Runner's Knee?

allie7383

Hi all..
So after reading some stuff online I've basically diagnosed myself with the "runner's knee." I'm training for my first marathon, and last Sunday I had my longest run to date at 12 miles. I'm not a stranger to this distance as I've done 4 halfs, and will be (Hopefully) running my 5th half on the 16th. I read that overuse can be a cause of this, and I'm thinking that the 5ish miles i walked/jogged/ran with my friend the day before my long run didn't do me any favors, plus add to that that I ran on the street, sometimes uneven concrete sidewalks during the LR.. I was ok up til mile 9.5, and decided to stop home to refill my water bottle and take a quick break before finishing as I started feeling a twinge of pain in my knee. I started feeling the pain again as I started up and tried to push through it but after a mile it got so bad that I couldn't run on it at all, and had to walk the rest of the way. I'm feeling the pain under my kneecap and on the outside of my right knee and it hurt when I would go down steps. I put ice on it and went for a massage the next day. The woman said my thigh was a bit tight and that could contribute to the pain as well. So since Sunday I've tried to ice/elevate, take ibuprofen, and haven't run since then. I work in a lab, so my job is part sitting at the computer and part moving around, so when I have the chance I try to take the weight off my leg. Overall it feels a little better and it hurts less to go down steps now, but I try to avoid that when I can as well.

I just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this, and/or had any advice. Today I start school and with my schedule being the way it is, it will be another rest day. Should I just stay off it until the race? Should I even attempt it? I don't want to put myself off running for too long, since as I said this will be my first full in Nov, but I also don't want to risk getting really bad and then being unable to do it.
Just to note- I'm in no way a fast runner. My best half time is 2:20, and I was hoping to break that with this race.

Thanks

CarsonRuns

Sounds more like IT Band to me. There are tons of stretches you can do for it. If you treat it aggressively with something like ART, you can continue to train through it. Here is a link to ART.

www.activerelease.com

KWKY

I had the same problem about 4-5 weeks ago when I rolled my ankle and had to keep running because I was in the middle of nowhere. The physio then diagnosed runners knee.

I ended up strapping the knee fully for a week, and then strapping it only when I ran for about two weeks. This week I haven't strapped it and it's been fine. For those first three weeks I also dropped my mileage a little bit but didn't actually stop running (as the pain was never that bad, I just didn't want it to get worse as I am doing an HM in September).

The physio though was stretching my left ITB and I think the pain I experienced from that session was far worse than childbirth (no joke). He then showed me a number of exercises to stretch those and my running has actually improved since then.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

allie7383

Thanks for the responses! I'll be sure to check out the link Carson.

allie7383

Ok so I just wanted to update on my previous post, and get some info/advice.. So I went to the doc last week, and she confirmed that it was ITBS. She said it wasn't the tightest she's ever seen and gave me a strong anti-inflammatory drug, along with 2-3 weeks of PT which I'm starting next week. She also said no running for 2 weeks which meant I missed the Philly half last weekend. This past Monday I went for about a 4 mile walk with a friend, and tried jogging a couple times, for about 10 seconds at a time, maybe 3x's. (prob not the best of decisions). I felt fine during, but that night at work I could feel some stress in my knee, nothing major but I knew it was from earlier. Since then I haven't been doing much but icing, stretching, rolling, and doing some hip strengthing exercises that I found online. Today I got on the exercise bike for about 40 min, going decently hard for a few min, and I feel fine. So getting to my point...

Right now I'm just under 2 months out from my first marathon, and was following Hal Higdon's Novice program. Since the initial day of the pain onset/injury it's been 3 weeks, and now 1 week since the doc appt, so based on how PT goes I guess I could be up to running again in 1-2 weeks.. Is this marathon in Nov still within reach? As far as the long runs go, the last one I did was 12 miles, then was supposed to do 13, then back down to 10 last weekend. I was just going to switch the 2 since they worked out will with the half.. If I were to pick up again, this weekend would be back at 14 miles.
Also, once I'm cleared to run again, what would be a good way to get back into training?
Thanks all!

mlb929

Reading you post sounds like when I ran my first marathon. I made some changes which I think you will have time to make. Cross train more, run a little less. I run 3x per week, bike two to 3 times per week, I work on hip strengthening exercises daily. Add in some yoga and foam roll more. I love my rumble roller.

I work with a massage therapist , active release like Carson says too, about once a week. I also have a double thumper massage top wand thing that I use about 20 minutes a day.

I take niacinmide, check with a dr regarding any supplement, but it aids with lubrication and flexibility. I also drink tart cherry juice after every run to help inflammation.

Do more squats and lunges, a lot more, every direction. Curtesy lunges are great for it bands. I use the brazil butt lift program its more fun for me than just regular exercises. When biking, I do 60 min with my hr at 85 percent maximum, lower tension and faster alternating with higher tension but slower, I get both in with both workouts.

allie7383

Thanks for the advice! Yeah my program had 4 runs/wk, but I would usually get in 3. I'll def be adding in more foam rolling and lunges/squats.

DontThinkJustRun

Foam rolling has helped me tremendously with my ITBS that I got from my last marathon. Also certain yoga poses are a savior and I try to hit a yoga class once a week and I'd recomment pigeon pose probably at the top of the IT stretching list.

A serious break from running is probably the only thing that will "cure" your ITBS, but if you're anything like me that's not gonna happen. So just roll and stretch like crazy and cut your milage way back everytime you feel pain and take extra rest days when necessary.

Good luck!

essjay76

Oh man! ITBS sucks! I have to add that the best thing I ever did to "cure" my ITBS issue was to stop running completely. Mine was so bad that I had to drop out of a race. I went to PT for a bit and did absolutely NO running for 3 months. I kept my fitness level up by cross training, and when I was finally able to run again, I was stronger, faster, and healthy. I've been injury free (knock on wood) since then and do a lot more preventive actions to make sure it doesn't happen again. I learned to slow down my long runs, and only make room for 2 hard workouts out of 5 days a week to prevent any overuse. (e.g. one speed day, hill work, or long run, and then 3 easier days at a conservative pace). I was consistent with strength training, which targeted my weak hips/hammies/glutes.

And now, if I feel even the slightest twinge, soreness, anything, I either slow down, reduce mileage, walk it off, ice, foam roll, etc. etc.

It is not worth it to make it worse and keep running on it. Active recovery will help, but being stubborn and pushing through doesn't.

Good luck with the rest of your training and battling this stubborn injury!

essjay76

Also, to answer your question ... once you're cleared again, take it easy. Start off at a conservative pace, a few miles here and there, run/walk. Run every other day and discard the whole 10% rule - if you increase mileage again, be even more conservative than 10%. Example, when I started running again, I only ran 2 - 3 miles at a time, every other day, and walked/cross trained while building mileage back up. I stayed at that mileage for a few months and gradually built up to where I'm at now. I got paranoid and didn't want my excitement of being able to run again push me to overdo it so quickly.

ukgirly01

I have ITBS its a right pain. I've had to reduce my weekly milage and always use a foam roller after a run. I also got a strenght and conditioning coach who I see once a week, strengthening your muscles is a really important part of training that I'd missed out. These have helped but i'm still not running as far as I was. Hope yours gets better soon. (Make sure you rest it )

CarsonRuns

My experience is quite different from other posters here. My ART practitioner encouraged me to run through it while getting treatments twice a week while foam rolling and doing exercises at home. In about 6 weeks, the ITBS pain was gone. I maintained about 40 to 45 miles per week through this process.

So, I don't think think that no running is required. I'm an experiment of one, but it worked for me.