Knee Pain - Slow Hurts...Fast Doesnt

Interesting problem, could be a lack of core stablilty strength with stomach & glutes? The posture is different when running slower.

I had a similar problem over the winter, however my knee pain continually got worse to the point where even fast running became painful. My problem was related to lack of strenght in the quadricep muscles which threw off the tracking of my knee cap.

I took plenty of time off and also iced and took anti-inflamatories before starting back up again. You can also do strenghting exercises to help prevent the problem in the future, exercises such as wall sits, leg lifts, and another good one tracing the alaphabet with your injured leg while sitting in a chair.

I hope the knee feels better. Good luck in your training.

What kind of time did you take off? and when you came back were you pain free?

"Doc it hurts when I go like this (bends knee)."

The Doctor said "Don't go like that. That'll be $125, pay on your way out."

I would guess that that when you run fast, the knee is extending correctly, but not as efficiently when you run at slower speeds. See if someone can notice if you don't lift it as high as the other during slow speeds.

Shoes

I had exactly the same problem in college. I could run fast and be fine, races, interval work, etc, but on easy runs it hurt bad and got worse.

I tried everything. The nearest the team doctor could figure out is my quadracep muscle was holding my knee cap sorta funny and for some reason it made it hurt when I was running slow. When I opened up my stride more and ran fast it was fine.

Finallyt I started doing 3 sets of 20 of leg extensions and hamstring curls 3 days a week with the same weight on each and within 2 weeks it was gone altogether. Do these one leg at time.

It came back a few times over the next few years but each time if I started back with light weights again it went away. In my case its a muscle imbalance between that is fairly easily corrected.

I had to take close to a month and a half off, but the pain was very severe by the time I decided to cut back. In your case if the problem is just starting I think you would be fine with a week or so off. Remember to keep icing even after the knee begins to feel better in order to stay out of trouble.

Good luck in your training, I hope the knee feels better.

i had the same exact thing youre talking about. I was told it was called "runners knee" ,"jumpers knee" or the medical term..Patellar tendonitis. I could completly break down in pain when on a run for 40 min, but i could do a hard track workout that was more than 2miles on it. I had the same thing, strengthen your quaads, without bending excercises such as squats or lunges, use preferably a leg extension machine at a gym.

Strengthen

And improve your form, i find that after a hard workout, when my form suffers the most the pain will begin to come back, try to not run with your chest sticking out/butt. And run on your midfoot/toes, which i guess is why it doesnt hurt when either you or i run fast stuff, because theres not much time on your heel.

Hope this helps, it sucks having that

F.Scott Fitzgerald,

Thanks for the info...what kind of turn around did you have on the recovery? Did you continue to run and strenghten in the mean time, or take time off and strenghten during rest? I guess if you could just shed some light on how long it took to clear up and during that time period what was your training like.

Thanks so much

classic IT band syndrome. Stretch that sucker

bump

i was going to say the exact same thingITB, ITB, ITBwhen i had this when i ran at or below tempo pace i was fine, any slower and it hurt like helluse the ROLLER, 3 to 5 minutes continuous rolling on the leg, once or even twice a dayleg lifts from the side to strengthen the gluteus medius which is probably causing your problem

werd wrote:

classic IT band syndrome. Stretch that sucker

werd wrote:

classic IT band syndrome. Stretch that sucker

I thought the same thing. It is a classic sign for slow to hurt and fast to be okay, but the description of pain doesn't sound anything like IT band. Maybe it is in its early stages.

Classic I.T.B.

It can be a lingerer so treat it now.

Checkout the archives for treatment info.

The athletic trainer today said the pain has to with my patella not tracking correctly, but that its lingering causes do involve my IT, groin, glute, quad.

I had basically run for about 3-4 weeks with a strained calf followed then by a strained achilles, which basically lead to major compensation in the same leg thats bothering me now.

Hopefully I can stretch and stenghten over the next few weeks and be back ready to go by May. Im basically planning on being on the elliptical 5-6 days out of the week, and then racing/working out the other days to still get in as much quality work as possible.

If anyone else can add how long this bothered them for that be great. Also, if anyone has more suggestions for rehabilitation exercises i would def appreciate it.

Thanks

The pain is on the inside of the knee, which suggests it is NOT ITBS. It actually seems a lot more like patellofemoral syndrome, rather than patella tendinitis. Most likely it's a compilation of problems: old shoes, weak VMO to counter the outer quad muscles, joints that are flexible beyond the norm. You need to take some time off, probably get some orthotics or motion control shoes, and some solid strengthening exercises for your VMO.