Monday, July 18

Trying to Fix My Runner's Knee

I've been running for years and have never really had any problems with my knees until recently.  I stopped running for a couple weeks because of a bad cold, and when I started again about a week ago, almost immediately I was having pain in my right knee.  I did some Interwebs research and it sounds like what I have is "Runner's Knee." 

I was hoping to start training for a marathon in the fall, but this has put a big crimp in those plans.  I went to a local running store today at lunch and the sales guy is a running coach at a local university.  I admitted it has been a couple years since I've bought new running shoes.  He said you should replace them ever 400-500 miles.  I know I ran more than 1,000 miles just last year.  I did buy a new pair of shoes--Asics GT-2160s ($100), which he said will help with my stability.  He had me run on a treadmill so he could evaluate what I needed.

He also explained the importance of strengthening my core and loosening my hips to improve my knee problem.  I found the video below to be very helpful and it echos a lot of what the sales guy said.  Humping the foam noodle may look a little strange at the gym though.  The sales guy also suggested icing the knee a couple times a day.  I'm going to give it a shot and hope I can keep on running. 

2 comments:

the island guy said...

The guy sounds like an expert. I hope you're knee gets better soon.

Mind Of Mine said...

I hope knee issues resolve themselves soon.

The guy in the video does seem to know what he is talking about. Plus he is cute.