Runner's knee?

I would give it some rest and ice. Don't run for a couple of days, if you want to do some cardio get on an elipitical or bike (if that doesn't aggervate it) . Put you leg up and put some good ol' ice on it. Rest it up. Then get back out there, but I have found that most pains I have had running go away eventually
If it gets WORST then you might want to have it checked out. But don't give up!
I know when I run, the first mile or two my body is constantly throwing little pain signals up..my knee hurts, my calves hurt, my foot hurts, but once I settle into a groove all that goes away (well usually) and I can go for miles with out any real pain.

its hard to say with knee injuries exactly the extent of them, but rest and ice will help.

also, do you stretch after each run? make stretching a routine that is PART of the run...and congratulations on reaching the end of c25k!

hope you have a very long and injury free running career!

Not sure what to do here. I've got ONE run left on C25K. I've beaten shin splints, dealt with the worst allergy season in recent history, temps going from low 60s to 95 in one day the week I did the 20 minute runs .. etc With my last week at hand, now my knees are giving out =( Makes no sense as I was in good shape before c25k. In addition to weights, I speed walked up & down hills. All I can say is that I. Am. Not. Giving. Up. :explode:

Today's run started off with stiff knees, but I managed. At the end, when I walked, I could feel the pain coming back. I got in my car and cried. :blushing: The pain was radiating up the back of my legs (that part didn't last). I'm thinking maybe a day or 2 off, then a very light run and then do my last c25k run this weekend. I don't want to harm myself any further, but I want to finish this program. I'll continue running, but I'll do some light runs next week.

I think it may be a descent injury? On one of my last runs, I was feeling so good I started picking up speed on the down side of a hill. I probably didn't control myself well enough.

What do you guys think?

I think Scott and Timeasterday are spot on. All I can add is to caution you about not ignoring the value of rest. You can turn a minor problem into a bigger one if youre not careful. Forget about the minor goal of finishing the C25K and focus on the major issue of your future as a runner.

It could be your IT Band. http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/iliotibial-band

http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/itbs

Its a ligament that is connected from your hip to your knee. It can feel like knee pain, but really its the IT Band.

In my experience, knee pain is usually caused by less than ideal running form and can be cleared up over time by correcting the running form.

Google, "Good Form Running".

this. Plus you may be running too fast downhill. That probably gives too much impact on your knees on each landing and resulted in knee pain. Slow down or minimize downhill.

I had minor knee pain (not as bad as yours) for running too fast downhill. I then purposely slowed down running downhill and changed my course with more gentle downhill. My knees do not complain anymore.

Actually, attempting to slow down or brake on downhill can cause a greater impact on the knee joint. On very steep descents, you need to either fly down them or walk. If you are not used to running fast, then I suggest walking. The idea is to make sure that, as with all good running form, that the foot lands under your torso. This gets more difficult the steeper the downhill. The only way to get that foot landing under you is to go faster. I also concentrate on getting a higher heel kick in the back (think heel to buttocks). This forces the leg swing to come through higher and allows the foot to land later, which places it more under the torso.

Now, with all that being said, running downhill will shred your quads. In order to get good at running downhill you have to run downhill. I know, crazy talk. You can help by making sure that you do quad exercises, either body weight or with weights. If you do this, don't ignore the hammies. You have to stay in balance.

Lastly, as has been mentioned before, make sure you are in the right shoe. If you haven't already done so, go get fitted at a running store.

Best of luck!


ETA: Someone mentioned this earlier too. There are two basic types of running related knee "injuries", both of which can get rectified with strengthening exercises. IT Band Syndrome, which manifests itself as pain on the lower, outside of the knee and runner's knee which is usually felt around or behind the knee cap, most of the time about the knee. The former can be addressed with hip and core exercises, the latter with quad strengthening.

Actually, attempting to slow down or brake on downhill can cause a greater impact on the knee joint. On very steep descents, you need to either fly down them or walk. If you are not used to running fast, then I suggest walking. The idea is to make sure that, as with all good running form, that the foot lands under your torso. This gets more difficult the steeper the downhill. The only way to get that foot landing under you is to go faster. I also concentrate on getting a higher heel kick in the back (think heel to buttocks). This forces the leg swing to come through higher and allows the foot to land later, which places it more under the torso.

Now, with all that being said, running downhill will shred your quads. In order to get good at running downhill you have to run downhill. I know, crazy talk. You can help by making sure that you do quad exercises, either body weight or with weights. If you do this, don't ignore the hammies. You have to stay in balance.

Lastly, as has been mentioned before, make sure you are in the right shoe. If you haven't already done so, go get fitted at a running store.

Best of luck!


ETA: Someone mentioned this earlier too. There are two basic types of running related knee "injuries", both of which can get rectified with strengthening exercises. IT Band Syndrome, which manifests itself as pain on the lower, outside of the knee and runner's knee which is usually felt around or behind the knee cap, most of the time about the knee. The former can be addressed with hip and core exercises, the latter with quad strengthening.

Hi Carson, great to have advise from experienced runner.
My pace is not fast yet. So when I slow down, my stride length becomes really short that landing under my torso is not a problem.
I definitely will keep that in mind when my speed improves.
But my question is, if I need to run even faster downhill, would I risk falling down the hill trying to land under my torso while running fast? thanks

Actually, attempting to slow down or brake on downhill can cause a greater impact on the knee joint. On very steep descents, you need to either fly down them or walk. If you are not used to running fast, then I suggest walking. The idea is to make sure that, as with all good running form, that the foot lands under your torso. This gets more difficult the steeper the downhill. The only way to get that foot landing under you is to go faster. I also concentrate on getting a higher heel kick in the back (think heel to buttocks). This forces the leg swing to come through higher and allows the foot to land later, which places it more under the torso.

Now, with all that being said, running downhill will shred your quads. In order to get good at running downhill you have to run downhill. I know, crazy talk. You can help by making sure that you do quad exercises, either body weight or with weights. If you do this, don't ignore the hammies. You have to stay in balance.

Lastly, as has been mentioned before, make sure you are in the right shoe. If you haven't already done so, go get fitted at a running store.

Best of luck!


ETA: Someone mentioned this earlier too. There are two basic types of running related knee "injuries", both of which can get rectified with strengthening exercises. IT Band Syndrome, which manifests itself as pain on the lower, outside of the knee and runner's knee which is usually felt around or behind the knee cap, most of the time about the knee. The former can be addressed with hip and core exercises, the latter with quad strengthening.

Hi Carson, great to have advise from experienced runner.
My pace is not fast yet. So when I slow down, my stride length becomes really short that landing under my torso is not a problem.
I definitely will keep that in mind when my speed improves.
But my question is, if I need to run even faster downhill, would I risk falling down the hill trying to land under my torso while running fast? thanks

Yes, there is that risk. That is where you have to decide if you feel out of control. Another method is to hop/skip down the steeper sections. This is commonly employed by trail runners on steep downhill sections.

lean into the hill (letting gravity help you down). The natural tendency is to try to brake yourself and slow down - that's bad and your knees end up taking the impact.

I"m in a 5k training group and my instructor told us this. It's amazing what a difference it makes! You can do it without going crazy fast.

I ran 5K yesterday. =D It was an amazing moment.

Congratulations!!! Mine is scheduled for July. And will be mostly downhill