I Think My Short-Lived Running Career is Over

apullum

Knee injuries are some of the most common injuries among runners. They don't necessarily mean you're never going to run again.

What you're describing sounds a lot like what happened to me. In my case, it was a patellar tracking problem (essentially, my kneecap was moving out of track and rubbing on a tendon). That was a few years ago. I saw an ortho, did physical therapy, and got proper shoes. I wear running tights that help support my knee and foam roll tight quads/IT band. I did not need surgery. With the proper care, I've been running for three years since my injury and have no major problems.

See a doctor who specializes in sports medicine or orthopedics. Get it checked out. It's likely something that can be treated.

CMNVA

So, I actually don't feel I have an injury. I have not run since the weekend and my knees feel great now. So it goes away. The first 12 hours after running are the worst and by the 24 hour mark the pain and shuffling are almost 100% gone. By hour 48, all gone.

I've been working hard to shorten my stride and slow myself down. I have managed that and have increased my cadence from about 153 to 160.

It seems like the distance is what has gotten my. I was doing okay, with MINOR residual pain, up through C25K. It was when I hit the 30 minute mark and then pushed myself up to 3.1 miles at 38 minutes that it was most noteworthy.

It is probably a good idea to see someone, I guess I'll have to figure out who that is in my area. With my husband's many athletic problems/injuries, he's not been very successful in finding help in the sports area of medicine.

collectingblues

fittocycle wrote: »

I know lots of runners who take time off and do spinning (cycling) classes at the gym. Most say it helps them become stronger runners bc they've switched up their training. I'm not a runner but have had knee injuries over the years. The physical therapist I saw had me do leg lifts and cycling to build muscle.
Give your body some time to recover and heal. And who knows? You might find another workout you like just as much or even more!

I can vouch for this.

I had to take 8 weeks off of running because of a stress fracture. Throughout that time, I was allowed to spin, as long as I used an orthotic insert in my shoes, and I didn't stand up.

Last week, I was allowed to start back again -- with the caveat that I should increase the mileage gradually, and to not worry about times. I was also allowed to do the 5K Turkey Trot that I'd signed up for.

Despite a total break from running, minus an "easy" run the day before, I finished in nearly identical percentiles to what I had in the previous year's race (when I was running three days a week). Any conditioning losses were negligible -- and I credit all of that to spinning.