IT’S NO SECRET THAT FRIENDS RULE
But friends that also have a freakish love of running make the addiction seem totally normal. You know, the friends that suggest going for a long run to chat and then go out to eat afterwards. The friends that talk about compression tights, repeats and can somehow convince you it’s a good idea to register for a zillion races all over the place. The friends who will not let you quit no matter how terrible the last run was. Yeah, those friends.
I have made so many great friends through running/blogging. I chat with a lot of runners on a daily basis that I have never met. And you know what? They are awesome peeps! The best part of the running community is that everyone is so friendly and encouraging.
With that I know that there are some peeps out there that can help another runner out! Reader AMY (who has somehow survived my crazy blog for several months) has been battling runner’s knee that just will not quit! She desperately wants to break-up with this injury and get back to pounding pavement. Does anyone have any advice?!
I think she has done the ice, ibuprofen, stretching/strengthening hammy’s/quads. What else?!
Please help AMY!
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Reminder: You still have one more day to enter my giveaway! There are a few extra little things (gels and such) not pictured here. Winner will be announced on Wednesday morning (pacific time).
Haute Running Mama 
So, I had “runner’s knee”, i.e. chondromalacia patella. Turned out after measuring the circumference of both my quads, the offending knee had a quad that was smaller than the other side. Treatment was lots of quad, hamstring, calf, etc strengthening just on the one side. Lots of IT Band rolling. It worked! Though now that I don’t keep up with it (9 years later) I sometimes feel it come back a bit. But not like it was when I first started training for LA.
Maybe I should check mine out….how long did it take once you started doing your strengthening exercises to notice a difference? And, haven’t done much IT band rolling. Something else to consider.
Thank You!!
Speaking of blogging friends that push me to run 🙂 Heeelllooooo Chacha~
It’s been a while since, but I was cleared to run like 4-6 weeks after and didn’t have pain after that. I mean, I think they were being overly cautious – I’m sure running while taking PT would have worked too, just maybe not has quickly.
I was doing PT twice a week and I also did “homework” exercises.
Oops. Meant that comment as a reply to Chacha 🙂
I had runner’s knee for about 18 months, if I ran over about 10km, I would be limping about. Didn’t hurt while running, it was afterwards, pain that kept me up at night.
The good news I’m 100% over it!
I did a bunch of stuff, so I’m not so sure what really worked… but the two main things, the things that I continue to do are;
1. IT Band foam rolling. I did this every day for a few months, at the beginning it hurt so, so much, and more on the bad knee side. Now I can feel it, but its not painful. So I think that this did help me.
2. I switched to minimalist shoes (VFF) and a forefoot strike and I think this made a huge difference. But some words of caution, I took it really slowly like everyone said, took 3 months to get up to my max distance of 10km. Once I broke that magic barrier with no pain, I felt invincible and went wild, I upped my kms every week, taking only I day off a week, switched 100% to VFFs (up to then I ran some in my old shoes too), and I started doing intervals and running much faster. It felt amazing, then I fractured my cuboid during an aggressive interval session. Funny it was the cuboid on the left side my runners knee was the right side only. The more common metatarsal fracture means no running for 6 weeks, bummer, my cuboid fracture meant no running 6 months minimum! I was devastated. But now 8 months later I am finally getting back to running. I am going slow again.
Can I add a 3? cross training. I do weight training, biking, and some swimming, not only does this help to avoid muscle imbalances, it helps me not to overrun, because I am doing other stuff too.
Good luck Amy, believe you can fix this and you will.
Wow Nicole, you have been through a lot! So glad you were able to recover and are back out there!
I had knee pain too. I went to the chiropractor and he can tell if your meniscus is out of place and put it back in- so helpful! But I found the real reason- I pronate really bad on my right foot and weren’t in shoes that were conducive to support I needed. I got on the treadmill with the camera- I think that was key to find it out. So, 350-ish miles later, I haven’t had a single knee trouble like before.
Yay for no more knee pain!
I went to Physical Therapy back in Dec/Jan for runner’s knee. The first thing that they recommended was a set of green Superfeet for when I run. They definitely helped me a lot! You have to start out in small doses, like wear them for an hour, then 2 hours, then a walk, then a quick jog prior to actually wearing them when you go running. They also recommended foam rolling the IT band, as it stabilizes the knee. One of my bigger issues was stretching. I had stopped stretching before I ran and was only doing it after. They said that for me, I should go back to stretching before and after. They recommended a bunch of Quad stretches also, telling me to hold each for 30 seconds. One of the stretches was to place one foot on something hip height, then tip the pinky toe away from you and lean your opposite shoulder towards that knee (easier to show than to type..sorry!)
Now, I have occasional problems, but not as bad. For my longer runs, I use a 3 inch piece of KT tape right on the lower portion of my kneecap and just ice both knees after my runs.
Good Luck!
Superfeet! I have heard those have helped many people. Glad to hear you are getting better. Injuries stink!!!
I have used a knee strap like this one http://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Jumpers-Knee-Strap-Green/dp/B000F5WB5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319557204&sr=8-1.
I was having serious issues with patellar tendonitis / runner’s knee and still have some recurring issues. This helps alot for getting through the run.
Hi there! I’ve been enjoying your blog recently. Congrats for really doing a great job for having just started running last January! I am a mom with two kids too … it is tough find time. I admire your workouts and dedication.
Tell Amy to look up an Active Release Therapist in her area (ART for short). They are miracle workers and a runners best friend.
Also, foam rolling and using the stick religiously should help. She needs to work on stretching daily.
There is an underlying problem, Superfeet as suggested might help but she needs to have her gait analyzed and make sure she’s wearing the proper shoes. It could also be an overuse issue without proper recovery.
Happy Tuesday.
Thank you, I appreciate it! It is so hard to find time but I love it 🙂
I know Amy is in TN so she will likely see all of these later this afternoon. I know she will appreciate it!
and friends are just, dang cute, too! 2 of the cutest ladies i know! nice pic!
🙂 Hope you are feeling better!!!
I know what you mean about having others to motivate you. I am in anesthesia school and find myself very busy, so I sign up for halfs just to keep myself running. I was just telling my husband today that I can’t feel bad about running since I “just found this blog (I think I was linked to you either from SR or OUAL’s blogs..I read both) where this woman has 2 little kids and a full time job and she was up at 4:30 in the morning to run 8 miles”. Anyway, your blogs motivate me, no matter how busy school gets :o)
LOL, I am definitely in the crazy club! I too sign up for races to keep me committed!!! Looking forward to getting to know you 🙂
You have a new blog-stalker!! A blog-stalker who also needs a long run with you to catch up on stuff. You’re right, Running Buddy – running buddies are the BEST!! 🙂
And no knee advice from me. My knees sound like they belong to a 103-year-old lady and the docs have told me to retire from running. So I guess you could say I run against (crazy doctor’s) medical advice. I’d be a miserable wreck without running!
Hiiiiiii Friend!!! Yes let’s run and catch up ASAP. I NEED to hear about a certain someone 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you so, so much to everyone for your tips and advice! It’s great to know there’s such support out there when you need it. Hopefully my knee will be better in no time 🙂