some ab work and went home.  My knee started hurting immediately, sharp pains that lasted for a day and a half, and it was especially difficult to go up and mostly down stairs.  I went back and ran again a few days later (2 miles in just under 20 minutes)a friend of mine who runs marathons said that maybe I was placing my feet wrong, not lining up my heel and toe, so I tried to focus on how I was planting my feet and I was trying to activate my core and hips more to take some of the impact off my feet and knees. This time my hip hurt.  This lasted for the evening and some of the morning.  Is running supposed to hurt?  Am I causing permanent damage? Is 6 weeks too ambitious to train for my first 10k considering I have never been a runner?  Is there anything that I'm doing incorrectly when I'm running that's causing this pain?

Answer
Running hurts if you jump into it too fast, too soon, and don't allow your body the ability to adapt to its demands in a timely manner.  Cyclists just can't get off their bikes and begin to run a marathon the next week because they are seen as 'fit'.  You are fit for your demands you place your body against.  Its a simple fitness principle.  If your pain persists, seek medical help, there is not much I can do through an email to fix pain issues with running.

Rick Karboviak